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The “New” Anti-Infiltration Law
Memorandum re: amended Bill for the Prevention of Infiltration Internal Affairs and Environment Committee Tuesday – Wednesday, 26-27/11/2013 | Preparation for a second and third reading
ACRI’s Position: Two months after the High Court of Justice overturned the Anti-Infiltration Law as being unconstitutional, the Government is attempting to pass a new law sponsored by Interior Minister MK Gideon Sa’ar. The reformulated bill would enable Israel to imprison all asylum seekers from Africa for a period of one year without trial, and to then indefinitely detain the asylum seekers in an ‘open facility’ in the Negev. The bill contains a framework that is even harsher than the law overturned by the court. Successful passage of this bill would result in the continued imprisonment of asylum seekers without trial with the only avenue for their release being their ‘voluntary’ return to the country they are seeking asylum from. Their incarceration would not be owing to any crime they have committed, but as an attempt to deter other asylum seekers from arriving in Israel. The ‘open facility’ lauded by the government is nothing but an isolated detention camp in the middle of the desert, managed by the Israeli Prison Service, including check-ins three times a day, and with severe penalties being imposed for not abiding with regulations. |
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Detainment and Imprisonment Conditions for Minors
Public Petitions Committee Monday, 25/11/2013 | Committee Discussion
ACRI’s Position: The provisions of the Youth Law (Trial, Punishment and Modes of Treatment) – 1971, as well as the official policies of the National Police Headquarters, provide special protections for minors during investigations and interrogations, even if they are suspected of criminal activity. Despite this, we have encountered serious and ongoing violations of these protections during their detention. These include: bringing children in for questioning directly from their home or school, interrogating minors without the their parent or guardian being present, actively refusing parents access to the police station until the conclusion of interrogations, taking fingerprint and photographs even if the law does not permit this, interrogating Arabic minors in a language that is not their mother-tongue and having them sign documents in Hebrew, performing interrogations by officers other than specially trained youth investigators, and more. Minors in East Jerusalem being investigated on suspicion of throwing stones are particularly exposed to violations of their legally protected rights. Among other violations, they are routinely detained as a method to intimidate, deter and obtain information despite the fact the law demands that detainment be used as a method of last resort for minors, they are interrogated without their parent being present, arrested in the middle of the night, being handcuffed in public places and more. |
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Discrimination in Favour of IDF Soldiers
Contributors to the State Bill – 2013 Labour, Welfare and Health Committee Monday, 18/11/2013 | Preparation for second and third reading
ACRI’s Position: An earlier formulation of this bill sought to give preference in the allocation of a long line of public resources to those who serve in the military, perform national service, are disabled IDF veterans and to the families of fallen soldiers. The bill stated that the benefits for these groups would include preferential access to student dormitories, the allocation of state land for residential purposes and even civil service jobs. The bill also affected the private sector, where it makes clear that giving preference to these groups in hiring procedures, wages, or in offering services will not be considered unlawful discrimination (in direct opposition to the Law for Equal Opportunities in Employment). After the Attorney-General made clear that the law was unconstitutional, MK Yariv Levin withdrew the bill and is now presenting an amended version of the bill. The only substantial positive amendment in the new bill is that it more narrowly defines the groups that will receive state benefits and makes the link between benefits and service more direct and immediate. This new definition prevents wide and indefinite discrimination against certain groups in society for the benefit of a particular other group. Exemptions from military service are given (to Arabs, ultra-orthodox Jews, the disabled, religious women and married women, etc.) in accordance with the law and based on settled political, historical and social agreements that have been accepted since the establishment of the state. This means that the bill is essentially punishing these groups financially and socially for operating in accordance with the law. To read ACRI’s position paper on this bill, click here. |
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Electronic Monitoring of Prisoners
Committee discussion on electronic monitoring of prisoners Science and Technology Committee Wednesday, 6/11/2013 | Wednesday, 27/11/2013 | Committee Discussion
ACRI’s Position: Electronic Tagging is an alternative to detention for certain prisoners, which allows them to live with their families rather than in prison. While there are many significant advantages to the electronic supervision program, there are a number of serious deficiencies. Firstly, it is worrying that certain supervisory roles in relation to the prisoners are performed by private companies. The involvement of private companies in enforcing the denial of liberty and the freedom of movement of prisoners raises the specter of the involvement of extraneous considerations. It must be ensured that private actors are not given discretionary powers and that their role is restricted to technical assistance. Secondly, there is no arrangement contained in law regarding this privatized service and no obligations or limitations have been detailed regarding the function of the private actors. Thirdly, the company today implementing the electronic supervision program does not allow its employees to enter East Jerusalem without police escort for security reasons. As a result, East Jerusalem residents are excluded from the program even though it is a vital public service that should be available to all prisoners that meet the conditions required by the court. Read an article about ACRI’s recent report – Law & Order Ltd. – the privatization of law enforcement in Israel. |
