NEWS UPDATE 2 August 2002 Adalah Petitions Supreme Court to Rescind Warnings Against Arab Public Representatives On 21 July 2002, Adalah filed a petition to the Supreme Court against the Official Commission of Inquiry into the October 2000 protest demonstrations (hereafter "the Commission"), seeking the cancellation of warnings issued by the Commission against three Arab public representatives. The petition was filed on behalf of the three warned Arab public representatives, Member of Knesset (MK) Dr. Azmi Bishara (National Democratic Assembly party); MK Abdel-Malik Dehamshe (United Arab List); and Sheikh Ra'ed Salah, the leader of the Islamic movement in Israel. The Committee of the Martyrs' Families, the High Follow-Up Committee for Arab Citizens in Israel, and Adalah are also petitioners in the case. In the petition, Adalah Staff Attorney Marwan Dalal argued that the warnings issued against MK Bishara, MK Dehamshe and Sheikh Ra'ed Salah constitute a breach of power by the Commission and are discriminatory. Adalah argued that the warnings issued against the three Arab public representatives are illegal and should be rescinded, for the following reasons: The inclusion in the Commission's mandate of a directive to investigate "the behavior of the inciters, organizers and participants" in the October 2000 events violates Israeli law and is inconsistent with the mandates of past commissions of inquiry. The Commission implemented its mandate in a discriminatory manner, in choosing to investigate the involvement of the Arab public representatives while ignoring the actions of Jewish political figures, such as the provocative visit of then-MK Ariel Sharon to al-Haram al-Sharif compound in Jerusalem in September 2000. The Commission breached its powers by questioning the Arab public representatives on their political positions and agendas. In this regard the Commission again discriminated, asking such questions only of the Arab public representatives. The Commission violated the Arab public representatives' rights to due process in refusing to give them access to undisclosed information relevant to the warnings issued against them. The same information was made available, however, to other warnees, including former Prime Minister Ehud Barak, former police commissioner Yehuda Vilk, and former Northern District police Commander Major General Alik Ron, all of whom gave testimony, during the initial phase of the Commission hearings, which was hostile to the Arab public representatives. The information was also made available to former Minister of Internal Security Shlomo Ben-Ami. Adalah argued in the petition that, in the event that the Court refuses the petitioners' request to rescind the warnings, the Commission should specify to the three Arab public representatives precisely which evidentiary materials served as the basis for the warnings against them. Further, Adalah argued that the Court should either give the three warned petitioners access to undisclosed materials that are relevant to the warnings against them, or, alternatively, deny access to these materials to all warnees. In a motion submitted to the Commission on 12 March 2002, Adalah also requested the cancellation of the warnings against the Arab public representatives, arguing, inter alia, that the Commission had relied on undisclosed materials gathered and submitted by the General Security Services (GSS) and other government intelligence agencies in a discriminatory manner. In rejecting this motion on 14 March 2002, the Commission claimed that it had not based any of its warnings on undisclosed evidence. However, the Commission subsequently contradicted this claim in a decision issued on 19 May 2002, when previously undisclosed information gathered by the GSS was released to the warned Arab public representatives. According to the Commission, this material is relevant to the warnings issued against the Arab public representatives; more specifically, the Commission stated that the material relates to the warnees' responsibility for the October 2000 events. Adalah is concerned by this clear inconsistency in the Commission's statements regarding the use of undisclosed information as the basis for warnings issued against the three Arab public representatives. Adalah strongly objects to the Commission's reliance on undisclosed materials. Governmental intelligence agencies have submitted over 120 items of evidence to the Commission. Much of this evidence remains undisclosed, yet it contributes substantively to the Commission's investigation, frequently to the detriment of the Arab public representatives. For example, at a Commission hearing on 28 January 2002, Justice Or drew on an undisclosed expert opinion in analyzing a poem written in Arabic by Sheikh Ra'ed Salah. Justice Or does not understand Arabic; he could only have based his unfavorable analysis of the poem on the expert opinion, which Sheikh Ra'ed Salah did not have access to and, therefore, could not challenge. The petition will be heard on 4 August 2002. The three Arab public representatives are scheduled to begin testifying before the Commission's warnings phase in the second week of August. MK Azmi Bishara will testify on 6 August 2002, MK Abdel-Malik Dehamshe on 8 August 2002, and Sheikh Ra'ed Salah on 12 August 2002. See also Adalah News Updates:  Commission Rejects Adalah's Motion to Rescind Warnings Against Arab Leaders - 24 March 2002  Adalah Files a Motion to the Commission to Rescind Warnings Against Arab Leaders - 13 March 2002  Adalah: Warnings Issued By Commission to Arab Leaders Are Illegal and Based on Irrelevant Considerations - 28 February 2002  Print this page  Close this window