HAIFA, March 30, 2011 (WAFA) – After a five month recess, Haifa district court will resume its hearings of the civil suit filed by Rachel Corrie’s parents for her murder next Sunday, according to a press release published Wednesday by Rachel Corrie Foundation for Peace and Justice.
Corrie, an American student and a peace activist, was crushed to death in March 2003 by an Israeli army bulldozer while she was participating in demonstration for the International Solidarity Movement against demolishing houses in Rafah, in the Gaza Stip.
The court session will include testimony of the Israeli unit commander who supervised the bulldozer which killed Corrie. Israeli soldiers were allowed to testify in court behind a screen in an unusual security measure in order protect their identities, the press release said.
The Corries filed the civil suit in 2005 after “a US congressional resolution demanding an independent inquiry into Rachel’s death was buried in committee for months before it expired, leaving the Israeli military’s investigation, which cleared itself of any wrongdoing, as the only official investigation”, according to a report by Democracy Now, an American daily TV/radio news program.
The Israeli court first looked into the suit in March 2010, when four of Corrie’s colleagues who witnessed her death testified.
In the second session in September 2010, the Israeli government submitted 9 affidavits, including that of the Israeli soldier who drove the bulldozer and the Israeli military police investigator who led investigations.
“As we now witness young people in the Middle East protesting non-violently and struggling for their freedoms and human rights, this trial seems ever more relevant. While our family continues to seek accountability from the Israeli Government for their response to Rachel’s nonviolent action, we insist that all governments and militaries respect the right of people to peaceably assemble and protest, that they respond nonviolently to such protests, and that they be accountable for their actions”, said Rachel’s mother, Cindy Corrie.
R.Q./F.R.
