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Opening Remarks |
This month, Adalah published its report “The Accused,” which addresses the failures of the law enforcement authorities – first and foremost the Ministry of Justice’s Police Investigation Unit (“Mahash”) – in investigating the killings of 13 Palestinian citizens of Israel and the injury of hundreds of others during the October 2000 protest demonstrations. In response, the Attorney General (AG) argued that Adalah's submission of an independent report instead of an official appeal to him is inappropriate. As is well-known, however, the body nominated by the AG to re-examine Mahash's report of September 2005 is under the authority of the State Attorney, Eran Shendar, who was the Director of Mahash in October 2000 and after. Immediately after the publication of Mahash's report, the AG and Shendar held a press conference at which they expressed their full support for Mahash. In our correspond- ence with the AG on behalf of the families of the October 2000 victims, Adalah argued that the establishment of a re-examination body subordinate to the State Attorney not only violates the principle that 'justice must be seen to be done' but also constitutes an extreme conflict of interest. It also violates the families' right to due process and to a neutral and independent instance of appeal. Despite all Adalah's correspondence, the AG has to date taken no measure to grant the families an appropriate and fair appeal process. |
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Conference Invitation |
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