Sunday, March 15, 2009

ACRI Forces Police to Publish East Jerusalem Procedures

Following ACRI’s submission of a freedom of information petition to the Jerusalem Administrative Court, the Court ordered the publication of procedures regulating the treatment of people residing illegally in Israel and searches of vehicles at checkpoints between Israel and the West Bank. Initially, the Police maintained that such procedures were privileged and that revealing them to the public would prevent the police from fulfilling its duties and would even threaten the security of the State and the public. However, prior to the hearing, the police decided to withdraw this claim insofar as it related to illegal residents and provided full information on all the relevant regulations. During a hearing at the Court on March 8, the Police insisted that the publication of the rest of the procedures requested (relating to vehicles searches) would compromise the security of the State. With respect to procedures for searching vehicles in the presence of one side only, Judge Musia Arad examined the regulations and decided to supply ACRI with a summary of procedures relevant within the framework of our petition.

Source: Association for Civil Rights in Israel

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