Jewish settlers throw stones
at Palestinian homes in the West Bank city of
Researched and Compiled by
Said Awadallah,
MPH
Project
Development & Fundraising (PHRMG)
Submitted by
The Palestinian Human Rights Monitoring
Group (PHRMG)
Tel. +972-2-582 3372 Fax +972-2-582
3385
The Palestinian Human Rights
Monitoring Group (PHRMG) is a Palestinian, independent, non-governmental
organization working to end human rights violations committed against
Palestinians in the West Bank,
I. Overview
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Established
in July 2001 by the PHRMG, the first progress report was published in December
2002; the second report assessed the progress of the Hotline from December 2002
to October 2003 and this General report is to give a narrative on the project
throughout a period of one year from 01 May 2003 to 30 April 2004.
Even
those few legal rights and protections to which Palestinians are entitled by
Israeli law are largely being ignored by the Israeli police. The double
standard of Israeli law enforcement is not a result of local or private
initiatives by an individual policeman or a single police station, but is a
consequence of Israeli apartheid, which applies two sets of legal systems, one
for Palestinians and one for Jews living in the same territory based on their
nationality. We believe that the double standard with which the Israeli police
and other law enforcement agencies deal with the crimes committed by settlers
against Palestinians, as described in the following sections, should be
strongly and openly condemned. However we wish to emphasize that it is not
surprising that this double standard exists; on the contrary, this undeclared
discrimination is part of the wider discriminatory legal system which
The
Palestinian Human Right Monitoring Group’s (PHRMG) findings show that the
Israeli settler violence in the
The
Settlers Watch Hotline had and still has three main based components in
assisting victims of settlements and settlers:
(1) 24 hour access by phone;
(2) Follow-up to support victims;
(3) Legal education component (Know Your Rights).
From statistics gathered from the
PHRMG database, the following table shows the numbers of murders committed by
settlers throughout 2000 to 2003. This report will go on to illustrate by way
of case studies the different types of crimes committed by settlers including
attacks resulting in moderate to serious injury, several reports of shooting
incidents and damage to property.
6 Killed in the year
2000 12
Killed in the year 2001 4 Killed in the year
2002 3 Killed in the year
2003
During the first months of the al-Aqsa Intifada six Palestinian
fatalities killed by Israeli settlers, showing a tende ncy, that if not
tackled, could worsen. The following year, the numbers of fatalities killed by
settlers was also extremely high, but proportionally lower than the first
months of the Intifada. In the following years the number of fatalities
decreased considerably. It is worth
mentioning however that despite the decrease in the number of fatalities,
violence against Palestinians remains, and incidents such as stone throwing or
damaging property are still affecting Palestinian every-day life.
II. Overall
Summary:
Palestinian victims are more
likely to file complaints knowing that there is a legal unit ready to defend and
assert their rights. Severe restrictions on freedom of movement for
Palestinians have made it increasingly difficult to reach police stations to
file complaints or to make statements. In addition the Israeli army and police
routinely ignore or dismiss complaints made by Palestinians. Palestinian
victims are consequently often reluctant to contact the Israeli police or
army. Israeli army and law
enforcement agencies’ refusal to intervene in ongoing incidents of
violence, open investigations or bring settler offenders to justice has deeply
affected the work of our legal unit.
There is still a great need for a Palestinian service which
attempts to ensure a swift reaction to the settler attacks by the Israeli army
and police.
“The legal unit of
the PHRMG hopes to continue its work in protecting the Palestinian people from
further human rights violations”.
As a
result settlers enjoy virtual impunity. The Israeli army almost never
intervenes to stop or apprehend settlers who attack Palestinians. PHRMG takes
the view that these factors are a principle cause of continuing settler
violence. Following a methodical analysis of each one of our cases, we
have come to the conclusion that settler violence against Palestinians is still
a serious and ongoing problem, and that the Israeli army and law enforcement
agencies, which have a legal duty both under International and Israeli law to
protect Palestinians under their control,[1]
have sadly failed again in this
regard.
Project Objectives Progress
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1. Project Objectives Progress
The
first objective of the Settlers Watch Hotline was and is still to
encourage Palestinians, both victims and witnesses, to report their complaints
of illegal settler activity. This has been accomplished by publicity in the
local media.
The
first step in achieving this was publicizing the existence of the Hotline,
which was carried out in the Palestinian newspapers (al-Hayat al-Jedidah,
al-Ayam), local T.V. (al-Nawras [Hebron], Nablus TV and radio (Nablus FM).
Two
types of advertisements were published:
1.
A first
announcing the opening and the purpose of the Hotline.
2.
A second
outlining Palestinian rights as well as encouraging Palestinians to file
complaints directly to the police (contact information of local authorities was
provided), or through the Hotline.
The existence and the purpose of the Hotline were also publicized by PHRMG field researchers, who posted information to local universities, hospitals and local village councils.
These advertisements did
reach the public who seemed to have been waiting for such assistance for a long
time. After the publication of each advertisement waves of complaints were
reported to the Hotline from different parts of the West Bank, especially the
most affected areas, such as Hebron city area, whose residents have been
affected by settler violence for a long time.
At
the beginning, documented complaints were taken by a Palestinian Counselor,
fluent in Arabic, Hebrew and English, who recorded the calls on a Complaint
Intake Form on which he (Counselor) firstly confirmed the incident by
contacting the local Palestinian authorities or a PHRMG fieldworker; he then
contacted the Israeli law enforcement agencies (Israeli Army or Police) or the
District Coordination Office (DCO) as appropriate.
Now
project field workers take testimonies on site from the affected person/s (as
part of a documentation procedure) and verify the occurrence of the incident;
then a complaint is filed with the police and finally the case is followed up
by the legal unit of the Hotline (example cases are to be later given in this report).
Since
its inception, the Hotline has worked on and followed up more than 368
different settler violence complaints including cases resubmitted and reopened
by Legal Unit of the PHRMG. PHRMG is currently waiting for police and court
responses to 78 of those cases. In most of these cases, victims have filed a
criminal complaint either with the Israeli police or Israeli DCO. Despite initial reluctance in many of
these cases the Hotline counselor and/or the PHRMG field researcher have been
successful in convincing victims of the importance of filing an official
complaint. (It is acknowledged that those who call the Hotline in the first
place are, by definition, more inclined to file complaints.
Recently,
many issues have obstructed the filing of complaints:
The effect of the media coverage was successful at the
beginning and during the following year, but the uprising, the consequences of
the wall as well as fear of the army and police force greatly affected
Palestinian citizens. This has left a need to raise awareness amongst
Palestinians about their legal rights under international law and to complain
about incidents.
The second objective was and still is putting pressure on Israeli authorities
to intervene in cases of illegal settler activities as well as increasing the
effectiveness of their intervention.
The PHRMG can point to the
following examples of success in this area:
- The PHRMG has successfully intervened (in cases where
the attack is ongoing) with the relevant Israeli District Coordination
Office (DCO) to ensure that Israeli law enforcement agencies stop the
attacks. This took lengthy follow up and efforts being actually
implemented on the ground.
- The PHRMG is also in constant and direct contact with
the West Bank and Jerusalem District police as well as the State’s
Attorney to monitor police investigation and prosecution of settler
violence cases where a criminal complaint has been filed or where cases
risk to be closed by police on the basis of insufficient evidence. In some
cases, Israeli law enforcement agencies have been more responsive than
anticipated to requests forwarded by the PHRMG, although the need to
monitor these responses remains due to recent events in the area and the
effect of the wall on civilians’ life.
Furthermore,
regarding the Israeli Police and Israeli law in the Occupied Palestinian
Territories, the following can be pointed out:
The Israeli police are divided into 6
districts, each of them having the responsibility to maintain law, order and security
in their own geographical area of jurisdiction:
Northern District, Central District,
Tel-Aviv District, Jerusalem District, Southern District and the Judea and
Samaria District.
In charge of all these 6 districts and branches is the
Police National Headquarter, in which the
Judea and Samaria District[2]
police has the jurisdiction over most of the Occupied Palestinian Territories.
SHAI
District spreads over an area of 5,500 square kilometers of the occupied West
Bank. 1,500,000 Palestinians and over 170,000 Jewish settlers are currently
living within SHAI jurisdiction. As the following map illustrates, SHAI
district itself is divided into four regional police stations: two regional
stations, Hebron and Someria, and two additional stations, Binyamin and
Ma’ale Edumim. Police responsibilities in SHAI District, as quoted from
the official police website, are “…to detect and prevent crime,
to enforce road traffic law and maintain road safety, and to deal with public
order disruptions by both Jews and Arabs.”[3]
A careful reading provided by SHAI
police stated responsibilities reveals one of the most important apparatuses of
Israeli occupation:
“Separate – Unequal
- Legal Systems for Jews and Palestinians living in the same territory or in
short apartheid”.
The stated police responsibility “to
deal with public order’s disruptions by both Jews and Arabs,”
does not entitle the police to treat public order disruptions by Arabs and Jews
equally. This lack of police commitment to equality before the
law is, however, not an internal police issue, but is endemic in the Israeli
legal system in the Occupied Territories.
Law Vs Order This is the deal: Police do as much as they can to prevent cases from reaching
Police Prosecuting Unit (Tviot SHAI) or the District Attorney. They
investigate as little as they can. In cases of murder where evidence are so bold (that it cannot be
disregarded) the file is transferred to the DA, but still lacks part or a
portion of the important evidence. This way, despite the transferring of
the file to the DA, the DA can close it for lack or insufficient evidence. Police lame work enables the court to find the aggressor not
guilty, or guilty of only minor charges. Adding to that, there is the
prosecutor, who is assigned by the state. Long time consuming, hard working and efforts are lost because
of that, not forgetting the judicial system delays that could extend up to
years.
(Map from http://www.police.gov.il/)
“
Despite the fact that Israel
remains obligated under international law to protect the lives (as well as the
persons and property) of all Palestinians under its control,[4]
its legal system in the Occupied Territories fails to do so. In 1995, responsibility for providing
law and order in the West Bank and Gaza was divided between Israel and the
Palestinian Authority (PA). The Occupied Territories were divided up into areas
A, B and C, with Israel having total security responsibility over area C, as
well as overall security responsibility for the protection of Israeli citizens
and confronting the threat of terrorism in area B, and the PA having security
responsibility over area A. [5]
Palestinians committing crimes
in areas A and B generally fall under the PA’s criminal jurisdiction; they
are investigated by the Palestinian police and summoned before Palestinian
courts.[6]
However, Palestinians committing crimes in area C, as well as all Israeli
citizens committing crimes anywhere in the Occupied Territories, come under
Israeli criminal jurisdiction.[7]
Article XI, paragraph 4(d) of the Israeli-Palestinian Interim Agreement
mandates that “Israelis shall under no circumstances be apprehended or
placed in custody or prison by Palestinian authorities.” As most of the
Palestinian attacks against settlers occurs in area C, both Palestinians who
assault Israelis and Israelis who assault Palestinians are generally summoned
before Israeli courts. However, Palestinians are called into military courts
under military orders,[8]
while Israeli settlers are tried under Israeli civilian penal law in regular
and civil criminal courts. Civilian criminal courts come under the jurisdiction
of the Ministry of Justice, while military courts come under the Ministry of
Defense.
The resulting reality is that
two legal systems operate side-by-side in the Occupied Territories – one
for Palestinians and one for Israelis.[9]
The existence of these two different (and unequal) legal systems
institutionalizes – and also obscures –discrimination in the
treatment of Palestinians and Israelis in the criminal justice system. Israelis and Palestinians accused of
identical offenses are tried according to different laws. Moreover, the
existing law is often applied in a discriminatory manner. [10]
As Israeli criminal defendants
are tried in Israel, under the Israeli Penal Code, they are granted the full
panoply of rights guaranteed by Israeli civilian law These rights are absent
from the military justice system applied to Palestinians residing in the same
territory. Disparities and inequities
exist at every stage of the criminal justice process.[11]
The period of detention of a suspect before being brought before a court, the
right to meet with an attorney, the defenses available to a defendant, the
maximum sentence set by law, and release on parole before serving a full
sentence – all of these differ in the two systems of law, with the
Israeli civilian system granting more extensive and wider rights”12.
The
third objective was and still is to
provide a legal follow-up to serious cases brought to the attention of the
Hotline:
Although
it had been initially planned to refer cases to organizations specialized in
providing legal services, the PHRMG has established a proper Legal Unit, and
hired two lawyers to pursue the cases. The Legal Unit has become an integral
part of the Settlers Watch Hotline.
In parallel, the PHRMG is working with lawyers from the Society of
St. Yves, to which the PHRMG has forwarded 4 cases involving land
confiscation, property destruction, and theft and poisoning of cattle and
sheep.
The fourth objective was to contact all of
the other organizations currently working on issues related to settler violence
to avoid duplication of efforts and to increase progress towards cooperation:
The organizations that have
expressed their interest in this project and have cooperated with during the
project cycle are:
·
The Society
of St Yves (Palestinian-International organization) is providing legal
assistance, particularly in cases of land confiscation;
·
Bat
Shalom (Israeli Organization) to provide
Israeli volunteers to accompany Palestinian victims of settler violence to
Israeli police stations located inside settlements, if necessary;
·
The Alternative
Information Center (Palestinian-Israeli Organization) to share information
and outreach activities, and to have their fieldworkers in Bethlehem and Hebron
refer appropriate cases to the Hotline for follow-up;
·
The Christian
Peacemaker Team (CPT) (International organization) to publicize the
existence of the Hotline in Hebron and to refer cases of settler violence to
the PHRMG.
·
Peace
Now (Israeli organization) to receive
information on settlement expansion, and on incidents of settler violence where
Israeli soldiers are involved (Peace Now is mainly a political
organization);
·
The Jerusalem
Center For Human Rights (JCHR) set up “Know-your-Rights”
seminars with the PHRMG, moderated by both PHRMG and JCHR personnel, aimed to
raise consciousness of the Palestinian community about their rights and the
problem of settler violence;
·
Save
the Children (International organization) which
was concerned about the specific needs of child victims of settler violence,
and worked with the PHRMG on special “Know-your-Rights” seminars
targeting children.
2. Findings
and Outcomes:
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The
PHRMG has evaluated the success of the project on the basis of five relevant
indicators: (a) statistics showing numbers of attacks; (b) analysis of the Israeli authorities’ responses to
the attacks; (c) the degree and will of Palestinian victims to utilize the
existing complaints mechanisms and their ability to continue its utilization;
(d) responses and cooperation with other NGOs interested in the subject; (e)
general public’s awareness about settler violence which indicates
people’s understanding of their rights.
The
following results were acquired:
(a)
Attack Statistics and Number of Occurrences:
Statistics on our database indicate a fluctuation
in the number of incidents of settler attacks since the existence
of the Settlers Watch Hotline. This trend potentially indicates the
effect of the current situation without forgetting the past 3 years. Furthermore the “Road Map”
and wall’s effect is starting to be evident on the ground.
The
following statistics show the number of complaints and incidents (1st
indicator):
Number of Complains and Incidents
reported to PHRMG by year Year
2001 Year
2002 Year
2003 106 124 106 Stratified
by Status Stratified by Status Stratified by Status Police Court Open Closed Police Court Open Closed Police Court Open Closed 92 14 4 102 124 101 16 108 86 20 33 72 Year
2004 32 3 Years Overall sum is Stratified
by Status 368 Police Court Open Closed Stratified
by Status 27 5 25 7