Families of dead gain access to riots files
Attorney General responds to demand by families of those killed in October 2000 riots, hands over investigative material assembled by Police Investigation's Unit to relatives; Mazuz calls for new inquiry to be taken out of Unit's control, which he described as 'flawed'
Families of those killed in the October 2000 riots will gain access to the material assembled by the Police Investigation's Unit in the course of its investigation into the disturbances, in which 13 Israeli-Arabs were killed, the Attorney General, Menachem Mazuz, ruled on Monday.
Mazuz informed the Adalah organization, which represents relatives of those killed in the riots, of the decision, and said that family members would be allowed to photograph the investigation files from next week onwards.
Marwan Dalal, a lawyer who represents the Adalah group, expressed satisfaction with the ruling, saying, "This was the obligation of the Attorney General under law. The files should be handed over the families immediately with the decision."
The Police Investigations Unit (PIU) recently announced that all cases would be closed on the October riots, as well as those opened following the Or Commission, launched to investigate the riots. The decision caused a political firestorm among Israeli Arabs, who protested and whose public leaders went on a symbolic hunger strike.
The judicial systems top officials backed the PIU's decision, but the decision to re-launch the investigation was taken following the increasingly bitter criticisms.
The new investigation may see bodies of those killed in the riots exhumed.
The Adalah group has repeatedly attacked Mazuz for his support of the PIU, and has demanded that he refrain from personal involvement with the cases. Mazuz responded with a statement in which he said that "the claims (against me) are based on a series of completely false claims.
This press conference was called to respond to such attacks, which treated the PIU as a single body, and which accused the head of the PIU of being motivated by personal considerations, and even racism, in his decision."
In his letter to Adalah, Mazuz included quotes from his press conference, in which he denied claims that he backed the decision of the PIU not to charge any police officers in the riots.
