Adalah Confronts Ben Ami on Cross-Examination Before the Commission: Reveals Official Document Outlining Ways That Ben Ami Should "Cover Himself"
During yesterday's hearing at the Commission of Inquiry into the October 2000 events, Adalah confronted former Minister of Internal Security Shlomo Ben Ami with a document outlining ways in which the Minister should "cover himself" (according to the wording explicitly used in the document's title) in the event that he is investigated regarding the killings of Palestinian citizen demonstrators by police in October 2000. Ben Ami denied having seen the document, which was prepared by the Ministry's legal department in October 2000, in anticipation of an investigation to be conducted by a government-appointed Committee of Examination (dissolved prior to the establishment of the Commission of Inquiry in November 2000). It was issued less than a month after 13 Palestinian citizens of Israel were killed by Israeli security forces. This official document of the Ministry of Internal Security, revealed by Adalah for the first time at yesterday's hearing, suggests that the Minister argue that Palestinian citizen demonstrators fired guns at the police, an allegation which is without basis in fact.
Ben Ami testified yesterday in response to a series of warnings issued to him by the Commission on 27 February 2002, advising him that he is liable to be harmed by the Commission's findings regarding his actions or omissions in connection with the protest demonstrations of October 2000. In the warnings, the Commission stated that it appeared that Ben Ami was complicit in the decision to order the police, on 2 October 2000, to use every means necessary to keep the roads open. Seven Palestinian citizens were killed in confrontations arising from the police force's enforcement of this order. Further, the Commission noted that Ben Ami was not sufficiently involved in training and preparing the police for events such as those that occurred in October 2000.
During the hearing, Adalah General Director Hassan Jabareen, Advocate, cross-examined Ben Ami with regards to his general approach to state security, as well as his relationship with the Palestinian community in Israel. Ben Ami testified that relations between the police and Arab citizens have been hostile, and that this has contributed to increased tensions between them, such that police are engaged more often in security tasks than civil tasks vis a vis the Palestinian community. Ben Ami acknowledged that the police perceive Arab citizens as enemies of the state, and that this attitude should change. He did not deny receiving several letters from Arab Members of Knesset prior to October 2000, warning him of increased violence and racism in the police force, and describing specific incidents of police brutality against members of the Arab community. He also did not deny failing to reply to these letters.
Adalah also confronted Ben Ami with a document dated 8 November 2000 which reported that the former Minister announced, at a closed conference for the police leadership, that the ministerial level had supported all the actions taken by the police during the October 2000 events, and that it continued to support them. These statements were made following the deaths of 13 Palestinian citizens of Israel at the hands of the police, and prior to any investigation into the circumstances of the killings.
In response to Ben Ami's claim that he had no knowledge about the deployment of snipers by the police during the October 2000 events, Adalah confronted the former Minister with newspaper articles and television reports dating from 2 October 2000 and after, documenting the involvement of snipers in the suppression of Palestinian citizen demonstrators by police. Among the materials was an advertisement published by Adalah in Ha'aretz newspaper on 10 October 2000, addressed to then-Prime Minister Barak, detailing the use of snipers against Palestinian citizen demonstrators and demanding, consequently, the removal of Ben Ami as Minister of Internal Security. Ben Ami denied having seen any of the materials, and maintained that he had first learned of the use of snipers through testimonies given before the official Commission of Inquiry.
Adalah believes that Ben Ami had a duty to prevent the killings and injury of demonstrators in October 2000, and that he not only failed to do so, but rather legitimized the use of excessive force. Based on national and international legal standards, Adalah maintains that Ben Ami has direct responsibility for the killing of 13 Palestinian citizens of Israel and the injury of hundreds more during these protest demonstrations of October 2000.
