2018-12-20

Hebron

West Bank

Assaulting the Lawyers with Electric Prods Represents an Intolerable Suppression

After viewing the Bar Association’s statement on the incident of attacking the lawyers, Mahran and Ala’ Jaradat, by police officers, who did that on direct orders from a prosecutor to use electric prods to assault the two lawyers at Halhoul's magistrate court, yesterday. Such incident presents an intolerable suppression that requires accountability, termination of employment of the assailants and compensation for the victims. In addition, it represents an unacceptable approach that contradicts with the role of the police and the public prosecution and falls under the umbrella of torture and humiliation of the humane dignity. Thus, it represents an imprescriptible offense that should not be resolved by the tribal judiciary, but rather, an independent investigation commission must be formed from outside the prosecution and the police, to publish the results of the investigation and terminate the assailants and the one who gave those orders immediately and refer them to a criminal trial, in addition to the authority’s guarantee of material and moral compensation for the victims.  

MUSAWA- the Palestinian Center for the Independence of the Judiciary and the Legal Profession was not only stood out by the fact that the two victims are lawyer, but that as citizens, regardless of their job, work, and social class, they have the right to a homeland, where their dignity is guaranteed by constitutional laws without discrimination. What is surprising about this incident is the justification for the police officer’s attack with electric prods, which may cause death, if the assaulted had heart problems, for example, by claiming that she, the police officer, received an order from the prosecutor to do that. Unfortunately, it had escaped her attention that it is her right and duty to refuse to implement an unlawful order. In addition, the prosecutor’s role was humiliated, as he turned from being a man of law, a representative of the society, and a savior of rights and freedoms, to someone who tends to use most hateful means of suppression and violates the professional code of conduct, turning into a means of suppression and abuse of function, and thus a criminal, rather than an official, especially the he re-avails himself of an official policy that adopts the security approach in its relationship with the public, which is intolerable and unacceptable under no circumstance, reason, or pretext.    

Thus, all the authorities concerned have to work by their duties and hold the perpetrators accountable of such assaults and to end the security approach.

We cannot fail to mention MUSAWA’s view that no one is above the law and no immunity for those who break the law and the professional code of conduct, and the lawyer who violates those role must be held accountable duly, what requires the Bar Association to activate the role of its disciplinary councils and form an investigation commission to investigate in the incident and its causes, and to take the legal action against the lawyers, if it is determined that any of them has committed any action or violation that requires accountability, including terminating the lawyers of practicing the legal profession, pursuant to the rule of law principle that applies to all, and in respect of the legal profession.  

Issued on 20/12/2018

MUSAWA