Adalah to AG: Investigate serious violations in police practices against Palestinian Arab demonstrators in Israel during the summer of 2014
On 15 September 2014, Adalah sent a detailed letter to the Attorney General (AG) Yehuda Weinstein demanding the opening of investigations into the practices of Israeli police against Palestinian Arab citizen demonstrators in the summer of 2014, particularly during the events that followed the killing of Palestinian teenager Mohammed Abu Khdeir in East Jerusalem, and during Israel's military offensive on the Gaza Strip.
Adalah Attorney Aram Mahameed, who prepared the letter, emphasized that the number of Arab and anti-war demonstrators detained by Israeli police totaled about 1,500 people, 350 of whom have been indicted. He argued that this data alone is sufficient reason to investigate the police's practices against the demonstrators. The letter stated: "This issue is very important, especially because it relates to a basic constitutional right of freedom of expression. District Court judges have critiqued the police's treatment of demonstrators in these cases, as it appears that in some cases, the police arrested demonstrators without having the slightest reason to do so."
Attorney Mahameed detailed the most serious illegal practices used by the police to suppress the protests, based on the testimonies of demonstrators collected by Adalah and from the detention cases in which Adalah represented protestors.
Dispersing the demonstrations illegally
In most cases, the police's efforts to disperse the demonstrations were illegal. "In many cases, the demonstrations were dispersed because they did not have a permit, but these types of demonstrations did not require a permit according to the law." For example, on 13 June 2014 the police dispersed a demonstration attended by 40 protesters on Ben-Gurion Street in Haifa in solidarity with hunger-striking Palestinian administrative detainees. Police dispersed the demonstration, announcing that it was illegal and thus arrested protesters on this basis, despite the fact that the demonstration did not need a license.
Illegal arrests
The police used illegal practices to carry out arrests. Adalah recorded numerous cases in which police arrested activists a day before a demonstration was to be held, or even a few minutes before they arrived. On 7 July 2014, for example, the police arrested political activists in Akka (Acre) as they made their way to the location of the protest.
Restrictive conditions to prevent demonstrations
In many cases, the police took advantage of the possibility of imposing restrictive conditions on demonstrators who were arrested, by offering to release them with conditions but without having to go to court. In most of these cases, it appears that the restrictive conditions were not aimed at completing the investigation, since the police did not call on the protesters for any further questioning. This reinforces the belief that the restrictive conditions, such as restraining orders and house arrest, were primarily intended to prevent the demonstrators from exercising their right to protest. For example, on 7 July 2014, Majdi Mansour was arrested at his home in Tira. After his interrogation, the police decided to release him on restrictive conditions including bail and barring him from his home for several days, without any sufficient reason for his arrest.
Secret material in "Facebook arrests"
In many cases, police arrested political activists solely on the basis of comments they published on social networking sites such as Facebook. In court, the police refused to reveal the evidence relating to the charge to the defense team, asserting that it was "secret". This absurd situation occurred on 7 July 2014 with Raja Ighbariyeh, who was arrested on charges of inciting to violence and terrorism with a post on his private Facebook page.
Arrests of children
The police detained a large number of Palestinian children, citizens of Israel, who were arrested and interrogated in flagrant violation of their rights. These violations against minors included conducting arrests and investigations during the late hours of the night, preventing children from meeting with a lawyer, and preventing parents from being present with their children during the investigation, as required by law.
Attorney Mahameed concluded that: "The Israeli police practices against Arab citizens constitute a serious violation of their fundamental, civil and political constitutional rights, most notably the right of freedom of expression, right to protest, freedom of association, and the personal freedom of participants in a protest. They also deliver a dangerous message by warning and threatening the Arab public from participating in any protest activity that contradicts the opinion of the [Jewish Israeli] majority."
