Futile Attempt to Assist Palestinians File Complaints in Hebron

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PHRMG Hotline Update # 4/2002

Jerusalem, February 27, 2002

Many Palestinians contacting the PHRMG Hotline with cases of settler violence have complained of severe difficulties in filing official complaints with the Israeli police. Victims of settler violence are often unable to reach the police stations, usually located within Israeli settlements, because of closure or distance. Others have to travel to the police stations several times before they are finally able to file a complaint. When they are finally able to file a criminal complaint, they discover that police reports are written in Hebrew, and they are required to sign statements without being able to determine their accuracy. We have encountered several cases in which the charged contained in police reports do not accurately reflect the testimony the victim gave to PHRMG.

On Sunday, 17 February, members of PHRMG, the Alternative Information Center (AIC), and the Christian Peacemaker’s Team (CPT) traveled to Hebron to attempt to assist four Palestinian victims of settler violence file complaints with the Kiryat Arba police. They were forced to wait outside the police station for hours and finally were told to come back the following day. The Israeli police refused to schedule appointments and informed the volunteers that they would not be permitted to assist the Palestinian victims by reading the testimonies in Hebrew to ensure their accuracy.

The following is an account of the day’s events as told by an Israeli PHRMG volunteer:

“The Palestinian victims and workers from PHRMG and AIC arrived at the Kiryat Arba police station at 12 noon. The volunteers entered the station from the Israeli entrance and Palestinians from the "locals" entrance, where they joined other Palestinians waiting to file their complaints. From noon until 2 p.m. PHRMG and AIC workers tried to pressure a police investigator to let the four Palestinians into the police station in order to file a complaint. The police investigator assured us the Palestinians would be let in once an investigator became available. We also tried to convince him to let a Hebrew speaking worker go over the testimony before it was signed by the Palestinian complainant. While we waited inside the police station several vulgar remarks were made about us by police personnel and several times police investigators tried to make us leave the station.

For the two hours we were present, the Palestinians wishing to file a complaint were forced to wait outside the police station. Finally, a police investigator approached the Palestinians (some of them waiting since early in the morning) and "recommended" that they come back the next day, as it was "uncertain" that their complaints could be filed that day. For several of them, this was not their first attempt to get the police to accept their complaint.

While waiting inside the police station we noticed a Jewish settler wishing to file a complaint who also waited for at least two hours before it was accepted. However, unlike the Palestinians, he was able to comfortably wait inside the station and eventually had his complaint accepted.

The police initially had difficulty understanding why I was accompanying the Palestinians who were attempting to file complaints. Initially, they assumed that they worked for me. When it became clear to them that I was a human rights activist, their attitude towards me changed, and I could sense their hostility and hatred. After observing the manner in which the Israeli police treated the Palestinians, I felt that if I were in their place, I would not have returned to file a complaint.”

As a result of this first-hand experience, the PHRMG has decided to pursue two courses of action. In the short-term, we will direct Palestinians wishing to file complaints of settler violence to the local DCO (District Coordination Office) in addition to the Israeli police stations, with the hope that filing a complaint there will be easier. At the same time, we are contacting the heads of the Hebron and West Bank police, as well as the Attorney General, in the hope that a less arbitrary, more acceptable complaint procedure can be established. As a last resort, we may have to petition the Israeli High Court to force the police to comply with their duty under Israeli law (Israeli Criminal Law, Article 58, 1982.) The system currently in place, whether or not by design, serves to discourage Palestinians from filing complaints, thereby permitting settlers to violate the law with impunity.

On 18 February 2002, two PHRMG staff traveled to Hebron to conduct a “Know Your Rights” Workshop for women living in the Tal Rumeida area. Approximately 25 women attended the workshop, and talked about the obstacles they have faced in the past when attempting to file complaints with the police. Following the workshop, seven women filed new complaints.