Accountability
Any legitimate legal system includes mechanisms whereby violations of human rights are independently investigated; wrongdoing appropriately punished; and victims compensated. Genuine accountability is widely viewed as a necessary component in deterring future violations and providing justice to victims.
There are a number of procedures available to persons who wish to complain about their treatment under the Israeli military legal system. The procedures most commonly used relate to actions by the army, police and Israeli Security Agency (ISA) interrogators. The table below contains the latest information on the results of complaints lodged by persons alleging human rights violations using these mechanisms.
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Party
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Procedure
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Results
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Israeli army
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Army regulations require that the Military Advocate General (MAG) conducts a criminal investigation in any case where a complaint of torture or cruelty of a person in custody is reported.
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Israeli Police and
Border Police
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Complaints against the police must be submitted to the Department for the Investigation of Police Officers (DIP) within the Ministry of Justice.
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Israeli Security
Agency (ISA)
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At present MCW does not intend to submit complaints using these mechanisms on the grounds that the prospects for success are remote. Further, thanks to the work of other organisations, there is sufficient data available to make an objective assessment as to the effectiveness of these mechanisms.
In May 2016, the Israeli rights group B'Tselem announced that after 25 years it would no longer refer complaints to the military's law enforcement mechanisms due to a lack of confidence in the system's ability to adequately investigate and provide accountability.
Updated: August 2016
