The LAW TRAIN project, aimed at unifying police interrogation
methodologies, has generated controversy in Portugal because of vocal
opposition to Israel’s participation in the EU’s Horizon 2020 research
framework and the human rights abuses perpetrated by the Israeli
entities taking part.
The Portuguese Ministry of Justice announced that it has withdrawn
from a joint EU-funded project with the Israeli Ministry of Public
Security, the Israeli National Police and Israel’s Bar Ilan university.
The LAW TRAIN project, aimed at unifying police interrogation
methodologies, has generated controversy in Portugal
because of vocal opposition to Israel’s participation in the EU’s
Horizon 2020 research framework and the human rights abuses perpetrated
by the Israeli entities taking part. The Portuguese government came
under heavy pressure from civil society groups campaigning for an end to
the cooperation with Israel. Opposition parties denounced in parliament
the routine torture by the Israeli police and the role of the Ministry of Public Security in the illegal detention of thousands of Palestinian political prisoners in Israeli jails.
Jamal Juma’ coordinator of Stop the Wall, a
member organisation of the Palestinian BDS National Committee (BNC),
praised the principled decision of Portugal’s center-left socialist
government:
"This decision by Portugal gives hope to our people and
sends a strong message to Israel that there is no business as usual for
as long as it continues military aggression against Gaza and
repression in the West Bank. This EU project gives tacit recognition to
Israel’s control and military repression of the Palestinian people and
turns a blind eye to Israel’s notorious abuse of Palestinians that
includes routine torture as an ‘interrogation technique’.”
The five million euro project aims to develop technology to
unify methodology for police questioning by ‘improving interrogation
skills’ and bridging so-called ‘gaps of culture, legislation,
interrogation style’. The police forces involved will contribute with
their 'experience in interrogation and fighting crime to develop the
system’. The Israeli Ministry of Public Security and Israel’s police are
accused by the UN and human rights organisations
of carrying out illegal detention practices, routine torture during
interrogation and deployment of excessive violence against Palestinian
protesters.
The Federal Public Service of Justice of Belgium and the
Ministry of Interior of Spain/Guardia Civil, private businesses,
universities and research institutions remain involved in the project as
part of the EU Horizon 2020 research framework. Activist groups in
Spain and Belgium have vowed to step up campaigning to end the project
after this latest victory.
“We thank Portuguese civil society organizations and
political parties that have worked together with us to build effective
solidarity based on the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) call and
ensure there will be no risk of proliferation of illegal Israeli
practices and inhumane treatment through this project into their own
Portuguese justice system,” said Juma’.
An unprecedented Portuguese coalition of solidarity groups,
human rights organisations, and anti-racism campaigners as well as the
association representing the officers of the country’s 1974 revolution
came together following a report by Stop the Wall that exposed
the cooperation and its consequences on the human rights and freedom of
Palestinians. The Portuguese Communist Party and the Green Party
grilled the Foreign Affairs Ministry and the Justice Minister on the
issue.
The Movimento pelos Direitos do Povo Palestino e Pela Paz no Medio Oriente (MPP), initiator of the of civil society coalition against the project, has declared:
“We congratulate the decision of the Ministry of
Justice to put an end to the participation of the Portuguese Police in
the LAW TRAIN project. The withdrawal of the Portuguese government from
the project is a victory of all the forces that in Palestine, in
Portugal and in Europe called for an end to this project of cooperation
with Israel's repressive apparatus.”
This news comes as 34 years old Palestinian Bilal Kayed
continues his open-ended hunger strike since June 2015. There are
currently over 7000 Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails, many of them
detained without charge. The UN Committee against Torture in May once
again exhorted Israel to prohibit torture and denounced ongoing
practices of torture and ill-treatment in the interrogation process. Human rights organizations highlight the brutal treatment particularly against Palestinian minors.
Riya Hassan, European coordinator for the BNC, concluded:
“This latest victory is another sign that European
governments are waking up to the problematic of having Israel as a
partner in projects that risk undermining basic freedoms, democracy and
human rights. There is still a long way to go in order to end Europe’s
complicity with Israeli apartheid. LAW TRAIN itself continues with the
remaining participants and is only one of many military and security
projects funded by the EU Commission with taxpayers money.”
Note to editors:
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As part of the campaign in the rest of Europe MEPs from Portugal, Spain and Belgium wrote to the European Commission denouncing the project. Civil society groups are planning protest actions. Last year 73 MEPs issued a letter in a cross-party initiative calling on the EU to end funding of Israeli military companies involved in serious breaches of international law.
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Since the beginning of the new Horizon 2020 funding cycle in 2015, the Stop the Wall Campaign, the Palestinian Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions National Committee (BNC) and the European Coordination of Committees and Associations for Palestine (ECCP) have jointly targeted Israel’s participation in Horizon 2020, in particular the cooperation of Israel’s military and security sector. In the previous cycle, lasting from 2007 to 2013, the EU has financed over 1500 research and development projects with Israeli participation. Israeli Aerospace Industries (IAI) alone has been involved in over 16 projects, attracting total EU public funding of €148.55 million.
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Torture is routine in Israel’s jails. A recent report shows that 97% of Palestinian minors in Israeli detention had no access to legal advice before and during questioning. During interrogation, 28.7% were subjected to verbal abuse or intimidation, solitary confinement or sexual assault, 27.5% were exposed to physical violence including choking, punching, hitting the child's head against the wall.
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