More than 60 human rights and civil society groups have called on the US Congress to order an investigation into the killing of Palestinian journalist Shireen Abu Akleh by the Israeli forces in May last year, multiple news outlets reported on Tuesday, July 18. In a letter, the rights groups urge the US Congress to pass a bill which would compel the government headed by President Joe Biden to conduct an investigation into Akleh’s killing. She was shot during an Israeli raid in the city of Jenin in the occupied West Bank despite being clearly identified in press gear. Her death led to widespread protests in Palestine and elsewhere, followed by numerous appeals from rights groups and activists for an independent investigation.
The letter refers to a bill named Justice for Shireen Act, introduced by Congressman André Carson last year, instructing the US State Department and the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) to publicly disclose details regarding the circumstances of her death, including identifying “any United States defense materials, funds or services that were implicated in the death of Shireen Abu Akleh.” Carson has once again introduced the bill in Congress for voting, however, reports noted that the bill has little chance of passing in both the Senate and the House of Representatives due to a very pro-Israel Republican majority as well as several Democrats being pro-Israel.
The letter says that “the United States has a moral and legal obligation to ensure that its military funding is not used to support actions that violate international humanitarian or human rights law. We call upon Congress to pass Representative Carson’s Justice for Shireen Act to require necessary reporting into Shireen Abu Akleh’s killing, and urge Congress and the Biden administration to take immediate steps to ensure that US military funding to the Israeli government does not support human rights abuses against Palestinians.”
Among the signatories to the letter are organizations such as the American Friends Service Committee (AFSC), Amnesty International USA, Committee to Protect Journalists, Human Rights Watch, Oxfam America, Project on Middle East Democracy (POMED), and Reporters Without Borders.
Israeli authorities first attributed Akleh’s killing to gunfire from Palestinian gunmen, but later—in the face of overwhelming eyewitness and video evidence—admitted that she was most likely killed by live gunfire from Israeli forces. Even after over a year of her killing, no criminal investigation or prosecution has been launched to hold the perpetrators responsible. Meanwhile, several independent investigations by human rights groups as well as by the Palestinian Authority and the US have concluded that she was shot dead by Israeli soldiers.
Israeli forces continue to deliberately target journalists in the occupied West Bank and Jerusalem to try to prevent them from covering Israeli war crimes and human rights violations.