Israeli Military Courts and their Role in Violating the Rights of Palestinians
Military courts have been operating in the occupied territories since the Israeli occupation until today, before which hundreds of thousands of Palestinians have appeared for trial.
There are two courts of first instance operating in the West Bank, and there are military courts operating inside Israel in addition to the investigation facilities of the General Security Service (the Shin Bet ) In the same camp, an appeals court and a military court for military affairs also operate.
To this day, Palestinians from all over the West Bank are still being tried before these courts for violating military orders, resisting the occupation, entering Israel without a permit, throwing stones, membership in “resistance organizations,” possession of weapons, and traffic violations in the occupied territories.
Since the beginning of the eighties, Palestinian defendants have been tried before a military court, and the decision to acquit or convict them is taken in accordance with the laws of evidence applicable there, and they are sentenced according to the instructions of military orders; Whereas, the Israeli defendant appears before a civil court inside Israel and the decision to acquit or convict him is taken according to the laws of evidence applicable in Israeli law, and he is sentenced according to the law in Israel.
The performance of the military courts ostensibly as a judicial performance, as in the ordinary courts, where there is a public prosecutor and a defense attorney; There are legal procedures, laws and regulations, and judges who write decisions and rulings in legal terms, but in reality military orders are all written by Israeli soldiers and thus reflect what they consider to be harming Israel’s interests.
On the other hand, the Palestinians do not have the ability to influence orders that determine how their lives are managed.
Military judges and prosecutors are always Israeli soldiers in uniform; The Palestinians, in all cases, stand there under suspicion or accusation, and in most cases condemnation. Given these combined circumstances, military courts cannot be a neutral mediator: they serve as the central mechanism for facilitating Israeli control over the Palestinian people.
In our organisation, we believe that these courts have absolutely no legitimacy, as they are courts established by the occupation, and the occupation itself is in violation of the international law, and everything that arises from the occupation is void, in addition to the fact that these courts have no justice system, where the defendant does not stand before a fair judge. The occupation is the ruler and the judiciary at the same time.
We strongly demand an end to this occupation of the Palestinian territories, which will bring an end to all manifestations resulting from it, and the process of ending the occupation falls on the international community in particular, as its failure to do so increases the violations of this occupation.
