Over the past two months, several incidents have been reported involving the detention of workers in civil society organizations at Ben Gurion Airport on returning from abroad. Shin Bet has also resumed its practice of summoning human rights or political activists to \u201cwarning conversations.\u201d Two months ago, ACRI wrote to the Attorney General to complain about the detention of the Executive Director of the Coalition of Women for Peace and of a journalist from Social Television at Ben Gurion Airport on the demand of Shin Bet. Each activist was detained for a certain length of time after landing from abroad and subsequently released without being asked any questions.<\/p>\n
https:\/\/law.acri.org.il\/he\/42741<\/a><\/p>\n As will be recalled, in 2013 we petitioned the Supreme Court, challenging the authority of Shin Bet to summons social and political activists to \u201cwarning conversations.\u201d Although the Court ruled that Shin Bet is empowered to hold such conversations, it set binding rules for their conduct.<\/p>\n https:\/\/law.acri.org.il\/he\/28085<\/a><\/p>\n On July 31, 2018, ACRI wrote to the Petitions Department of the State Attorney\u2019s Office concerning the earlier incidents and two additional cases in which activists were summoned to \u201cwarning conversations\u201d by Shin Bet:<\/p>\n \u201cEach of the cases described above is grave in its own right, but taken together they paint a depressing and alarming picture of the ongoing harassment of civil society organizations and activists, including the participation of Shin Bet in the campaign of delegitimization they face.<\/p>\n \u201cMoreover, the two recent incidents violated the provisions established in HCJ 5277\/13, Association for Civil Rights in Israel v Shin Bet<\/a> (the petition against Shin Bet\u2019s \u201cwarning conversations.\u201d) In the case of Mr. Kronberg, the authorities did not respect the provision that \u201cit is to be clarified to the investigatee that the questioning is voluntary and that he is not obliged to report for it\u201d (para. 35b of the ruling). In the case of Mr. Rothman-Zecher, he did not even receive a summons, and during the conversation itself he was not informed that he was entitled not to participate.<\/p>\n \u201cRegarding the three instances of detention at Ben Gurion Airport \u2013 and particularly the most recent incident \u2013 Shin Bet appears to have abused the border control officers at the airport, and its own presence at the site, for purposes that have nothing to do with preventing attacks on Israeli aviation or with supervising the security arrangements at the site (cf. the arguments of the State Attorney\u2019s Office concerning Shin Bet\u2019s functions and powers at the airport, in numerous responses and in the Statement of Response in HCJ 4797\/07, Association for Civil Rights in Israel v Israel Airports Authority<\/a> (profiling of Arabs in security checks at the airport).<\/p>\n \u201cIt is also unclear what power or function of Shin Bet empowers the agency to engage in delegitimization actions as reflected in the conduct of the agent who met with Mr. Kronberg.<\/p>\n \u201cAccordingly, we will be grateful if you can clarify these instances as soon as possible in order to end this grave phenomenon in its infancy, since it has a chilling effect on all civil society organizations and activists. We also ask you to ensure that Shin Bet strictly observes its own procedures and the Supreme Court\u2019s instructions regarding the exceptional cases in which it has been determined that it is empowered to hold \u201cwarning conversations.\u201d<\/p>\n https:\/\/law.acri.org.il\/he\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/ikuv-peilim-310718.pdf<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Over the past two months, several incidents have been reported involving the detention of workers in civil society organizations at … Read more