One Year Since the Killing of Rachel Corrie

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Observing the one-year anniversary of the killing of Rachel Corrie, Amnesty International USA (AIUSA) today renewed its call for an independent investigation of her death. Corrie, a US citizen, was apparently trying to stop the demolition of a Palestinian building in the Rafah refugee camp in the Gaza Strip when an Israeli army bulldozer ran her over, crushing her to death.

Amnesty International believes prior investigations -- conducted by the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) -- failed to resolve contradictions between the official IDF position and eyewitness testimonies. While the US government has assisted in the investigations into cases of US citizens killed by Palestinian armed groups, it has failed to do so in Corrie's case, raising the appearance of a double standard.

"As Rachel Corrie was an American citizen, the US government has a particular responsibility to ensure a thorough, proper and impartial investigation," said Krista Riddley, AIUSA's Advocacy Director for the Middle East. "When President Bush meets with Prime Minister Sharon later this month, he ought to make clear that the evidence demands proper independent investigation with the assistance of US law enforcement agencies."

Amnesty International urged members of the US House of Representatives to join 56 of their colleagues in supporting House Concurrent Resolution 111, which calls on the US government to undertake a "full, fair and expeditious investigation" into Rachel's death...

http://www.amnestyusa.org/news/document.do?id=B8D3AF54A1EF52BE85256E590055C091