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Police stopped participating in committee dealing with people with disabilities: "Missing an opportunity"
Members of an inter-ministerial committee set up after Iyad al-Khalak was shot dead criticized the cessation of police and Homeland Security representatives' participation in the discussions, explaining that their representatives made a crucial contribution to the issue. The ministry said: "The participation of our representatives is in line with the President's House, and it takes place accordingly."
Tags- People with disabilities
- Inter-ministerial committee
- Israel Police
- Ministry of Internal Security
- Iyad al-Khalq
Maya Horodnitsano
Wednesday, 12 August 2020, 22:35Representatives of the Ministry of Homeland Security and the police stopped participating in the discussions of the inter-ministerial committee set up to improve the dealings of law enforcement officials with people with disabilities, said members of the committee set up after the killing of Iyad al-Halak and criticized the decision to stop. Haaretz reported earlier that the Ministry of Internal Security banned the participation of its employees and police representatives in the committees.
The inter-ministerial committee was established about two months ago, at the initiative of President Reuven Rivlin and in collaboration with Labor and Welfare Minister Itzik Shmuli and Justice Minister Avi Nissenkorn, after a series of cases in which people with disabilities were injured in meetings with police officers. The purpose of the committee is to formulate tools for identifying people with disabilities, training programs for law enforcement agencies and legislation on the subject.
The committee also has three subcommittees, consisting of representatives of the Ministries of Labor and Welfare, Justice, Health, Education, the President's House, as well as social organizations and associations dealing with the subject. Subcommittees have already held several hearings, and according to the members in the first hearings, representatives of the Ministry of Internal Security and the police also participated. Recently, however, it was announced that these representatives would not continue to arrive.
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Advocate Michael Zetz of the Alut organization, a member of one of the subcommittees, said that at the last meeting they were told that police representatives would only come to the concluding meeting after all the recommendations and conclusions had been formulated, and another member said that the police had been banned from attending the hearing. "It has caused a great deal of resentment among all the organizations that have invested so much time. To do the whole process for the police to say they will not take part in it, is flawed," he said.
He added that "there is a really great opportunity here that has just been missed. There are all the organizations, families, government ministries, and the police sitting together and thinking." "It was not an accusatory finger-pointing, but an honest process of drawing lessons and learning from existing models around the world, in similar meetings of the security forces with people with disabilities," he said.
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Commissioner for Equal Rights for Persons with Disabilities, Abrami Torem
The Commissioner for Equal Rights for Persons with Disabilities, Abrami Torem, who heads one of the committees, said the presence of representatives of the police and the Ministry of Internal Security is of critical importance at the meetings. "When they were in the discussions they were very meaningful, they heard directly from people with disabilities, organizations that work with them, and we as the Equal Rights Commission, what the hardships are on the ground, what the concerns are and what is missing," he explained. "These are things that seep in and make an impact, albeit slowly. They also played and it's no less important, because they also told what's going on with them, what tools they need and a meaningful conversation started when all the players were sitting around the same table."
Torem added that he hopes that the police, as well as other law enforcement agencies, have finally implemented the report, but added that the absence of police officers and representatives of the Ministry of Internal Security makes it difficult for subcommittees to work. "We could, for example, know what training programs already exist today, what the training materials are, what works and what they have tried and failed to do, what the needs of the police officer are," he explained.
According to him, one of the things raised by the police representatives is that "usually the interface between a police officer and a person with a disability will be under pressure, in high escalation. We could learn this directly from the police forces and work together ".
He said that the committee members were hesitant but decided to continue the discussions, due to the work that has already been done and the returns of the issue. "It would add guilt to a crime to say you have to stop working. Everyone said it, but it leaves a very bad feeling, that such a key factor in the committee says, 'I will not take part, update me on what you are doing and I will reach the concluding committee.' To say that they do not accept these conclusions, "he clarified.
He said, "There is a very big opportunity here that has been missed, but it will not let go of our hands from submitting practical, applied and perhaps even biting conclusions to the relevant authorities." He added that "we intend to make full use of our mandate. The police also have a side here, police officers are sometimes worn out, and they too have a voice that must be taken between all the considerations. We can only regret this incomprehensible decision made unilaterally."
"For the past few years, the organization" Thanks "to Neta Dagan, who is also a member of the committee, also shares the criticism of the decision." For years, the organization "Thanks" has repeatedly warned that the security forces are not prepared to respond to people with disabilities, "she said. Al-Khalak, a committee was set up to give the missing tools to the security forces. It is no greater absurd than that the representatives of the security forces, who were supposed to lead the move, are not cooperating for non-material reasons. "The
Ministry of Internal Security said in response that And the meetings are held in accordance with this summary. "