Last update - 00:00 11/07/2007
Attorneys to Winograd: Let soldiers review probe material
By Arnon Ben-Yair, Haaretz Correspondent
Attorneys Ram Caspi and and Pini Rubin asked the chairman of the Winograd war probe commission to safeguard the rights of the soldiers and officers who could suffer the consequences of the panel's upcoming report on the failures of the government and the Israel Defense Forces during the Second Lebanon War last summer.
In a letter sent in coordination with the IDF legal services, the two lawyers asked retired judge Eliyahu Winograd, the chairman of the investigation commission, to allow soldiers mentioned in the report to review the investigation material in advance, and to be given an opportunity to defend their position before the commission. They also requested that the soldiers be allowed to question witnesses who testified against them before the panel makes its final conclusions.
Caspi and Rubin asked that these rights be given even to individuals against whom the panel does not plan to make personal recommendations, but does have incriminating evidence against them. This request relates to former IDF chief of staff Dan Halutz, who led the IDF during the war and later resigned from his post. Though no personal recommendations will be made against Halutz as he is no longer chief of staff, the lawyers want to prevent the commission from embarrassing him. Prior to the formation of the Winograd panel, Rubin was meant to represent Halutz had the state made accusations against him.
Though the attorneys' letter seeks to allow soldiers to question witnesses, sources close to the military advocate-general say that if the Winograd panel agrees to release the investigation material prior to the publication of the report, they will surely not yield to the request of allowing witness questioning.
According to Rubin and Caspi, though the Winograd panel is not a state war probe commission and doesn't have the authority to order changes, it must be subordinate to the principles of natural justice and to abide by the same laws as a state commission. Under the law, a state commission, which has the authority to remove public figures from their posts, must provide the figure in question with all the resources available to defend himself.
"We don't think that any commission, as learned, experienced and wise as it may be (as this respectable commission is), has the ability to come to reliable conclusions without fully elucidating the investigation material, questioning and cross questioning witnesses, presenting the relevant material and examining the ability to handle it, contradict it, deny it, thicken it, repair it and clarify it."
Two weeks ago, the IDF sent a similar letter to Winograd, and received a response. Rubin and Caspi said the response was unclear, and were therefore compelled to restate the request in an additional letter.