Zulat has drafted a document with comments and recommendations regarding the legislation of Basic Law: Rights of Custodial Interrogation and Criminal Proceedings, which was submitted to Justice Minister Gidon Sa’ar. The document was conceptualized by Zulat’s steering committee made up of Dr. Rawia Aburabia, Prof. Naomi Chazan, Prof. Frances Raday, and Dr. Adam Shinar, and drafted by Adv. Eitay Mack.
The document submitted to the Justice Ministry reads: “Zulat supports anchoring the right to equality in any relevant law and especially in basic laws, as we believe this is crucial and urgent in order to uphold a democratic regime in Israel. The right to equality is recognized as first among equal and as a key right, seeing that without it all other human rights have no sense or reason to exist. The right to equality is especially crucial during criminal proceedings, where there exist inherent differences in the balance of power between the state and the suspect or defendant. Some of the clauses in the proposed law are deficient when it comes to the right to equality, giving rise to concern that the law might enable discrimination based on race, sex, gender, sexual orientation, physical disability, language, social-economic class, or political affiliation.”
The document includes Zulat’s suggestions for improvement of the proposed clauses that underscore the principle of equality in order to prevent discrimination between different detainees.