Group Alleges Jenin Abuses

Amnesty International claimed Monday it has evidence of human rights abuses by Israeli forces in the Jenin refugee camp, including the possible use of Palestinian detainees as human shields.

Amnesty, which recently began an investigation in the heavily damaged camp on the West Bank, said an international investigation must be held to determine whether Israeli forces violated humanitarian laws or committed war crimes during a recent offensive.

However, the London-based human rights group said that its preliminary investigation had found no evidence of mass graves in the camp. It did not present Monday any of the evidence it said its investigators have come up with.

Amnesty also questioned whether the United Nations, which is sending a fact-finding mission to the Jenin area, is prepared to fully investigate what happened and publicize any findings.

The United Nations has described the refugee camp as a disaster zone, and U.S. Mideast envoy William Burns called it a "terrible human tragedy" after visiting the camp.

"We have concluded on a preliminary basis that very serious violations of international law have occurred in Jenin, and we're talking about possible war crimes," Javier Zuniga, an Amnesty director, said at a news conference in London.

The Jenin camp was the scene of some of the worst fighting during the 3-week-old Israeli offensive in the West Bank, launched against militant groups responsible for suicide bombings and other attacks that have killed some 470 Israelis.

Jenin hospital officials have said that 45 bodies have been recovered, and more were likely to be found in the debris of the camp.

Palestinians claim that hundreds of people died in the refugee camp and remain beneath the rubble or are buried in mass graves.

Israel says it worked hard to minimize civilian casualties and estimates that dozens of Palestinians, mostly fighters, were killed.

"The claim by Israel that only combatants were killed is simply not true," said Derrick Pounder, a professor of forensic medicine at Dundee University in Scotland, who conducted several autopsies on victims in Jenin as part of the Amnesty investigation.

Given what seemed to be the smell of corpses in the rubble of the camp, he said, "There must be many more bodies under the rubble."

Pounder said an independent investigation must determine if mass killings took place in Jenin of combatants and civilians, but he also said no sign of mass graves had been found in the refugee camp.

In all, Amnesty officials said, the group's investigation of the heavy fighting in Jenin, which lasted eight days, ending April 11, found evidence of many alleged human rights abuses, including:

Failure by Israeli forces to warn civilians of pending helicopter attacks and to allow them to flee the area.

The possibility that some Palestinian detainees were used as human shields.

The failure to allow humanitarian groups to help seriously wounded Palestinians, and shooting by Israeli soldiers at some ambulances.