Last update - 00:00 25/10/2006
Justice Min. to probe charges PID didn't investigate Oct. 2000 deaths
By Yuval Yoaz and Yoav Stern, Haaretz Correspondents
The State Prosecutor's Office will look into the findings of an Israeli Arab rights group, which published a report roughly two weeks ago slamming the state's investigation into the deaths of 13 Israeli Arabs during the October 2000 riots.
Adalah, the Legal Center for Arab Minority Rights in Israel, charged in the report that the Justice Ministry's Police Investigation Department (PID) ignored the Or Commission's recommendations by failing to investigate the deaths of five of the 13 Arabs killed in the riots. It added that even in the cases the PID did investigate, it did not do enough to find the guilty parties.
The Justice Ministry informed Adalah that it would treat the report as an official appeal of the decision to close the cases against police officers accused of wrongdoing in the incident.
Attorney General Menachem Mazuz decided in October 2005 to appeal the decision, following public criticism and numerous requests made to his office to do so, despite the fact that no group had submitted an official appeal.
Deputy State Prosecutor Shai Nitzan was placed in charge of the appeals process. The State Prosecutor's Office was set to finalize its recommendations in the coming weeks, but has decided to postpone the decision pending an inquiry into the allegations presented in the Adalah report.
The 130-page report reveals for the first time the names of specific officers Adalah believes were responsible for the deaths, and accuses State Prosecutor Eran Shendar, who at the time headed the PID, of responsibility for the investigative failure.
In a letter sent Wednesday to Adalah attorneys Hassan Jabarin and Marwan Dalal, Assistant Attorney General Raz Nizri criticized the manner in which the group's findings were published.
The ministry objected in the letter to the Adalah decision not to issue a timely appeal, but rather to issue an independent report with "sharp and decisive decisions.. out of public or media considerations, in a manner that completely ignores the accepted methods outlined in the law for probing such events."
According to the letter, the Justice Ministry had asked the group in 2005 whether it intended to appeal the decision to close the cases.
"Unfortunately, beyond the legitimate criticism, there were difficult and enraging statements [made at the press conference in which the findings were presented]," the letter continued.
Adalah said in response that it could not issue an appeal to the State Prosecutor's Office because it is currently headed by Shendar.
"[Shandar] failed to order a prompt investigation into the events, and is responsible for the eventual investigation's failings," the response said.
Adalah also addressed the fact that Mazuz had backed the Justice Ministry's report - published 12 months ago - during a PID news conference. "The incident raises serious questions about the State Prosecutor's ability to conduct an unbiased procedure," the organization's message said.