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Scene where excessive force was used by Border Police

Border Policeman faces disciplinary board after allegedly attacking Arab

Israeli Arab claims police used excessive force against him after insult exchange; lawyer protests decision not to file criminal charges: 'It cannot be that these crimes do not pass the criminal threshold.'

A Border Police officer will face a disciplinary court hearing after he allegedly attacked an Israeli Arab in 2015 during a random stop-and-search.

 

 

The incident was captured on camera by a Palestinian, and was used by the victim and the Public Committee Against Torture in Israel (PCATI) to file a complaint against the officer to the Police Investigation Unit.

 

The victim claimed that he was attacked by several policemen after they insulted him, and he responded with a derisory remark of his own.

 

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The victim’s lawyer, Attorney Noa Levy from the legal department of the PCATI, claimed that on November 5, 2015, the complainant was searched by Border Policemen as he was walking toward his vehicle. Upon completion of the search, one of the policemen returned his ID while “cursing his mother,” read the official complaint. In response, the complainant said: “You behave like a boy, not a man.”

 

The policeman then allegedly detained the man and requested to see his ID once again while cursing at him. The complainant's lawyer wrote that after he handed over his ID for a second time, two other Border Policemen arrived and granted him permission to leave the scene. However, the first policeman insisted that he exit his vehicle again and exclaimed: “Get out. I want to **** you.”

 

“My client was shocked by the threat and was afraid to exit his vehicle,” wrote the the attorney. “At this point all of the policemen surrounded his car and forced him out of the car, dragged him to a street corner and began to punch him in his face, in his back and in his stomach from all directions at the same time. They headbutted him and kicked him. All of this happened while being surrounded by a large number of Border Police.”

 

According to Levy, the entire incident was captured on camera, “While all of this happened, not a hint of resistance to the arrest can be seen.”

 

After this the complainant was taken to the police station and placed in a bathroom stall by four policemen “while at the same time they continued to curse him and to slap him. Inside the bathroom the police undressed him and conducted a group search,” the complaint alleged.

 

Scene of the skirmish
Scene of the skirmish

 

Levy also cited the observations of a police medical officer who, during an examination of the victim, noticed marks indicating that the man had been assaulted by the police. The plaintiff further claimed that the offenses committed against him, which included sexual perversion, constituted, “cruel, inhumane and humiliating treatment, and contravenes the Convention Against Torture.”

 

The complaint prompted an investigation by the Police Investigation Unit (PIU), which on Sunday sent an official letter to the victim informing him of the decision to transfer the case to the disciplinary division of the police which would preside over a disciplinary tribunal.

 

The PCATI has since expressed anger over the decision, insisting that the severity of the case warrants being considered as a criminal, rather than a disciplinary, matter.

 

In November, the public committee against torture in Israel launched a project against police violence, under the directorship of Levy. The committee said that “The violence carried out by the state toward civilians constitutes and is thought many times as torture according to law.”

 

Video used by Arab complainant claiming border police used excessive force without cause
Video used by Arab complainant claiming border police used excessive force without cause

 

Since the project was launched, Levy claims to have come across the use of unreasonable force to suppress legitimate protests and during searches and arrests designed to humiliate, to inflict pain and to hurt arrested civilians. Moreover, Levy claims she has come across threats and harassment against complainants.

 

As part of the project, the PCATI has submitted ten complaints before the PIU about alleged police violence and has established contact with dozens of complainants from different sectors. In two of the cases, the policemen involved will be summoned for a disciplinary tribunal much to the dismay of the PCATI which has already resolved to appeal the decision. “It cannot be that these crimes do not pass the criminal threshold,” Levy bemoaned.

 

Despite her efforts, the PIU remained adamant that the matter will fall within a disciplinary plain, responding thus: “With the conclusion of the investigation, after examining the evidence, the PIU decided that the policemen would stand in a disciplinary hearing due to the use of unlawful force offenses. The investigation determined that although force was employed to perform (professional) tasks (arrest of suspects), excessive force was used and therefore it was decided that the policemen would stand a disciplinary trial. The complainant may file an appeal against the decision, which will be reviewed.”

 


פרסום ראשון: 05.04.16, 17:00
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