Following Yesh Din`s and seven other Israeli human rights groups` struggle. Attorney General Office`s announcement and Cancellation Order were received today (25/03/07) at Yesh Din
Michael Sfard, Yesh Din`s legal advisor: "It was only by the firm stance of the Israeli human rights organizations, who refused to cooperate with the order and waged a campaign against it, that saved us from sinking into a moral abyss. It was proven that IDF commanders do not know how to make judicial use of the massive power entrusted to them and that tight political and legal oversight of their conduct is needed."
Eight Israeli human rights groups took part in the struggle against the Apartheid Order: Yesh Din – Volunteers for Human Rights, The Association for Civil Rights in Israel, Gisha, the Public Committee Against Torture in Israel, HaMoked – Center for the Defense of the Individual, Machsom Watch, Physicians for Human Rights-Israel and Bimkom – Planners for Planning Rights.
The order issued by OC central command Major General Yair Naveh, and which was supposed to go into effect on Friday, January 19, forbade transporting Palestinians in vehicles driven by Israelis or foreigners. Eight human rights organizations demanded in a petition to the High Court of Justice to cancel the order and fully erase it as if it was never issued.
The Order on Movement and Travel (Restriction of Travel in an Israeli Vehicle) established an arrangement of requiring permits to travel with Palestinians. Following publication of the order, the eight rights groups announced they will not cooperate with its provisions, will not ask for special permits and will continue to assist Palestinian civilians asking their help.
In their petition, the rights groups stated: “the process for the legal cementing of institutionalized, methodical and deliberate discrimination, […] is a process which is designed to tighten the control of one national group over another. Here lies our disgrace at its worst: The combination of the two is precisely the legal definition of apartheid.".
72 hours before the Order was to go into effect, and following submission of the petition, Israeli AG Office informed the petitioning rights groups it "freezes" the Apartheid Order "until further notice". Yesh Din`s legal advisor, adv. Michael Sfard demanded the Order to be fully cancelled, not only "frozen", as a condition to removing the petition.
English translations of the Apartheid Order, the High Court petition filed and the Cancellation Order are available at Yesh Din`s website: www.yesh-din.org.
last updated : 26/03/07
