Comptroller: Olmert waited 18 months to make decision on Darfur refugees

Prime Minister Ehud Olmert waited a year and a half before taking a decision regarding the stream of African refugees into Israel, doing serious harm to the human rights of asylum seekers, and standing in the way of processes that could have slowed the pace of the influx, State Comptroller Micha Lindenstrauss found in his 2008 report released on Tuesday.

In 2005, 909 people asked Israeli authorities for asylum as officially recognized refugees, and only 11 were approved. The next year, only six of 1,348 requests for recognition as refugees were approved. In the first nine months of 2007, only three out of over 3,000 applicants were recognized as refugees.

The comptroller examined the cases of thousands of people who infiltrated Israel over the Sinai border in a growing stream since 2005. He found that requests for political asylum faced protracted delays, and even a flat rejection took an average of six months to be issued.

Officials took nearly three years to weigh cases viewed as worthy of serious consideration, the report said. Refugees were denied health care and welfare services during that period, it said.

Formally releasing his report, Lindenstrauss on Tuesday refused to comment when asked about the ongoing corruption probe against Olmert.

"I do not wish to comment on the issues relating to the Prime minister while the investigation is still underway. Like every other person, I need to wait and see what the results of the investigation will be," said Lindenstrauss, speaking after handing in the report to Knesset Speaker Dalia Itzik.

The current investigation against Olmert centers on suspicions that he illicitly received hundreds of thousands of dollars from American businessman and fund-raiser Morris Talansky.

The Talansky probe was in fact triggered by evidence handed over by Lindenstrauss, a retired judge, which he had gathered in another investigation into the prime minister's conduct known as the "Investments Center" affair.

The Investments Center probe involved suspicions of fraud and breach of trust from Olmert's tenure as industry and trade minister, when he allegedly helped grant favors to a factory represented by his former partner, attorney Uri Messer.

Commenting on the report given to the Knesset on Tuesday, Lindenstrauss said it was a "significant, serious and severe one."

"The report discusses many governmental aspects that require rapid modification," he said. In addition, Lindenstrauss said that many improvements have taken place in light of the conclusions reached by his office.

The report's length exceeds 1,500 pages. Subjects discussed in the report include laws concerning provisions for the public services sector, specifically limiting the extent to which state workers may do business after retirement.

In addition, the report examined the retirement conditions of senior police officers, state and army prison guards and other state workers. The state comptroller's report also looked into the budget the Prime Minister's office allocates to strengthening and rebuilding the north.

Dealing with the Ministry of Justice, the state comptroller report examined the management and organizational character of the rabbinical courts. The report also discussed the implementation of a law requiring all public offices to allow free and open access to their information.

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