Stricter Conditions for Release on Bail: Violation of Freedom of Protest

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The Public Committee Against Torture in Israel (PCATI) and Zulat for Equality and Human Rights wish to express their opposition to the bill sbmitted to the Knesset, which seeks to significantly tighten the conditions for release on bail that a commanding police officer may impose on detainees: bar entry to a certain geographic area for 90 days (15 now) days, ban an assembly for 90 days (30 now), confine a person to a specific place for 30 days (15 now), and impose house arrest for 15 days (5 now).

Our main concern is that under the guise of the need to fight serious crime, police officers, be they senior or junior, will be at liberty to impose draconian restrictions on citizens, including with regard to so-called offenses related to political protest, participation in demonstrations, and freedom of expression.

PCATI and Zulat are of the opinion that not only should police officers not be awarded broader authority to restrict detainees, but their ability to enact far-reaching restrictions on freedom of expression, protest, and demonstration should be substantially limited. Such restrictions, to the extent that they are necessary, should be imposed in exceptional cases, sparingly, and in consultation with legal counsels.

Therefore, we call on MKs of all factions of the House to strongly oppose Criminal Procedure Law (Powers of Enforcement – Arrests): Stricter Conditions for Release on Bail-2023.

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Dr. Maha Sabbah Karkabi

 

Senior Lecturer in the Department of Sociology and Anthropology, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev. She holds a Ph.D. in Sociology from Tel Aviv University (2015), a postdoctoral fellowship at the Center for Gender Studies, SOAS, University of London (2015-2016), a postdoctoral fellowship in the Department of Sociology at Tel Aviv University (2016-2017), and a postdoctoral fellowship Ph.D. at the Humphrey Institute for Social Research, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev (2018-2020).
Dr. Maha Karbahi’s areas of interest focus on the connection between social change, family behavior, and gender inequality in societies in the process of change and specifically in Palestinian Arab society in Israel. Her research draws attention to the study of family life and employment, using a combined “ethnic lens” and “gender lens” and paying attention to the perspective of Palestinian Arab women, a group characterized by intersections between multiple marginal locations, which over the years has remained hidden from the research eye. Dr. Karkabi-Sabah’s research is published in professional journals and chapters in scientific books that are considered pioneers in family research, work, and gender equality.

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Prof. Frances Raday

Professor Emeritus in the Lieberman Chair in Labor Law, in the Faculty of Law at the Hebrew University and serves as a full professor in the College of Management’s academic track, where she also serves as chair of the graduate program and as honorary president of the Concord Center for International Law Absorption. Radai was a member of a working group of the UN Human Rights Council on discrimination against women. In addition, she is a prominent and feminist human rights activist.

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Dr. Rawia Aburabia 

Faculty member of Sapir Academic College’s School of Law, received her PhD from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. Her research deals with the interface between law, gender, minorities, and human rights. Has published in leading journals on the subject of the matrimonial laws pertaining to Muslim women in Israel. Her book Under the Law, Outside Justice: Polygamy, Gendered Citizenship, and Colonialism in Israeli Law is expected to be published as part of the Gender Series of Kibbutz Meuhad Publishing House.

Dr. Aburabia has extensive experience in international human rights and public law. She has worked as a jurist for the Association for Civil Right and has been invited as a specialist to address such international forums as the United Nations and the European Parliament on the subject of indigenous communities and minority rights. She has interned with Human Rights Watch in Washington DC, and has been a member of the executive board of Amnesty International. In 2018, she was selected by the magazine Globes as one of the 40 most promising young persons in Israel under the age of 40.

 

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Ron Kessler

With over two decades of experience in the field of digital content, Ron has participated in numerous political and social campaigns. He helped run the digital activity of senior public officials, and worked in various NGOs. Ron is a fundamentally optimistic man, who believes that Israel can be changed and so can people. Lives in Tel Aviv.