In September 2020, the police scrapped the protocol that prohibited photographing protesters other than under exceptional circumstances. The police claimed there would be a new protocol, but despite repeated requests from the Association for Civil Rights, no new protocol has been put into place. Meanwhile, police officers have been photographing protesters whenever they like, without any justification. Officers have used their personal phones to photograph individuals at peaceful protest vigils; brought their personal phones close to protesters' faces; shared photos of protesters on WhatsApp; used photos to identify protesters, detain them, arrest them, or remove them from protests without cause; brandished mobile phones as an act of intimidation towards protesters, and more.
On November 25, 2024, we submitted a petition to the Supreme Court, demanding that police officers be prohibited from photographing demonstrations and protesters using their personal mobile phones, and to declare that way police have been photographing demonstrations and protesters and storing these photographs is illegal. The petition argues that this conduct disproportionately violates protesters' rights to freedom of expression and protest, privacy and liberty, creates a chilling effect that deters protesters and the general public from exercising their freedom of protest and political expression, and harms fundamental principles of democracy. The petition also emphasizes the severity of the use of personal phones by police, due to the ease with which recorded material can be misused or selectively used, edited, deleted, stored, copied, and transferred without any oversight or control.
The petition further argues that intensive documentation at demonstrations is part of a broader effort to stigmatize and criminalize citizens and legitimate, legal protests. It is one of a number of practices under the leadership of the current National Security Minister that point to the politicization of law enforcement and the abuse of police power as a means to suppress anti-government protests and intimidate protesters.
HCJ 61062-11-24 Association for Civil Rights in Israel v. Police Commissioner
Attorney: Nitzan Ilani
The petition, November 25, 2024 (Heb)
Previous legal correspondence from the Association for Civil Rights before filing the petition
The petition was written in collaboration with Sivan Tahel, Director of Freedom of Protest and Expression