In Israel, There Is Justice

Here's the first new report, from Israel:

Policemen indicted for death by negligence of illegal resident

Two Rehovot police officers were indicted yesterday in the Jerusalem Magistrate's Court for causing death by negligence of a Palestinian illegal resident in Israel. The charges, brought by the Police Investigations Department in the Justice Ministry, state that the two policemen, Baruch Peretz, 36, and Assaf Yakutieli, 34, did not seek medical attention for a Palestinian whom they were transporting. The Palestinian had been released from the hospital, where he was recovering from injuries incurred in an accident with a stolen car he was driving.

According to the indictment, the Palestinian, Omar Abu-Garban, was involved in an accident on May 29, 2008, while driving a stolen car on Route 6 south of the Sorek interchange. The Rehovot police took him to Sheba Hospital, Tel Hashomer, where he remained until June 12, when the hospital told the police he could be released.

The release form states that Abu-Garban was sometimes confused, unsteady on his feet and needed help eating and drinking, and further care.

The Rehovot police decided that only the Prisons Service could provide the necessary care. However, after they were unable to find a place for him in a prison with the proper facilities, the station commander's recommendation to the district commander to release Abu-Garban in the West Bank was accepted.

Peretz and Yakutieli took Abu-Garban in their patrol car to the Makabim roadblock in the northern West Bank. They told their station commander that they were unable to get him to tell them where he lived, and the station commander told them to deliver Abu-Garban to the army or the Border Police. However these authorities refused to take charge of the Palestinian.

Yakutieli then proposed leaving Abu-Garban in a well-lit location by which many Palestinians drive on their way to Ramallah, and Peretz agreed.

However, at 2 A.M. on June 13 they let him out on Route 45 about two kilometers from the Atarot roadblock, in an isolated location, without food or drink. Abu-Garban's body was found two days later.

The Police Investigations Department charged that the Peretz and Yakutieli had acted negligently by not ensuring Abu-Garban was situated somewhere he could be helped, and that they did not receive permission from their station commander to leave him where they did.

Here's the second report from America;

Severely ill woman found dead days after drop-off

SAN ANTONIO - Raquel Padilla suffered from schizophrenia and mild retardation but was in the care of a state hospital for the seriously mentally ill until workers decided to send her home by dropping her off at a downtown Greyhound station.

The 54-year-old was found dead three days later in a concrete ditch, having never gotten on that bus back to Del Rio.

Padilla was one of nearly 600 patients discharged from the San Antonio State Hospital and dropped off at the bus station since January 2008, the San Antonio Express-News reported Sunday. The hospital's policy has Padilla's family outraged and has drawn the attention of at least one lawmaker.

"She wasn't capable of taking care of herself, especially in the big city. Even for a normal person, it's hard to catch the bus. For her, it was out of the question," said the woman's brother, Juan Padilla.

Her ability to function was dependent on her medications, and anyone who talked to her could tell she was incapable of navigating a busy bus station, he said. A caseworker did call the family to tell them what bus Raquel Padilla was supposed to be on, but her brother complains that the worker called a brother who also suffers from schizophrenia.

Bob Arizpe, the San Antonio State Hospital superintendent, said employees were following procedure when they dropped Padilla off, and a staff member saw her standing in line for the bus on Dec. 20.

"Any policies or procedures we had in place were followed," Arizpe said. "The only requirement we have is to get them to their mode of transportation."..."the state is no longer legally responsible for a patient once he or she is discharged. "They're not under the supervision of the courts or the state," she said. "They have a right to make choices."

Both cases are terrible reflections on man's inhumanity to man.

But in Israel, the negligent are charged and will go before a court.