External resources relating to Equipment, training and tactics

Police forces are to receive a £50m funding boost to help the fight against terrorism.  The extra cash will increase intelligence and surveillance capabilities and pay for armed officers to patrol city centres.

"Maintaining command when violence is erupting all around and missiles are flying is crucial for a military leader – but learning the skills can be a baptism of fire. Public order is soldiering up close and personal. And squaring up to mock rioters is a key part of the training experience for the next generation of Army officers."

On Friday afternoon, 08 December 2017, in excessive use of force, Israeli forces killed 4 Palestinians, including 2 civilians, and wounded 259 others, including 32 children and 4 women, in the Gaza Strip and West Bank in protests and airstrikes carried out by Israeli warplanes.  This escalation occurred following the American President Donald Trump’s declaration that Jerusalem is the capital of Israel, and the American Embassy will be moved to it, constituting a dangerous precedent and violating the international law.

This huge number of victims indicate that Israeli force continue to commit crimes and use excessive force against Palestinian civilians in disregard for their lives.  The follow-up by the Palestinian Center for Human Rights (PCHR’s) fieldworkers showed that most of the injuries in the eastern Gaza Strip were in the lower limbs in addition to the abdomen and back and also being directly hit with tear gas canisters.  The Israeli forces also obstructed the medical crews’ work by targeting two ambulances in Khan Younis with rubber-coated metal bullets and tear gas canisters.

Climate change, increased global migration, and expanding border enforcement are three linked phenomena guaranteed to come to an explosive head in this century.

Proposed legislation in Mexico that would enshrine the role of the armed forces in law enforcement is deeply worrying, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Zeid Ra’ad Al Hussein said on Tuesday.

“I fully recognize that Mexico faces a huge security challenge, given the violence and fear sown by powerful, organized crime groups. But more than a decade after the armed forces were deployed in the so-called war on drugs, violence has not abated and many human rights violations and abuses, including extrajudicial killings, torture and enforced disappearances, continue to be committed by various State and non-State actors,” said Zeid.

Honduran President Juan Orlando Hernández, using the specter of rampant crime and the drug trade, won extensive support from the American government to build up highly trained state security forces. Now, those same forces are repressing democracy.

The post-election situation in Honduras continues to deteriorate as Hernández, a conservative leader and stalwart U.S. ally in Central America, has disputed the result of last week’s vote while working to crack down on protests sweeping the nation.

A UK-registered mining company, which is now part of Glencore, is facing claims in a London court that it hired security forces to mistreat environmental activists protesting about a copper mine in Peru.... The copper mine in Peru was at the time owned by Xstrata Tintaya, a firm later renamed Companía Minera Antapaccay. Xstrata was alleged to have paid the equivalent of £700,000 for the services of about 1,300 Peruvian national police and provided them with weapons such as rubber bullets and teargas, as well as food and accommodation.

As a national organizer for the War Resisters League’s “No SWAT Zone” campaign, I know firsthand that communities around the country are concerned about the dangerous effect such police militarization gatherings have on all policing. Last week’s SWAT Round-Up schedule included competition days between participating SWAT teams, vendor expos featuring ballistic weapons for purchase, workshops and competition exercises. Weapons exhibitors included teargas giant The Safariland Group, Smith and Wesson guns, and Lenco armored vehicles. Also present were companies that self-identify as “philosophy” or “lifestyle” brands, aiming “to better our brotherhood first and foremost.”

Awad Saleem al-Sha’er  (32), from Rafah, south of the Gaza Strip, who was detained by the Border Security Service, was killed after security officers opened fire at him, claiming that he attempted to flee while they were searching his farm. The Palestinian Ministry of Interior in Gaza stated in a brief statement that it opened an investigation into the incident. The Palestinian Center for Human Rights (PCHR) expresses its deep concern over the incident and calls upon the Attorney General to publish the results in public in order to identify the circumstances of the killing of al-Sha’er , who was directly shot to the back by one of the security officers.

Accountability for human rights violations is a crucial element of the rule of law. It is critical both for the individuals who have been harmed – in that they see those who have harmed them brought to justice – and for the public, since an effective system produces deterrence and may prevent the recurrence of future violations. Therefore, establishing legal liability for human rights violations and seeking accountability for them are at the core of what human rights organizations do, both in Israel and abroad. It is also the reason that international law and domestic legal systems require countries to adopt the necessary criminal proceedings –i.e., to effectively investigate suspected breaches of human rights and prosecute those responsible – and civil measures, in the form of compensating individuals for the harm they suffered.

Even though this is an issue of fundamental importance, Israel evades its responsibilities in matters concerning the actions of its security forces in the Occupied Territories, and has instead set up alternative systems that merely create a semblance of law enforcement – both in criminal law and civil law. As a result, those responsible for harming Palestinians go unpunished, and the victims receive no compensation for the harm they suffer. The few, isolated exceptions serve only to amplify the illusion that the law enforcement systems in place are functioning properly.

Police militarization and border militarization go hand-in-hand. It's important to recognize this connection in the wake of two decisions recently made by President Donald Trump: to restore a program that provides surplus military gear to local law enforcement agencies, and to end the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program, which protects young undocumented people who meet certain qualifications from being deported. Both decisions represent a reversing of course on policy enacted by President Barack Obama...

The world was stunned when rifle-toting police officers in masks and body armour rolled up in Ferguson, Missouri, in armoured vehicles, to stop the 2014 street protests over the police shooting of black teenager Michael Brown.

Following the public backlash, then-president Obama signed an executive order in 2015 limiting police access to equipment that belonged "on the battlefield".

Fast forward two years to Donald Trump. This week the US President promised to make it legal again for surplus military equipment, including grenade launchers and tanks, to be passed on to law enforcement agencies.

Indonesian paramilitary police have shot and killed one person and wounded a number of others at a protest in a West Papuan village, according to human rights groups and local witnesses.

On Friday afternoon, 28 July 2017, in excessive use of force against demonstrators protesting the latest Israeli measures in Jerusalem and al-Aqsa Mosque, Israeli forces killed a Palestinian child and wounded 10 civilians, including 2 children, in an area near the border fence with Israel in the Eastern Gaza Strip.  This crime indicates that Israeli forces continue to commit more crimes and use excessive force against Palestinian civilians in disregard for the latter’s life.

The Palestinian Center for Human Rights (PCHR) condemns in the strongest terms the Israeli authorities’ escalation of the measures taken against al-Aqsa Mosque in occupied Jerusalem.  Those measures included closing the Mosque; banning prayers; and establishing metal detector gates at its Gates.  PCHR also condemns the Israeli authorities’ use of excessive forces against civilians performing prayers at the Noble Sanctuary’s gates and those participating in protests throughout the Palestinian cities against the Israeli measures.  Those protests resulted in the killing of 4 Palestinian civilians, including 2 children, and injury of dozens; most of their condition was described as serious.

In two separate crimes, Israeli forces killed two Palestinian civilians, south and center of the West Bank. The Palestinian Center for Human Rights (PCHR) strongly condemns these two crimes, which prove that Israeli forces continue to commit crimes against Palestinians in disregard for their lives. PCHR calls upon the international community to take immediate action in order to put an end to the Israeli crimes.

In real life they are accountants, bankers and business executives. Some have already reached retirement age. Today, these tourists from Hong Kong are pretending to be Israeli army commandos, specialists in counterterrorism...

With about half a dozen Israeli companies offering count-terrorism courses for tourists, IDF-style training for tourists as become a full-fledged industry. (VIDEO)

London Mayor Sadiq Kahn said he spoke with Israeli officials for advice on how to combat urban terrorism in the wake of terror attacks in London and Manchester.

Video on Identifying Equipment Used by Police and Security Forces

As part of the Israeli policy to use excessive and lethal force against Palestinian civilians, who are suspected by Israeli soldiers of intending to carry out stab attacks against the soldiers, on Sunday, 07 May 2017, Israeli forces killed a girl at the southern entrance to the Damascus Gate “al-‘Amoud” in occupied East Jerusalem’s Old City.  The Palestinian Center for Human Rights (PCHR) strongly condemns this heinous crime.  PCHR stresses this crime was committed after the Israeli political and military leaders gave the Israeli soldiers the green light to shed the Palestinian blood in light of the international community’s policy to tolerate Israel for crimes committed by the Israeli soldiers against Palestinian civilians.

On 13 December 2015, at least nine Palestinian students of the Palestine Technical University-Kadoorie in Tulkarm were shot by soldiers of the Israeli Occupation Forces. About 7,000 students receive their higher education at the University, which has been exposed to increasing attacks by the IOF, particularly since autumn 2015. Despite the fact that the University’s land is within Area A, as defined in the Oslo Accords, putting it under full Palestinian Authority, about 23 dunums of the land are used by the Israelis as a military training area. As a consequence, soldiers are continuously present on campus, which is leading to frequent violence against Palestinian students. Mohannad Youssef is a 18-years old resident of Nur A-Shams refugee camp, located about 3 kilometers east of the city of Tulkarm, who is one of the victims of December 13.

Mohannad used to study at the Industrial Rehabilitation Center of Tulkarm to become a blacksmith and was visiting friends at Kadoorie University on the day of the shooting. When he was about to leave the University, he was hindered by the escalations taking place between Palestinian students who were throwing stones at the Israeli soldiers, who reacted with live fire. “I just wanted to get back home to have dinner with my family, but there were stones and bullets everywhere so I tried to stay out of the fire and waited for the incident to stop”, Mohannad describes. Standing there, with his arms folded and waiting for the violence to end, the at the time 16-years old boy was approached by a soldier when he suddenly felt pain in his eye. When the paramedics present at the scene saw that Muhannad was injured on his eye, they immediately took him to the public hospital in Tulkarm. “I was so scared, I was under shock and did not realize what happened”, Mohannad explains.

Local human rights defenders in Yapen Island have reported that a special police force unit under command of Yapen District Police allegedly executed the head of the local armed independence group Maikel Marani (28 years) in the early morning hours of 27th March 2017 at Kontinuai Village, Angkaisera District, Yapen Islands Regency.