Israel's State Comptroller Joseph Shapira is not exactly considered a champion of human rights or a great revolutionary. The opposition contends that he does not relish taking on the government and treats public representatives and civil servants with kid gloves. On May 14, Shapira surprised his critics. On the second anniversary of his appointment, he fired an arrow straight into the apple of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s eye, one of his government flagship projects: the uncompromising war on African asylum seekers.
In the most pointed chapter of his annual report, Shapira determined that the government’s policy on the issue of “nondeportable aliens” (as the chapter is titled) does not conform to the laws of the state and the rules of international law. Not only that, but in reaction to reservations voiced by Attorney General Yehuda Weinstein about this criticism, Shapira suggested that Weinstein reassess his stand. At the same time, he rebuffed pressure from Netanyahu’s office to censor parts of that chapter on the worn pretext of “preserving state security.”
Actually, Shapira took a stand alongside the human rights organizations that advocate on behalf of the refugees seeking asylum in Israel. He noted that the government has focused on blocking infiltration into the country, reducing the number of asylum seekers in the cities and encouraging their voluntary departure, but has not formulated a plan to deal with the tens of thousands of Eritrean and Sudanese citizens currently in Israel. He placed the blame on the minister of interior and the minister of justice and demanded that they put together a proposal as soon as possible to ensure the dignified basic existence of all the aliens who cannot be deported.
The government cannot punish Shapira for his criticism of the damage done to the most defenseless group in Israel. For the moment, it is resorting to a fight against the asylum seekers and their backers. Thus, the authorities have declared war on human rights organizations, among them Physicians for Human Rights (PHR).
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