The Association for Civil Rights in Israel (ACRI) today (1.1.09) intervened before the Attorney General, Mr. Meni Mazuz, following various reports from throughout Israel concerning the arrest and detention of demonstrators protesting the attack on Gaza, contrary to the law and constituting a serious infringement of their right of freedom of expression.
According to information and testimonies received by ACRI, since the beginning of hostilities in Gaza, the police have arrested and detained for questioning many demonstrators who took part in legal protests, among them students who joined demonstrations in the universities of Haifa, Tel Aviv, and Ben-Gurion. In some cases, there was no evidentiary or factual basis for these arrests and detentions, and the police present at the scene had no reason to fear any breaches of the peace or criminal actions whatsoever. It was also reported to ACRI, and was published in the media, that demonstrators were summoned for interrogation by the General Security Services and the police during which “the demonstrators were warned” against taking part in such protests.
In ACRI’s intervention, ACRI attorney Auni Bana protested against what appears to be a policy that is swift to use arrests and the dispersal of protests, thereby constituting a serious infringement of the right of freedom of expression and the right to demonstrate.
ACRI Attorney Auni Bana: “Freedom of expression is a basic constitutional right and is of special importance in a democratic regime, particularly when it concerns expression with a political content. The true test of freedom of expression is in the ability to express opinions that are not part of the consensus, even if they are unpalatable to much of the Israeli public. The General Security Services and the police are prohibited from restricting the freedom of expression solely because of the nature of the protests”.
The full text of the letter follows below:
January 1, 2009
Mr. Meni Mazuz
Attorney General
– Urgent –
Dear Sir,
Arrest and interrogation of demonstrators
We are writing to you following reports and information that has reached us concerning activities of the General Security Services (G.S.S) and the police that constitute a deterrent to people from taking part in demonstrations against the military attack on Gaza and a serious infringement of the freedom of expression and the right to political protest. This involves the intolerable alacrity with which the police arrest demonstrators taking part in protests and/or detain them for interrogation when the facts on the ground do not indicate any danger whatsoever of a breach of the peace by the demonstrators. According to the information in our possession, since the beginning of the military operation, the police have arrested many demonstrators who took part in legal protests and/or detained them for interrogation. Among those arrested/detained for interrogation are also students who took part in various protests in the universities of Haifa, Tel Aviv, and Ben-Gurion. According to reports in much of the media, the arrest of many demonstrators was made on grounds of “incitement”. It has also been reported to us, and the facts were also published today in the media, that demonstrators have been summoned for interrogation by the G.S.S. and the police, during which they were “warned” not to take part in protests.
The data we have shows that in some of the cases there was no legal or factual basis for the arrest and/or detention. In these cases the police present at the scene had no reason to fear any breaches of the peace or criminal actions whatsoever.
Moreover, ACRI is extremely concerned about various statements made by senior police officers concerning the police’s handling of protests connected with the military operation in Gaza, inter alia pronouncements by the northern district police commander who was quoted as saying that the police will act “with zero tolerance against anyone breaching the peace and inciting.” In the general atmosphere created as a result of the military operation in Gaza, the fear is great, because pronouncements of this type will cause members of the police forces, deployed in massive numbers in Arab towns and in various centers of protest, to wrongly interpret the provisions of the law regarding the holding of demonstrations and protests and the authority vested in them under these provisions.
One testimony we have gathered concerning vigils at Ben-Gurion University indicates that there were no grounds whatsoever for the dispersal of participants in the vigil and the arrests that were made. According to this testimony, the police asked 15 students who were carrying leaflets denouncing the attack on Gaza to stop what they were doing and to disperse immediately. Although the students made it clear to the police that they were holding a quiet vigil and that the police had no legal authority to demand that they disperse, they acceded to the demand. But this did not prevent the arrest of five students who remained on the scene to talk to one another without carrying leaflets and without continuing any form of protest. Another testimony we have gathered, relating to a demonstration held in Tel Aviv University, also attests to the prohibited and unlawful behavior of the police. According to this evidence, some two hundred Tel Aviv University students demonstrated on December 29, 2008 against the attack. The demonstration caused no disturbance and no exceptional events were recorded during it until the point at which one of the students, who as far as can be ascertained objected to the content of the demonstration, tried to harass the demonstrators, provoking a violent reaction on the part of the police who were present at the scene and who suddenly began to run towards the demonstrators and beat them. According to this evidence, one of the Arab students who was severely beaten by the police was escorted in handcuffs for medical attention at Ichilov Hospital. The next day, he was taken to the police station for interrogation and finally released.
The above testimonies demonstrate that during these protests there was absolutely no necessity for any police intervention. In these circumstances it is hard to rid oneself of the impression that the demand to disperse the protest, as well as the arrest of demonstrators and their detention for interrogation was occasioned by the protest itself and its messages. But the content of the protest does not in itself constitute a crime in Israeli law and should certainly not entail the prevention of the protest or arrest and/or detention for interrogation. Denigrations of the government, its ministers and their actions, even if someone should consider them to be harsh and unacceptable, do not in themselves justify the dispersal of a legal protest and most certainly do not justify the arrest and/or detention of demonstrators or their summons for interrogation by the G.S.S.
In view of the aforementioned, ACRI protests against the policy of the swift use of arrests and the dispersal of protests, and the serious infringement of the constitutional right to freedom of expression and freedom of demonstration that this entails. ACRI takes an extremely dim view of any intervention and harassment by the police or the G.S.S. in a protest. In light of the testimonies we have gathered, and in view of other instances of prohibited and illegal police behavior in dealing with demonstrations and demonstrators and of political interrogations by the G.S.S. which have occurred over the last few years and about which the ACRI has protested, we repeat that the police and the G.S.S. are prohibited from restricting freedom of expression due to its content. The Israeli police cannot be allowed to behave towards participants in a protest according to the ideological or political nature of the content of the protest. “The police are not entrusted with ideology” (HCJ 148/79 Saar v. Minister of the Interior, P.D. 34 (2) 169, 179 (1979)). Obviously, the G.S.S. is prohibited from summoning people for interrogation to warn them against participating in a legal protest, whatever its content.
At this point we would reiterate that freedom of expression and the right to demonstrate are not only the freedom to express thoughts and views acceptable to the majority of the country’s population or consistent with government policies, but also those that are not part of the consensus and that annoy or anger a large proportion of the Israeli public.
In light of the above and considering the basic rights of demonstrators to express their political views freely, openly, and without fear and dread, we are writing to you with a request to instruct forthwith the heads of the police and the G.S.S. to ensure that all the police charged with keeping public order and present at various centers of protest, and likewise for the G.S.S., respect the constitutional right to freedom of expression and accord it the proper consideration before taking any steps against demonstrators in a protest.
Yours sincerely,
Attorney Auni Bana
The Association for CIvil Rights in Israel (ACRI)
