Israeli soldiers go unprosecuted
Maan News Agency, October 21, 2009
News of the recent arrest of an Israeli soldier accused of beating Mohammaed Khatib, secretary of the Bil’in Village Council and a prominent member of Bil’in’s Popular Committee Against the Wall and Settlements, was met with little enthusiasm in the Palestinian community.
“While I was happy to hear that one of my assailants was arrested,” Khatib said, “the real problem is much wider—the nighttime raids directed against organizers and participants of grassroots protest in Bil’in and other villages; that Israel employs military means against civilians. 28 [Palestinians] have been arrested in Bil’in in the past three months and there has almost always been use of unjustified violence. To the best of my knowledge, this is the only case to have been seriously investigated.”
Khatib’s response points to a sentiment voiced by both Palestinians and human rights groups—that the Israeli army seems to operate with impunity in Palestinian areas. And new findings released by the Israeli human rights organization Yesh Din (trans: There is judgment) indicates that this feeling may, in fact, be based on reality.
Yesh Din is currently monitoring 130 complaints against Israeli soldiers that have been filed with the Military Police Criminal Investigations Department (MPCID). All of the cases allege that Israeli soldiers behaved violently towards Palestinian civilians; in some of the cases, the soldiers stand accused of using a firearm.
To date the Military Advocate for Operational Affairs (MAOA)—which serves as the prosecuting body and, in special cases, the investigative committee as well—has not decided whether or not to investigate 23 of the files (18%). One of these complaints was lodged over a year ago; eight of the cases were sent to the MAOA between six and twelve months ago.
In 53 cases, the MAOA has completed investigations but has continued to delay the indictment of the soldiers or closing of the files.
The story of 17-year-old H.G., of the West Bank village Tuqu, is among them. On 13 September 2008, H.G. was allegedly shot and killed by an Israeli soldier. Yesh Din filed a complaint with the MPCID almost immediately; on October 5, 2008, Yesh Din received word that the case had been transferred to the MAOA. Over a year later, the MAOA has yet to decide if it will conduct a criminal investigation.
In December of 2008, a 14-year-old boy, Y.M. was allegedly shot in the head with a rubber bullet by a member of the Israeli forces. Though the boy survived, his injuries were severe and Yesh Din brought the case to the MPCID. At this time, there has been no investigation of the incident.
Such slow processing makes it unlikely that justice will be served. Lior Yavne, Yesh Din’s research director, explains, “When cases are stuck in the pipeline for so long, even if [the MAOA] decides to prosecute, the memory of the witnesses may have deteriorated—it makes the work for the defense attorney very easy.” Additionally, as time passes, forensic evidence might be damaged or may disappear altogether, hindering the investigation.
Yesh Din’s 2008 report, “Exceptions,” found that from 2000 to 2007, only six percent of the 1,246 files opened by the MPCID ended in indictments. In only 40% of the cases—less than half—were criminal investigations pursued. During the same eight year period, “Exceptions” states, over 2000 Palestinian civilians were killed in incidents that were not related to combat. Up to the time of the release of the report, there had been 13 indictments with only five soldiers convicted.
Michael Sfard, Yesh Din’s legal adviser, comments, “When the decision whether to open an investigation drags on for months, there is no chance the investigation will bear fruit; when the decision whether to indict drags on for years, there is no chance of a just trial. The result is that the [Israeli forces] and the state of Israel are derelict in their obligation to defend the human rights of the residents of the Occupied Territories.”