Last update - 00:00 06/01/2008
Report finds unfair judicial procedures in military courts
By Avi Issacharoff, Haaretz Correspondent
The military judge at Camp Ofer turned to Anwar Muhmad Adayis at the beginning of his hearing last Tuesday morning and said: "I've decided to acquit you." Adayis' lawyer Ismail Tawil looked stunned as the judge continued. "After reviewing the evidence, I have reached the conclusion I must accept your arguments."
Tawil says he doesn't remember a single acquittal like this in 10 years concerning a suspicion of kidnapping, possessing a firearm and assaulting an Israeli citizen. "Due to doubt I acquit you, but you will have to appear in court on Thursday should the prosecution decide to appeal the decision."
Even after he left the courtroom, Tawil was astounded by the ruling. "This is evidently a judge who read the evidence and realized it was just rumors that are supposed to incriminate the defendant."
Tawil apparently had good reason to be surprised. According to figures from the Israel Defense Forces, only 0.29 percent of the 8,854 cases that produced verdicts in the territories' military courts ended in acquittals, and only 5 percent of those cases involved attempted murder or murder.
The others ended in partial or complete convictions. Human rights group Yesh Din claims that this figure is the tip of the iceberg of unfair judicial procedure in the military court system. A report by the advocacy group claims:
According to Yesh Din, the simultaneous translation provided to defendants during their trials was sloppy in at least 35 percent of the hearings the group observed.
But attorney Tawil says there has been change recently in the courts' policies, possibly a policy change in the Israeli system. "It appears Israel has begun to think more democratically," he explains.
Haaretz's observation of hearings at Camp Ofer also indicated a different view than the report presents. For instance, in two hearings Haaretz observed on two separate days, a defendant suspected of possessing a hunting rifle was released from custody after no ammunition was found in his home (and he claimed it was an air rifle to be used only for decoration).
Bail hearings even for a few days of detention lasted much longer than two minutes.
In addition, lawyers from East Jerusalem or Israeli Arab lawyers can apparently meet their clients in Israeli jails. Attorney Shaaban Tawhid told Haaretz that he met one client for the first time in the Camp Ofer courtroom because he didn't want to waste time waiting at the Russian Compound detention center.
However, Tawhid claims that the system is built to convict. "Only a few defendants will be released or acquitted," he says, adding that Palestinian lawyers cooperate with the system because there have been efforts to shut down the defense and replace them with Israeli lawyers who wanted more money and cared less about the defendants.
The IDF spokesman stated in response that "despite repeated requests from the organization to allow us to peruse the final version, Yesh Din has refused to do so, so we can only comment on a draft.
"Examination of that version raised several faults we believe stem from inexact interpretation of the data, problematic research methods and incomplete understanding of the military court system, as well as insufficient familiarity with the Judea and Samaria criminal code."
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