UN Human Rights Office "Deeply Disturbed" by Israeli Soldier's Manslaughter Sentence, Not Palestinian Terrorism

On February 24, 2017, the spokesperson for the UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) issued a press release condemning the sentencing of Israeli soldier Elor Azariya, who was convicted of manslaughter for shooting a wounded Palestinian terrorist who had stabbed a soldier, as too "lenient". The Tel Aviv Military Court sentenced Azariya to 18 months imprisonment for manslaughter on February 21, 2017.

The press release argues that the judicial sentencing of an Israeli soldier for manslaughter is an indication of Israel's "culture of impunity" - while failing to note that the Palestinian Authority has not charged a single Palestinian for the hundreds of car ramming, stabbing, and shooting terror attacks against Israelis since October 2015. Indeed, the press release does not mention Israeli victims at all. Instead, the press release mentions only the numbers of Palestinians killed in that period, while ignoring the fact that the vast majority of Palestinians were killed while committing or attempting to commit terror attacks.

In the words of the press release:

"We are deeply disturbed at the lenient sentence given by the Tel Aviv Military Court earlier this week to an Israeli soldier convicted of unlawfully killing a wounded Palestinian in an apparent extrajudicial execution of an unarmed man who clearly posed no imminent threat...More than 200 Palestinians have been killed by the Israeli security forces since the most recent upsurge in violence began in the West Bank in September 2015... This case risks undermining confidence in the justice system and reinforcing the culture of impunity."