The annual State of Human Rights Report is published by the Association for Civil Rights in Israel (ACRI) each year to coincide with International Human Rights Day (December 10). In the report, ACRI reviews the current situation of human rights over the past year in Israel and in the Occupied Territories, warns against particularly severe violations of human rights, notes improvements, and points to the major trends in the field of human rights.
Download ACRI’s 2013 Situation Report – English | Hebrew | Arabic.
One of the most prominent trends this year was the continued deterioration of the right to live in dignity. Child allowances were cut, people who could not pay their bills had their water cut off, and public housing policy continued to elude the government. The report also surveyed trends in workplace discrimination, human rights violations arising from privatization, police violence, gun control, neglect and discrimination of East Jerusalem residents, multiple expressions of the discriminatory regime in place in the Occupied Territories, and prolonged detention of asylum seekers.
Another very prominent trend highlighted in the Situation Report was racism against Arab citizens in Israel, as expressed by violent hate crimes, and discrimination in places of business, including banks. To make matters worse, many of the bills promoted in the Knesset this year are also expected to add to the discrimination against Arabs in Israel.
Hagai El-Ad, ACRI Executive Director: “The situation report reminds us how much more work is needed to improve the defense of human rights in Israel. But if we work together, we have the power to change the situation: to be more than just the victims of human rights violations, but also the engines for change.”
