The purpose of this document is to present recommendations for addressing the severe phenomenon of settler violence directed against Palestinians in the city of Hebron, a phenomenon which the Israeli authorities have been consistently lax in confronting.
Settler violence against Palestinians is not unique to Hebron, but also takes place in other locations throughout the West Bank. In general, it is possible to identify two kinds of phenomena: the first is settler violence that occurs in a populated urban setting, and is unique to Hebron; the second is settler violence that is perpetrated on agricultural lands and is directed against farmers who come to work their lands.
This document sets out the fundamental principles that we believe should direct the handling of this phenomenon, as well as the concrete measures that the Israeli authorities are obligated to take. Some are general measures that apply to both forms of settler violence. Other measures are specific and relate to the particular characteristics of Hebron, where a small Jewish population resides in the very heart of a Palestinian population, in a crowded urban environment. The settlers in Hebron cause serious and daily harm to the security and property of the city’s Palestinian residents, and their actions go far beyond any others instigated by settlers in the Occupied Territories.
Background
For years, Israeli military and police forces throughout the West Bank have been faced by the widespread phenomenon of disturbances to the law and order and damages to the security and property of both Palestinians and Israelis. For the purpose of protecting the security of Israelis living in the Occupied Territories, the Israeli security forces have developed and utilized many methods and a variety of enforcement mechanisms in order to respond to the different threats that present themselves. These measures include: the wide-scale and continuous presence of security forces to impose order and supervise law enforcement; security measures; legislative amendments granting additional enforcement authority to the security forces; and instructions and training for the security forces personnel in the field.
In contrast, when it comes to protecting the safety of Palestinians who are subjected to attacks by Israelis, the Israeli law enforcement authorities consistently refrain from employing many of the methods and tools at their disposal – methods which they do use in their efforts to protect Israelis. Moreover, in many instances, the only “response” to incidents of settler violence against Palestinians and their property by the authorities is to employ measures that restrict and harm the Palestinian population itself – the victims of the violence – rather than take any action against the perpetrators. In general, for many years the security forces have preferred to take the “easy road” of imposing severe and prolonged restrictions on Palestinian residents, rather than following the more appropriate (yet more difficult to implement) path of enforcing the law against those who inflict violence on Palestinians. The reason is that the security forces are wary of engaging in any confrontation with the settlers.
In the High Court of Justice’s yet unpublished ruling on June 26, 2006 (H.C.J. 9593/04 Rashad Morar and Others v. The IDF Commander and Others, hereafter “the Morar case”), the Court ruled that this modus operandi was illegal and constituted an infraction of the military commander’s duties. The ruling laid down important guidelines concerning the duties of a military commander in protecting Palestinians from settler violence, and it set forth principles to be followed in handling this problem. Among other things, the Court stipulated that “protecting the security and property of the local residents is one of the most fundamental obligations of the military commander on site” (Section 33 of the ruling). The Court even specified the steps to be taken to achieve this objective:
Protection of Palestinians must be achieved by providing appropriate security, giving clear directives to the military and police forces on how to act, and imposing restrictions that will be effective against those people who are harassing Palestinians in violation of the law (Section 28 of the ruling).
A fundamental legal principle is that of equality before the law. The law enforcement policies of the security forces in the Occupied Territories are marred by discrimination on the basis of national origin and by a blatant violation of the principle of equality. The law enforcement authorities in the Occupied Territories must take vigorous steps to combat this shameful situation, which has come to characterize the overall approach of the authorities and their treatment of the two population groups – Palestinian and Israeli.
The guiding principle for the behavior of the security forces, therefore, must be to use the same instructions, methods, tools, mechanisms, and procedures that they employ for ensuring the security of Israelis in the Occupied Territories in order to protect the security of the Palestinian population in the face of violence by Israeli settlers. Moreover, these instructions, methods, tools, and mechanisms must be legal and consistent, and they must respect human rights and international law.
Many of the means that are currently adopted by the security forces against the Palestinian population, and which are claimed to be necessary to protect the security of Israelis in the Occupied Territories, or even to protect the security of the Palestinians themselves, do not respect human rights. The law enforcement system must examine the legality of the methods it now employs against the Palestinian population, and avoid employing methods that do not abide by the principle of legality towards all persons, regardless of national origin. In any event, the law enforcement system must refrain from adopting different methods for different population groups.
The following are the primary reasons for the lack of protection of Palestinians and the lack of enforcement of the law with regard to Israeli settlers today:
1. Israeli security forces in the Occupied Territories have always viewed their principal role as directed toward protecting the security of Israeli residents of the Occupied Territories. Safeguarding the security of Palestinian residents has never been defined as a central task of security forces in the Occupied Territories.
2. One result of this conceived role of the security forces is the absence of clear and unequivocal directives for security forces stationed in the territories regarding their obligation to safeguard the security of Palestinian residents, as well as their duties and authorities in enforcing the law upon settlers. In this context, the mood generated by the highest-ranking security forces personnel, is of the utmost importance, and it can and should lead to a conceptual change among all ranks of security personnel operating in the Occupied Territories – including soldiers and police officers.
3. Sufficient resources, most notably suitable and properly-trained personnel, are not being allocated to this task. In order to make good on their declarations concerning the obligation to safeguard the security of Palestinians, and their intention to do so without disproportionately infringing the Palestinians’ rights (statements that were made, for example, by the security forces in the Morar case), the systems entrusted with the task – the security forces, the police forces, and the investigative and claims units – must be reinforced.
4. At all levels, and at every stage of the law enforcement system’s response to infractions of the law and harm caused to Palestinians, intervention is not immediate. The law enforcement authorities must be ready at all times to provide security, deploy forces in real time to the locations where incidents are taking place, conduct timely investigations, and take immediate steps to identify suspects and process claims.
Set forth below are the minimal steps we believe must be taken by the security and enforcement systems to ensure that military commanders fulfill their obligation to protect Palestinian residents and their property from harm by Israeli settlers:
A. The Defense and Security System – preventing violations and responding in a timely manner to events in Hebron
1. Provide sufficient and specially-trained security forces, 24 hours a day, to safeguard the security of Palestinian residents against acts of violence perpetrated by Israelis in all areas and locations where these acts normally occur. These areas include all Jewish settlements in Hebron: Tel Rumeida, Beit Hadassah, Beit Romano, the Avraham Avinu neighborhood, Givat Ha’avot; the streets surrounding these areas; and the neighborhoods adjacent to Kiryat Arba.
2. Safeguard Palestinian residences and places of business through means that are adequate and efficient for this purpose.
3. Position observation and immediate response forces along the streets of Al-Shuhada, Tel Rumeida, and other locations in which Palestinians are targets of attacks by settlers.
4. Assign forces for immediate response to calls by local residents or to incidents recorded by surveillance cameras placed throughout the city.
5. Improve contact with the local population. Provide Palestinians with convenient means for contacting the relevant military personnel so that they may respond immediately to events taking place.
6. Designate and mobilize human resources that are specifically trained and prepared to carry out the task of safeguarding the security of Palestinians against attacks by settlers. Experience has proven that I.D.F. soldiers are not successful in carrying out this task. There exist two options, therefore: to reconsider the training process for soldiers charged with this task (see the following section), or to transfer the responsibility to police units.
B. Enforcing Law and Order in Cases of Settlers Involved in Violent Attacks against Persons and Property
7. Give clear-cut, unequivocal directives to all security forces concerning the duty to protect Palestinians and their property, and concerning the security forces’ authority to enforce the law vis-à-vis settlers. In particular, orders need to be clarified for soldiers since, in light of the absence of police forces on the ground, they are routinely called upon to fulfill the role of police officers.
8. Detain suspects and give directives and orders to police officers and soldiers regarding the detention of persons involved in criminal acts of violence. These detentions are necessary in order to ensure that those involved in the incidents will be identified at a later stage. Today, a large number of criminal files are closed due to the suspects not being identified, despite the fact that in very many instances military and/or police forces were present during the attack or shortly afterwards, while the perpetrators were still present.
9. Gather evidence:
9.1. Cameras – Dozens of surveillance cameras have been placed throughout Hebron, primarily in the settlement areas. The photographed footage must be used for the purpose of compiling information and evidence in cases of attacks. According to a testimony given by a soldier serving in Hebron in late 2005, the Judea Division commander forbid police officers from entering the control room. The soldier also reported that since the electricity for the cameras is provided via the settlements, the settlers would often cut off the electricity supply in advance, thus shutting down the cameras before setting out for an attack. We must be certain, therefore, that full and efficient use is being made of the cameras and the images they capture, both in real time and later for use in criminal proceedings.
9.2. Soldiers’ Testimonies – Soldiers must be required to provide immediate testimony regarding criminal incidents they witnessed, and their accounts must be recorded by investigators.
9.3. Residents’ Testimonies – Palestinian residents currently find it extremely difficult, and at times intimidating, to submit testimonies to the police. The process of filing complaints and providing testimonies must be improved and simplified (for example, by gathering and taking testimonies on the ground, immediately following an incident; increasing the number of investigators so that witnesses need not wait for several hours outside police stations; etc.)
10. Give directives for the uniform handling of claims regarding criminal behavior (so that Palestinians and Israelis suspected of similar crimes are treated in an equal manner):
10.1 Set conditions for arresting suspects.
10.2 Set conditions for demanding bail.
10.3 Set a uniform punishment scale for crimes and other acts (such as rock-throwing, assaults, involvement in disturbances, and illegal possession of weapons etc.).
11. Emphasize the importance of responding to incidents immediately. An immediate response by the law enforcement system to criminal acts is critical to changing and improving the manner in which the phenomenon of settler violence is handled. The immediacy of the response depends on the following factors: detention and interrogation of suspects, immediate consideration of the need for imposing temporary restrictions (restraining orders, bail, summons, removal of security authorizations, and, in some instances, even arrest), prompt issuance of indictments, etc.
12. Thoroughly address criminal incidents involving minors. Many incidents of assault and harassment in Hebron are carried out by minors, some of whom are children under the age required for criminal responsibility. The system has thus far granted complete immunity to these minors and their parents, and it has taken no steps to prevent future incidents of this type. The law enforcement system must make use of existing tools, which include:
12.1 The Youth Law (Treatment and Supervision), 1960 – The law calls for authorizing welfare workers to give any order necessary to supervise minors and prevent them from continuing to commit crimes in the future. One such order might be to remove the child from Hebron, given the fact that the crime in question is dependent on the place.
12.2 The Order for Supervision of Minors (Imposing Guarantees), Temporary Order) – Parents can be required to sign guarantees for children who are too young to be legally prosecuted, stating that they will prevent these minors from committing any future criminal acts.
12.3 Directives for all security forces – Soldiers and police officers should be instructed to apprehend all persons who are known to have broken the law – including minors who appear to be too young to be held criminally responsible – and detain them at a police station. In the event that the person is, indeed, found to be too young to prosecute, the authorities will continue to handle the case in accordance with special directives given (calling for involvement by welfare workers or summons of parents, for example). This approach is essential for putting an immediate end to the current situation, in which soldiers are not permitted to touch children who cause harm to Palestinians, even when the soldiers are eyewitnesses to the criminal acts committed.
13. Require the police to provide justification for closing criminal files, since law enforcement in the Occupied Territories has been defined as an issue of utmost importance for protecting public security. Moreover, any file involving a crime of violence in the Occupied Territories may not be closed on the grounds of “lack of public interest.”
14. Require the police to notify complainants before closing their files, which is not the case today when the complaints are filed by Palestinian residents of the Occupied Territories. Police must be instructed to notify the complainants in advance so that they may photocopy the documents in their files, allowing them the opportunity to appeal against decisions if they so desire.
15. Inspect and supervise weapons carried by Israeli settlers:
15.1 Remove I.D.F.-registered weapons from the possession of any person found to be involved in a violent criminal act.
15.2 Consider revoking licenses to carry civilian-registered weapons.
15.3 Strictly supervise the use of weapons. Demand reports concerning every shot fired, as well as the reasons for carrying the weapons.
C. Methods for Implementing the Directives
16. Give binding orders to soldiers and other security forces responsible for the task of safeguarding security in Hebron and provide them with methods for responding to frequent situations by way of briefings, presentations at training sessions, written directives issued to soldiers and police officers, and investigations of incidents.
17. Investigate incidents in which a member of the security forces fails to fulfill his or her law enforcement role (by not detaining suspects, for example), and follow up by taking significant measures or instituting criminal procedures. One option to consider is to summon the military commander responsible for the operational area for a debriefing and to require that he answer to a higher ranking officer, and to initiate investigations and debriefings by senior military officials.
