Petition was filed in the Israeli Supreme Court, seeking to stop all security export licenses to the BIR unit in Cameroon. BIR is nick-named "The Israeli Unit", since according to reports, Israelis not only train and consult its soldiers, but the unit is also headed by an IDF veteran. The petition states that BIR is involved in shooting protesters, raiding universities, businesses and residences, beating citizens, raping female students, detaining political leaders, transforming parts of Cameroon into a military zone...
Figure. Screen shot - BIR abuse of detainees.
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Tel-Aviv, April 10 - below are excerpts from the Hebrew press release by Attorney Itay Mack and a group of Israeli Human Rights activists, pertaining to a petition, filed two weeks ago in the Israeli Supreme Court, seeking to stop security exports to the murderous BIR ("Israeli Unit") in Cameroon.
Israel is notorious for its arms exports to dictatorial regimes. Beyond the exports of conventional weapons, Israel has become a leader in exports of surveillance technology to dictatorial regimes, often used to track political and Human Rights activists. The Palestinian territories have become the testing ground for such systems. [1]
In previous cases, the Israeli Supreme Court refused to stop such exports. Court hearings are often conducted ex parte (in presence of State Attorney counsel, but not the petitioners) and State evidence is filed under seal. At times, even the rulings in such petitions are under seal... [2]
Graphic video: https://www.facebook.com/baramark/posts/10155498139122074
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Excerpts from press release:
Petition was filed in the Supreme Court, seeking to stop all Israeli security export licenses to the BIR unit in Cameroon... Since October 2016, Cameroon is under serious political crisis in the English speaking regions... Strikes by teachers and attorneys initiated a a snowball effect, which is severely suppressed... shooting protesters, raiding universities, businesses and residences, beating citizens, raping female students, detaining political leaders, transforming the area into a military zone... Tens of thousands have fled to refugee camps in Nigeria, and many others escaped their villages and are hiding in the jungles.
In Cameroon, BIR is nick-named the "The Israeli Unit", since according to reports, Israelis not only train and consult its soldiers, but the unit is also headed by an IDF veteran. Videos and stills show that BIR is using Israeli weapons, including Galil, Tavor, Negev...
The unit was established in 2001, formally intended to fight organized crime. Effectively, together with the Presidential Guard, it is used to secure the regime of Cameroon dictator Paul Biya, who has ruled the country since 1982...
This case is different from the "usual" Israeli security exports, which are used for serious Human Rights violations, since it amounts to real intervention of the Israeli Ministry of Defense in the political life of another nation, in a neo-colonialist manner...
There is not justification that the history of the Israeli security exports be repeated...
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