2022-02-15
The occupation municipality in Jerusalem and the Nature Authority target not only the house and the ongoing demolition, but also encroach on Palestinian cemeteries in the city, such as the Ma’man Allah cemetery, the Yusufiya cemetery, and other historical cemeteries spread around Jerusalem. By the municipality and the occupation forces in Jerusalem, like other Islamic cemeteries in the city, Yusufiya cemetery is desecrated sometimes by Jews who break into it and write anti-Arab expressions, and vandalize the landmarks of the graves in it, in addition to restricting burials in it, a wall was built to the north from the cemetery, which limits the natural process of its expansion, and prevents Jerusalemites from building new tombs for their dead. Four cemeteries, which were attacked and the municipality tried to remove them, but the families of the deceased have stood firm in the face of these attempts. This is what happened in 2014, when the occupation in 2014 prevented burial in its northern part and removed twenty graves belonging to Jordanian soldiers who were martyred in 1967 in what is known as the Martyrs’ Cemetery and the monument to the Unknown Soldier.
As for these days, in addition to the permanent presence of Jewish groups in the place, the municipality intends to close the cemetery’s access to the Jerusalemites, and to conduct deep excavations that sometimes reach deep archaeological levels close to the foundations of Bab al-Asbat. The municipality bulldozers also demolish the walls surrounding the cemetery Adjacent to Bab al-Asbat and the removal of some of its historical landmarks, under false pretexts aimed at restricting the city's residents and besieging their natural daily life activities.
In addition, the municipality is constantly bulldozing cemeteries and changing the features of the cemetery in order to obliterate them, as happened in 2021, when the municipality attacked the place and carried out acts of sabotage, including demolishing walls and exhuming old and modern graves, and demolishing some of them. All of these sabotage operations aim to Judaize the cemetery and turn it into a large project called the Biblical Garden.
It should be noted here that the Yusufiya cemetery or the Bab al-Asbat (Lions Gate) is located to the east of the walls of the city of Jerusalem. It is called Yusufiya cemetery or Bab al-Asbat cemetery in relation to its presence next to and to the north of Bab al-Asbat, the size of about 25 dunams, and it extends on a thin cone-shaped land. North, and street crosses its length from north to south, with a width of approximately 4 meters. It is surrounded by the city wall from the west, the Bab al-Rahma cemetery from the south, the main street connecting to Abu Dis from the east and a short cut of the road from the north. The cemetery contains many tombs of Jerusalem families, its history extending from the Ayyubid period to the present day, as it is likely to be called Yusufiyah to Salah al-Din al-Ayyubi, the Fatih of Jerusalem (Yusuf ibn Ayyub ibn Shadhi ibn Marwan ibn Ya`qub al-Duwayni al-Tikriti). The cemetery includes a type of mass graves, which accommodates many members of one family. The cemetery includes a number of landmarks, including the memorial to the martyrs of the 1967 war in its north, and a memorial to the martyrs of the first al-Aqsa massacre in 1990. A large number of the tombs of the Jerusalem family at the present time are being used.
The cemeteries and the tombs in the international law:
Rule 115. Disposal of the Dead
Rule 115. The dead must be disposed of in a respectful manner and their graves respected and properly maintained.
Volume II, Chapter 35, Section D.
State practice establishes this rule as a norm of customary international law applicable in both international and non-international armed conflicts.
The obligation to dispose of the dead respectfully was first codified in the 1929 Geneva Conventions.[1] It is now dealt with in detail in the 1949 Geneva Conventions.[2]
Many military manuals specify that the dead must be disposed of decently.[3] This obligation is set forth in the legislation of most, if not all, States.[4] It was upheld in 2002 by Israel’s High Court in the Jenin (Mortal Remains) case.[5]
The above-mentioned treaty provisions also require that graves be respected and properly maintained. Additional Protocol I adds that the parties must conclude agreements to protect and maintain gravesites permanently.[6] The requirement to respect and maintain gravesites is also laid down in numerous military manuals.[7]
Non-international armed conflicts
The obligation to dispose of the dead decently in non-international armed conflicts is set forth in Additional Protocol II.[8] In addition, this rule is contained in other instruments pertaining also to non-international armed conflicts.[9]
A number of military manuals which are applicable in or have been applied in non-international armed conflicts specify that the dead must be disposed of decently.[10] The legislation of most, if not all, States requires respect for this rule.[11] It may be said that this rule reflects a general principle of law requiring respect for the dead and their graves.
No official contrary practice was found with respect to either international or non-international armed conflicts. A reported case of the disrespectful disposal of dead civilians in Papua New Guinea was condemned by the UN Special Rapporteur on Extrajudicial, Summary or Arbitrary Executions.[12]
It is also likely that further detailed rules supporting the requirement of decent disposal of the dead and respect and proper maintenance of their gravesites are contained in domestic legislation.
The Geneva Conventions specify that the dead must be buried, if possible, according to the rites of the religion to which they belonged and that they may only be cremated in exceptional circumstances, namely because of imperative reasons of hygiene, on account of the religion of the deceased or in accordance with the express wish of the deceased.[13] The Geneva Conventions furthermore require that, in principle, burial should be in individual graves. Collective graves may only be used when circumstances do not permit the use of individual graves or, in case of burial of prisoners of war or civilian internees, because unavoidable circumstances require the use of collective graves.[14] Lastly, the Geneva Conventions require that graves be grouped according to nationality if possible.[15] These requirements are also set forth in numerous military manuals.[16]
It is likely that some of these requirements also apply in non-international armed conflicts on the basis of national law. In 1995, for example, Colombia’s Council of State held that the deceased must be buried individually subject to all the requirements of the law, and not in mass graves.[17].
Resource:
https://ihl-databases.icrc.org/customary-ihl/eng/docs/v1_rul_rule115
