Last update - 00:00 05/09/2007
Report: Crime down, violations of defendants' basic rights up
By Yigal Hai, Haaretz Correspondent
The Public Defender's Office report for 2006 states that there is a trend to take a harsher line against suspects and the accused.
Examples include reductions in their rights and harsher punishments, specifically in jail sentences. The report, published Tuesday, states: "The result of this trend over the last decade is a sharp deterioration in the defense of personal freedoms in the face of the excessive use of governmental power and a sharp rise in the number of criminal prisoners."
The report contains statistics about the drop in criminal behavior and aggression in Israeli society and criticizes "various bodies who are spreading unnecessary fear among the public about rampant crime, allegedly everywhere in Israel; and are asking, in light of these fears, to increase the authority of the law enforcement system and to harm the basic rights of the general public such as privacy and the fair judicial process that protects suspects' rights, and to send more people to jail for longer periods."
Also, the report states: "The Public Defender's Office is worried that the discussion about the levels of crime and the necessary response is becoming more and more populistic, and how anecdotal information drawn from the yellow press is displacing systematic and controlled research about the occurrence of crime and criminality in Israel."
There has been a 10 percent drop in the number of indictments filed in Magistrates Court over the past four years according to the report; while the number filed in District Court has remained stable. The Public Defender's Office represents about half of all criminal defendants in Israel now.
Police figures for the first half of 2007 show a 3.5 percent reduction in the number of criminal cases opened, including a 8 percent drop in murder, a 19 percent drop in robbery and 10 percent in property crimes - according to the report.
At the same time, the report shows a 44 percent increase in the number of prisoners over the past decade, from 7,295 in 1996 to 10,491 in 2006.
"The accepted notion that Israeli courts are merciful and punishment is light is completely wrong," the report states.
Public Defender Inbal Rubenstein said Tuesday's Tel Aviv press conference that "the story of the war against crime serves politicians in their speeches."
This year for the first time the report adds a section containing criticism on matters "dear to [the Public Defender's] heart."
Among the concerns, the report notes that the police do not always take care to notify suspects of their right to a public defender, despite the legal requirement to do so.
"Some of those arrested first learn about their rights to a public defender only when they are brought the next day to court and meet the defender on duty," claims the report. It further states that the police norm of making an official decision on holding the suspect only at the end of the interrogation is incorrect, and only serves to deprive the suspect of his rights.
Other problems relate to a lack of representation in hearings before indictments are handed down - and that the poor and weak are discriminated against. Prisoners are not made aware of their right to be represented before the parole board that determines whether to release prisoners from jail after serving two-thirds of their sentences.
It also was revealed that only 40 sex offenders out of a total of 1,181 - less than 3.5 percent - receive treatment and rehabilitation while in prison.