The Movement for Governability and Democracy (Meshilut) sent a letter to Attorney General and Chief Legal Adviser Yehuda Weinstein on Sunday, asking him which government body is charged with investigating his conduct in the lethal Duma arson case.
Meshilut noted that Weinstein allegedly authorized the use of torture against the suspects, despite the lack of "concrete events justifying such measures." In such a case, "use of any such physical measures would be illegal and in violation of a ruling by the Supreme Court on this matter."
Just last Thursday sources close to the investigation revealed to Haaretz that Weinstein gave permission to torture the Jewish suspects being held in the Duma case as early as three weeks ago, and added that Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu was not notified until after the torture began.
"Normally, it would have been appropriate to turn to you and ask you to use your authority to initiate a criminal investigation," stated Meshilut in the letter.
"However, in light of the information that you have been involved in authorizing these extreme measures, without a legal source permitting you to do so, clearly, you cannot be considered an objective party, hence, we would like to know who is in charge of auditing or inspecting your judgment in this matter?"
Meshilut is a non-profit and non-political organization "founded in January 2013 to strengthen the rule of Israel’s elected officials by restoring the proper balance between the legal and executive branches of government," according to its website.
Brutal torture of various forms, including sleep deprivation, physical assault and more has been charged by the suspects in the case. After nearly a month of the alleged torture one minor suspect broke down and gave a confession late last month, but the reports of intense torture leave heavy concerns that the confession was false and inadmissible as evidence. Prior to the confession, officials admitted there was no evidence to stand the suspects on trial.
Indictments were issued on Sunday against two suspects, charging one young suspect of going alone into the center of the Arab village Duma in July, lighting a house on fire that turned out to be empty, before writing Hebrew graffiti on a wall of the house in which the Dawabshe family slept and then lighting it on fire, and afterwards escaping from the center of the village. The Dawabshe couple and an infant baby of theirs died in the arson.