Gaza under Siege:"A Silent Violence of Suffering That 98 Percent of Congress Avoids Mentioning"
by Ralph Nader
The world's largest prison -- Gaza prison with 1.5 million inmates, many of them starving, sick and penniless -- is receiving more sympathy and protest by Israeli citizens, of widely impressive backgrounds, than is reported in the U.S. press.In contrast, the humanitarian crisis brought about by Israeli government blockades that prevent food, medicine, fuel and other necessities from coming into this tiny enclave through international relief organizations is received with predictable silence or callousness by members of Congress, including John McCain, Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama.The contrast invites more public attention and discussion.Israel has militarily occupied Gaza for forty years. It pulled out its colonials in 2005 but maintained an iron grip on the area -- controlling all access, including its airspace and territorial waters. Its F-16s and helicopter gunships regularly shred more and more of the areas' public works, its neighborhoods and inflict collective punishment on civilians in violation of Article 55 of the Fourth Geneva Convention.As the International Red Cross declares, citing treaties establishing international humanitarian law, "Neither the civilian population as a whole nor individual civilians may be attacked."According to The Nation magazine, the great Israeli human rights organization B'Tselem, reports that the primitive rockets from Gaza, have taken thirteen Israeli lives in the past four years, while Israeli forces have killed more than 1000 Palestinians in the occupied territories in the past two years alone. Almost half of them were civilians, including some 200 children.The Israeli government is barring most of the trucks from entering Gaza to feed the nearly one million Palestinians depending on international relief, from groups such as the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA). The loss of life from crumbling health care facilities, disastrous electricity cutoffs, gross malnutrition and contaminated drinking water from broken public water systems does not get totaled. These are the children and their civilian adult relatives who expire in a silent violence of suffering that 98 percent of Congress avoids mentioning while extending billions of taxpayer dollars to Israel annually.UNRWA says "we are seeing evidence of the stunting of children, their growth is slowing. . ." Cancer patients are deprived of their chemotherapy, kidney patients are cut off from dialysis treatments and premature babies cannot receive blood-clotting medications, reports Professor Saree Makdisi in the February 2, 2008 issue of The Nation.The misery, mortality and morbidity worsens day by day. Here is how the commissioner-general of UNRWA sums it up -- "Gaza is on the threshold of becoming the first territory to be intentionally reduced to a state of abject destitution, with the knowledge, acquiescence and-some would say-encouragement of the international community."Amidst the swirl of hard-liners on both sides and in both Democratic and Republican parties, consider the latest poll (February 27, 2008) of Israelis in the highly respected newspaper -- Haaretz: "Sixty-four percent of Israelis say the government must hold direct talks with the Hamas government in Gaza toward a cease-fire and the release of captive soldier Gilad Shalit. Less that one-third (28 percent) still opposes such talks. An increasing number of public figures, including senior officers in the Israeli Defense Forces' reserves have expressed similar positions on talks with Hamas."Hamas, which was created with the support of Israel and the U.S. government years ago to counter the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO), has repeatedly offered cease-fire proposals.The Israeli prime minister rejected them, notwithstanding "a growing number of politicians and security offices who are calling for Israel to accept a cease-fire," according to Middle East specialist, Professor Steve Niva.There is a similar contrast between the hardline Bush regime, the comparably hardline Democrats in Congress, and a recent survey by the American Jewish Committee (itself often hawkish on Israeli actions toward the Palestinians) of American Jewry.As reported by Eric Alterman in the January 7, 2008 issue of The Nation, "a majority of Jews in this country oppose virtually every aspect of the Bush Admistration/neocon agenda," including his war in Iraq and his belligerence toward Iran.By a 46-to-43 percent plurality American Jews continue to support the creation of a Palestinian state, notes Alterman. Other polls show even higher support, among Jews in America, for a two-state solution.Then Alterman comes to his conclusion, writing: "These views, however, have been obscured in our political discourse by an unholy alliance between conservative-dominated professional Jewish organizations and neoconservative Jewish pundits, aided by pliant and frequently clueless mainstream media that empower these right-wingers to speak for a people [Jewish-Americans] with values diametrically opposed to theirs."Makes for a healthy, constructive political debate doesn't it?If Democrats and Republicans were serious about peace in the Middle East, they would showcase the broad joint Israeli and Palestinian peace movements. These efforts now include the over 500 courageous Israeli and Palestinian families who have lost a loved one to the conflict and who have joined forces to form the Parents Circle -- Bereaved Families Forum.Together, these families are expanding a non-violent initiative to push for a peaceful resolution to the conflict. Even though some of the families have visited the United States, their efforts are almost unknown even to U.S. observers of that area's turmoil.
Tuesday, March 11, 2008
Torture in Israeli Prisons
Voices12/04/0504:41:32 am;
Categories: Voices,
2658 words
Torture in Israeli Prisons
By: Addameer(Prisoner's Support and Human Rights Association)
From the first moment of arrest the physical torture begins with the placement of handcuffs and the covering of the head with a bag effecting the breathing of the prisoner. This is often accompanied by beatings and cursing by the interrogators. In more then 90% of torture methods utilize "shabh". The prisoner legs are tied to a small stool and his hands are tied behind his back with a bag covering his head sometimes for more then 48 hours continuously in which he is given only 5 minute breaks between each sitting. During interrogation periods the prisoner is usually not allowed to sit in a normal sitting position but is forced to crouch down.Principle (6) of the Body of Principles for the Protection of All Persons under Any Form of Detention or Imprisonment, adopted by UN General Assembly resolution 43/173 of 9 December 1988, stipulates that:"No person under any form of detention or imprisonment shall be subjected to torture or to cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment.No circumstance whatever may be invoked as a justification for torture or other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment."The UN Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment, adopted and opened for signature, ratification and accession by General Assembly resolution 39/46 of 10 December 1984, goes on to define torture explicitly in its first article:"For the purposes of this Convention, the term "torture" means any act by which severe pain or suffering, whether physical or mental, is intentionally inflicted on a person for such purposes as obtaining from him or a third person information or a confession, punishing him for an act he or a third person has committed or is suspected of having committed, or intimidating or coercing him or a third person, or for any reason based on discrimination of any kind, when such pain or suffering is inflicted by or at the instigation of or with the consent or acquiescence of a public official or other person acting in an official capacity. It does not include pain or suffering arising only from, inherent in or incidental to lawful sanctions."Physical and psychological torture against Palestinian and Arab prisoners has been a distinguishing factor of Israeli occupation since 1967. Torture has taken different shapes throughout the period of occupation, thus, the Israeli security services have succeeded in achieving great experience in developing new methods of torture, finding loopholes and deceiving the world. Israel has always denied its involvement in using torture as a method of interrogation, despite all tangible evidence, in particular the death of tens of detainees in interrogation rooms and the deformation of others. Israel has used conventional methods of torture. But recently it has been using psychologically, mental and physical painful means of torture that leave fewer physical evidence, such as forcing prisoners to sit on a tiny chair with hands and feet tied, standing up in a closet, depriving detainees from sleep and using violent shaking, etc.Each State Party shall take effective legislative, administrative, judicial or other measures to prevent acts of torture in any territory under its jurisdiction.No exceptional circumstances whatsoever, whether a state of war or a threat of war, internal political instability or any other public emergency, may be invoked as a justification of torture.An order from a superior officer or a public authority may not be invoked as a justification of torture.Article 2, UN Convention Against Torture. Article 4 Convention against Torture Each State Party shall ensure that all acts of torture are offences under its criminal law. The same shall apply to an attempt to commit torture and to an act by any person which consitutes complicity or participation in torture. Each State Party shall make these offences punishable by appropriate penalties which take into account their grave nature.On the other hand, opposing torture has not stopped. Palestinian, International and Israeli institutions and individuals have opposed torture in the past years through different means, mainly the Israeli jurisdiction that has previously allowed moderate physical pressure, which opened the way for torturing at least thirty thousand Palestinian detainees since 1987.These practices led to embarrassing the so-called Israeli democracy and forced the Israeli High Court of Justice to enact a law that prohibits the use of certain types of torture, which are the types described in the petitions made before the Court. The Israeli High Court of Justice's decision is in response to seven petitions produced before the Israeli High Court by Israeli human rights institutions during 1994-99 regarding the methods of torture used by the Israeli intelligence services against Palestinian prisoners. The Court delayed hearing and ruling on the petitions, while at the same time it required the Israeli government to enact a law that organizes the work of the intelligence services so as to avoid a court ruling against them. The Israeli government did not enact such a law, and on 6 September 1996 the High Court made its ruling after being criticized by local and international human rights activists.The policies of Palestinian and Israeli institutions in the past years has focused on producing as many petitions as possible before the Israeli High Court of Justice against torture, with these petitions pressuring the Court to make its ruling.The Court's decision dealt only with part of the Israeli practices, which were never called torture as described in international laws and conventions signed by Israel; instead they were called "physical means".The Israeli intelligence services relied on the Landau Ministerial Committee's license of 1987 which gave them the power to use moderate physical pressure--as it was called by the Committee--and psychological pressure in interrogation before this decision was taken. The Committee did not explain the meaning of the so-called moderate physical pressure in its published report and the cases in which it is allowed to be used. Instead, it kept the details of its report confidential, and it was never published. The Ministerial Committee extended the time period of the license every three months; henceforth, the intelligence officials used the license to apply all types of torture methods against Palestinian detainees whom they considered as time bombs.All prisoners have experienced at least one method of torture. According to the Israeli human rights organization B'Tselem, statistics show that more than 85% of Palestinian detainees are subjected to torture.The methods of torture described before the High Court:From the first moment of arrest the physical torture begins with the placement of handcuffs and the covering of the head with a bag effecting the breathing of the prisoner. This is often accompanied by beatings and cursing by the interrogators. In more then 90% of torture methods utilize "shabh". The prisoner legs are tied to a small stool and his hands are tied behind his back with a bag covering his head sometimes for more then 48 hours continuously in which he is given only 5 minute breaks between each sitting. During interrogation periods the prisoner is usually not allowed to sit in a normal sitting position but is forced to crouch down.Also the prisoner is tied to a circle within the wall while standing or he is seated on a small stool and his hands are tied behind his back to a table which is higher thereby forcing his shoulders and arms to stay in a raised position. These types of tying methods became so familiar within the interrogation process they no longer are perceived as illegal or insulting to the individuals' rights and their dignity. One of the most difficult forms of physical torture is the "shaking". The interrogator takes hold of the prisoner by the collar and violently shakes him for over a minute. This torture method is very dangerous. You certainly remember the death of the Palestinian prisoner Abd al Summad Herisat in the April 1995 as a result of shaking. After that the forensic pathologist, Dr. Robert Kirschner, stated that the use of shaking is very dangerous and causes serious, and irreversible brain damage. There is much more which can be said about the dangers of physical torture but this is not the time for it.Psychological War- This method of torture entails the interrogator threatened by and therefore utilizes the security of the state to justify the use of torture against Palestinians. It is known that from a legal stand point there is no way to charge a person with a crime without evidence or by his own confession to the crime. What would make a person confess to a crime when he knows that there is no evidence against him? To torture a person in order to get him to confess to a crime he did not commit or say something he does not wish to say shows that the person is not dealt with as a human being but rather as a means to arrive to an desired end. The question is how can a country that claims it is democratic and that it respects individuals as human beings legitimize this.Preventing the detainees from sleeping for a period of 5-10 continuous days is another method of torture. In addition to the table squat, beating, cursing and depriving prisoners from the natural right of using toilets and changing their underwear in order to insult and degrade them.Serving bad and little food rations and serving the last meal at four o'clock in the afternoon in order to make prisoners starve. Preventing prisoners from meeting lawyers for thirty days, using security as an excuse for such actions. Solitary confinement in cold, rotting and narrow cells where prisoners spend 45-70 days in such conditions and sometimes 90 days, as in the case of the detainees Muhammad Salih and Ata Jafal.The High Court ruling on 6 September 1999 dealt with the torture methods of violent shaking, tying against small chairs, handcuffing and preventing sleeping. The Court ruled that using violent shaking and painful tying against small chairs are prohibited. It also ruled that preventing sleeping and handcuffing were prohibited. Using a sack to cover the head and playing loud music during tying prisoners to little chairs was also prohibited.The Court ruled that these methods are prohibited when used as a means during interrogation to put pressure on the detainees. Whereas; if they are used as necessary means of interrogation, then they are allowed. For instance, an interrogator can cuff the detainee to guarantee his (the interrogator's) safety during the interrogation for long hours, which can be 20 hours. This is exactly what the interrogators do now after the Court ruling: they tie a prisoner against a chair for long periods of time to replace the previous method of tying a prisoner against a tiny chair and placing a sack on top of his head.The exceptional cases as claimed by the prosecution under "the necessary protection" where intelligence officers have the right to use the methods of torture whenever necessary, are known as the time bomb. The Court ruled that this protection given in compliance with the Israeli criminal law does not give the legal power to the intelligence officers to use physical force against detainees. The Court did not rule that the use of power in these cases is completely prohibited, as is the case in international conventions. On the contrary, it left it open for the Israeli Knesset (parliament) to enact laws that give the intelligence officers the authority to use such power. The judges declared in Article 39 of the ruling stated that at this stage they do not take a decision and possibly there is a view that says that the security problems Israel faces are too many, therefore, power should be given to interrogators to use physical methods during interrogation.The Court has not ruled that if one intelligence officer uses torture he will be taken to court or not, because it left the use of "necessary protection" open to interpretation.Henceforth, we realize that the Court ruling, though it was a first step towards prohibiting the use of torture, does not eliminate the legalization of the use of torture from Israeli law, especially as it allows the Knesset to enact a proper law if it deems necessary in the interrogation rooms. Many Knesset members, who opposed torture in the past, support the use of torture by intelligence officers since, in their opinion, it is necessary to protect the state security.The Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak issued a direct order of forming a committee, known as the Sokhar-Mizuz committee, to establish a draft law that gives the intelligence officers the authority to use torture. The majority of the members of the committee supported giving the intelligence officers the authority to use pressure in exceptional cases in order to force confessions from detainees during interrogation so as to save lives. The minority of the members of the committee, including Yossi Beilen, the Israeli Minister of Justice, opposed the draft law "that gives the authority to use physical means during interrogation by the intelligence officers".Despite all the peace talks and agreements, the arrest campaigns, pursuing Palestinians, interrogating them and torturing them has not stop in 1999.The Association faced many obstacles in its follow up of the detainees' cases during custody and interrogation because it was prevented from meeting them for security reasons. The Association has also noticed that the security services do not follow the law or the right of the clients to see their lawyers by using excuses such as the detainee is in the interrogation room or has been taken to another prison. These obstacles forced the Association to take its cases to the High Court many times. ADDAMEER has also identified that the Israeli security services use various kinds of torture against almost all prisoners, most noticeably, tying against a chair, violent shaking, preventing sleeping and beating.To confirm our argument, these are some of the cases that ADDAMEER followed up in 1999:Walid Musa Hamid HusseinBassam Abdulrahim HamidFawzi Ayid JabraThree women were arrested and placed under interrogation in 1999 at Al Jalami prison. They were subjected to the most atrocious methods of torture. They were Asma Atatra, Wafa Hamarsha from Yabad and Muna Qa' dan from Araba.The interrogation services began to change some of their methods of torture but keeping torturing anyway in the aftermath of the High Court ruling in September 1999 regarding prohibiting the use of some torture methods. These included replacing Jewish torturers with Arab torturers and sending detainees to the collaborators rooms known as "the shameful rooms' for a period of more than one month in some cases. During this period the detainees would be prevented from seeing their lawyers and the interrogation would be carried out in a systematic way agreed upon by the intelligence services' officers. Torture would be used in different ways such as beating, degradation, threatening, starving and cheating. The detainees who were victims of "the shameful rooms" emphasized that the conditions in these rooms are so harsh since torture and threatening and fear surround them.The Israeli intelligence services still use torture and attempt to recruit more collaborators. It is evident that there is an increase in the campaigns of arresting young people who are still under eighteen years of age in order to recruit them as collaborators for the Israeli intelligence services.ADDAMEER witnessed the extent of compliance of the Israeli intelligence services with the Court ruling. It identified a violation of the ruling since some methods of torture are still being used against the detainees such as tying them against a tiny chair, beating them and depriving them from sleeping. Detainees are still suffering from malnutrition and solitary confinement for long periods of time and preventing them from changing their underwear.ADDAMEER followed up 32 cases in interrogation since the issuance of the Court ruling on September 6 1999 until the end of 1999, some of the cases include:Yassin BazarMansor Mahmoud AlshahatitRami Abu Hlal
Categories: Voices,
2658 words
Torture in Israeli Prisons
By: Addameer(Prisoner's Support and Human Rights Association)
From the first moment of arrest the physical torture begins with the placement of handcuffs and the covering of the head with a bag effecting the breathing of the prisoner. This is often accompanied by beatings and cursing by the interrogators. In more then 90% of torture methods utilize "shabh". The prisoner legs are tied to a small stool and his hands are tied behind his back with a bag covering his head sometimes for more then 48 hours continuously in which he is given only 5 minute breaks between each sitting. During interrogation periods the prisoner is usually not allowed to sit in a normal sitting position but is forced to crouch down.Principle (6) of the Body of Principles for the Protection of All Persons under Any Form of Detention or Imprisonment, adopted by UN General Assembly resolution 43/173 of 9 December 1988, stipulates that:"No person under any form of detention or imprisonment shall be subjected to torture or to cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment.No circumstance whatever may be invoked as a justification for torture or other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment."The UN Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment, adopted and opened for signature, ratification and accession by General Assembly resolution 39/46 of 10 December 1984, goes on to define torture explicitly in its first article:"For the purposes of this Convention, the term "torture" means any act by which severe pain or suffering, whether physical or mental, is intentionally inflicted on a person for such purposes as obtaining from him or a third person information or a confession, punishing him for an act he or a third person has committed or is suspected of having committed, or intimidating or coercing him or a third person, or for any reason based on discrimination of any kind, when such pain or suffering is inflicted by or at the instigation of or with the consent or acquiescence of a public official or other person acting in an official capacity. It does not include pain or suffering arising only from, inherent in or incidental to lawful sanctions."Physical and psychological torture against Palestinian and Arab prisoners has been a distinguishing factor of Israeli occupation since 1967. Torture has taken different shapes throughout the period of occupation, thus, the Israeli security services have succeeded in achieving great experience in developing new methods of torture, finding loopholes and deceiving the world. Israel has always denied its involvement in using torture as a method of interrogation, despite all tangible evidence, in particular the death of tens of detainees in interrogation rooms and the deformation of others. Israel has used conventional methods of torture. But recently it has been using psychologically, mental and physical painful means of torture that leave fewer physical evidence, such as forcing prisoners to sit on a tiny chair with hands and feet tied, standing up in a closet, depriving detainees from sleep and using violent shaking, etc.Each State Party shall take effective legislative, administrative, judicial or other measures to prevent acts of torture in any territory under its jurisdiction.No exceptional circumstances whatsoever, whether a state of war or a threat of war, internal political instability or any other public emergency, may be invoked as a justification of torture.An order from a superior officer or a public authority may not be invoked as a justification of torture.Article 2, UN Convention Against Torture. Article 4 Convention against Torture Each State Party shall ensure that all acts of torture are offences under its criminal law. The same shall apply to an attempt to commit torture and to an act by any person which consitutes complicity or participation in torture. Each State Party shall make these offences punishable by appropriate penalties which take into account their grave nature.On the other hand, opposing torture has not stopped. Palestinian, International and Israeli institutions and individuals have opposed torture in the past years through different means, mainly the Israeli jurisdiction that has previously allowed moderate physical pressure, which opened the way for torturing at least thirty thousand Palestinian detainees since 1987.These practices led to embarrassing the so-called Israeli democracy and forced the Israeli High Court of Justice to enact a law that prohibits the use of certain types of torture, which are the types described in the petitions made before the Court. The Israeli High Court of Justice's decision is in response to seven petitions produced before the Israeli High Court by Israeli human rights institutions during 1994-99 regarding the methods of torture used by the Israeli intelligence services against Palestinian prisoners. The Court delayed hearing and ruling on the petitions, while at the same time it required the Israeli government to enact a law that organizes the work of the intelligence services so as to avoid a court ruling against them. The Israeli government did not enact such a law, and on 6 September 1996 the High Court made its ruling after being criticized by local and international human rights activists.The policies of Palestinian and Israeli institutions in the past years has focused on producing as many petitions as possible before the Israeli High Court of Justice against torture, with these petitions pressuring the Court to make its ruling.The Court's decision dealt only with part of the Israeli practices, which were never called torture as described in international laws and conventions signed by Israel; instead they were called "physical means".The Israeli intelligence services relied on the Landau Ministerial Committee's license of 1987 which gave them the power to use moderate physical pressure--as it was called by the Committee--and psychological pressure in interrogation before this decision was taken. The Committee did not explain the meaning of the so-called moderate physical pressure in its published report and the cases in which it is allowed to be used. Instead, it kept the details of its report confidential, and it was never published. The Ministerial Committee extended the time period of the license every three months; henceforth, the intelligence officials used the license to apply all types of torture methods against Palestinian detainees whom they considered as time bombs.All prisoners have experienced at least one method of torture. According to the Israeli human rights organization B'Tselem, statistics show that more than 85% of Palestinian detainees are subjected to torture.The methods of torture described before the High Court:From the first moment of arrest the physical torture begins with the placement of handcuffs and the covering of the head with a bag effecting the breathing of the prisoner. This is often accompanied by beatings and cursing by the interrogators. In more then 90% of torture methods utilize "shabh". The prisoner legs are tied to a small stool and his hands are tied behind his back with a bag covering his head sometimes for more then 48 hours continuously in which he is given only 5 minute breaks between each sitting. During interrogation periods the prisoner is usually not allowed to sit in a normal sitting position but is forced to crouch down.Also the prisoner is tied to a circle within the wall while standing or he is seated on a small stool and his hands are tied behind his back to a table which is higher thereby forcing his shoulders and arms to stay in a raised position. These types of tying methods became so familiar within the interrogation process they no longer are perceived as illegal or insulting to the individuals' rights and their dignity. One of the most difficult forms of physical torture is the "shaking". The interrogator takes hold of the prisoner by the collar and violently shakes him for over a minute. This torture method is very dangerous. You certainly remember the death of the Palestinian prisoner Abd al Summad Herisat in the April 1995 as a result of shaking. After that the forensic pathologist, Dr. Robert Kirschner, stated that the use of shaking is very dangerous and causes serious, and irreversible brain damage. There is much more which can be said about the dangers of physical torture but this is not the time for it.Psychological War- This method of torture entails the interrogator threatened by and therefore utilizes the security of the state to justify the use of torture against Palestinians. It is known that from a legal stand point there is no way to charge a person with a crime without evidence or by his own confession to the crime. What would make a person confess to a crime when he knows that there is no evidence against him? To torture a person in order to get him to confess to a crime he did not commit or say something he does not wish to say shows that the person is not dealt with as a human being but rather as a means to arrive to an desired end. The question is how can a country that claims it is democratic and that it respects individuals as human beings legitimize this.Preventing the detainees from sleeping for a period of 5-10 continuous days is another method of torture. In addition to the table squat, beating, cursing and depriving prisoners from the natural right of using toilets and changing their underwear in order to insult and degrade them.Serving bad and little food rations and serving the last meal at four o'clock in the afternoon in order to make prisoners starve. Preventing prisoners from meeting lawyers for thirty days, using security as an excuse for such actions. Solitary confinement in cold, rotting and narrow cells where prisoners spend 45-70 days in such conditions and sometimes 90 days, as in the case of the detainees Muhammad Salih and Ata Jafal.The High Court ruling on 6 September 1999 dealt with the torture methods of violent shaking, tying against small chairs, handcuffing and preventing sleeping. The Court ruled that using violent shaking and painful tying against small chairs are prohibited. It also ruled that preventing sleeping and handcuffing were prohibited. Using a sack to cover the head and playing loud music during tying prisoners to little chairs was also prohibited.The Court ruled that these methods are prohibited when used as a means during interrogation to put pressure on the detainees. Whereas; if they are used as necessary means of interrogation, then they are allowed. For instance, an interrogator can cuff the detainee to guarantee his (the interrogator's) safety during the interrogation for long hours, which can be 20 hours. This is exactly what the interrogators do now after the Court ruling: they tie a prisoner against a chair for long periods of time to replace the previous method of tying a prisoner against a tiny chair and placing a sack on top of his head.The exceptional cases as claimed by the prosecution under "the necessary protection" where intelligence officers have the right to use the methods of torture whenever necessary, are known as the time bomb. The Court ruled that this protection given in compliance with the Israeli criminal law does not give the legal power to the intelligence officers to use physical force against detainees. The Court did not rule that the use of power in these cases is completely prohibited, as is the case in international conventions. On the contrary, it left it open for the Israeli Knesset (parliament) to enact laws that give the intelligence officers the authority to use such power. The judges declared in Article 39 of the ruling stated that at this stage they do not take a decision and possibly there is a view that says that the security problems Israel faces are too many, therefore, power should be given to interrogators to use physical methods during interrogation.The Court has not ruled that if one intelligence officer uses torture he will be taken to court or not, because it left the use of "necessary protection" open to interpretation.Henceforth, we realize that the Court ruling, though it was a first step towards prohibiting the use of torture, does not eliminate the legalization of the use of torture from Israeli law, especially as it allows the Knesset to enact a proper law if it deems necessary in the interrogation rooms. Many Knesset members, who opposed torture in the past, support the use of torture by intelligence officers since, in their opinion, it is necessary to protect the state security.The Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak issued a direct order of forming a committee, known as the Sokhar-Mizuz committee, to establish a draft law that gives the intelligence officers the authority to use torture. The majority of the members of the committee supported giving the intelligence officers the authority to use pressure in exceptional cases in order to force confessions from detainees during interrogation so as to save lives. The minority of the members of the committee, including Yossi Beilen, the Israeli Minister of Justice, opposed the draft law "that gives the authority to use physical means during interrogation by the intelligence officers".Despite all the peace talks and agreements, the arrest campaigns, pursuing Palestinians, interrogating them and torturing them has not stop in 1999.The Association faced many obstacles in its follow up of the detainees' cases during custody and interrogation because it was prevented from meeting them for security reasons. The Association has also noticed that the security services do not follow the law or the right of the clients to see their lawyers by using excuses such as the detainee is in the interrogation room or has been taken to another prison. These obstacles forced the Association to take its cases to the High Court many times. ADDAMEER has also identified that the Israeli security services use various kinds of torture against almost all prisoners, most noticeably, tying against a chair, violent shaking, preventing sleeping and beating.To confirm our argument, these are some of the cases that ADDAMEER followed up in 1999:Walid Musa Hamid HusseinBassam Abdulrahim HamidFawzi Ayid JabraThree women were arrested and placed under interrogation in 1999 at Al Jalami prison. They were subjected to the most atrocious methods of torture. They were Asma Atatra, Wafa Hamarsha from Yabad and Muna Qa' dan from Araba.The interrogation services began to change some of their methods of torture but keeping torturing anyway in the aftermath of the High Court ruling in September 1999 regarding prohibiting the use of some torture methods. These included replacing Jewish torturers with Arab torturers and sending detainees to the collaborators rooms known as "the shameful rooms' for a period of more than one month in some cases. During this period the detainees would be prevented from seeing their lawyers and the interrogation would be carried out in a systematic way agreed upon by the intelligence services' officers. Torture would be used in different ways such as beating, degradation, threatening, starving and cheating. The detainees who were victims of "the shameful rooms" emphasized that the conditions in these rooms are so harsh since torture and threatening and fear surround them.The Israeli intelligence services still use torture and attempt to recruit more collaborators. It is evident that there is an increase in the campaigns of arresting young people who are still under eighteen years of age in order to recruit them as collaborators for the Israeli intelligence services.ADDAMEER witnessed the extent of compliance of the Israeli intelligence services with the Court ruling. It identified a violation of the ruling since some methods of torture are still being used against the detainees such as tying them against a tiny chair, beating them and depriving them from sleeping. Detainees are still suffering from malnutrition and solitary confinement for long periods of time and preventing them from changing their underwear.ADDAMEER followed up 32 cases in interrogation since the issuance of the Court ruling on September 6 1999 until the end of 1999, some of the cases include:Yassin BazarMansor Mahmoud AlshahatitRami Abu Hlal
Israel Prison Service & its Medical Center
Information regarding the Israel Prison Service and its medical center
Physicians for Human Rights-Israel
Many complaints regarding problems in receiving medical treatment, the prison conditions, and violence towards inmates reach Physicians for Human Rights-Israel from prisoners and detainees held in Israel Prison Service (IPS) detention centers.While the police allows Physicians for Human Rights-Israel to tour its centers, the IPS, responsible for the custody of prisoners, does all it can to stop outside review. IPS does not allow open tours of its centers, and allows only for visits by doctors or lawyers to specific inmates, arranged in advance, and they are not allowed to visit the prisoner’s cell or to inspect the conditions. Therefore Physicians for Human Rights-Israel’s information on the conditions is very limited, and arrives indirectly from analyzing data from testimonies and affidavits of prisoners who turn to the association.It seems, based on the prisoners’ complaints from various prisoners, that IPS does not respond properly to health problems of the prisoner.· Prisoners’ requests to be examined by the compound doctor are not, in many cases, answered within a reasonable amount of time.· Laboratory tests, MRI or a specialist examination outside of the prisoner are regularly delayed because of the steps involved in taking a prisoner outside of the compound.· In spite of the existence of a medical center in IPS, it cannot properly handle prisoners who suffer from chronic illnesses which require medical follow ups and periodical examinations and follow up on the affects of drug treatment.· IPS doctors are not specialist, as opposed to the norm today in community clinics of the HMOs (Sick Funds) where doctors are specialists in family medicine.· Like many patients outside of incarceration centers, prisoners too are usually not explained in a clear manner what the nature of their problem is, what is the treatment they are receiving and what are the prospects for the future. As opposed to patients who are not incarcerated the prisoners do not have the option of turning to another doctor in the event that they are not satisfied with the prison doctor and his treatment. Also, the option they have to file complaints regarding the medical treatment in limited and pass through the prison staff, which can then treat the prisoners unfairly in light of their complaint.In addition to all the above-mentioned problems, there is no medical supervision on the part of the Ministry of Health of the medical system of IPS and its centers despite the large variety of medical cases it handles.IPS Medical CenterPrisoners which suffer from health problems which do not allow for them to be held in the regular prisons but who do not require hospitalization are held in the IPS Medical Center which is located within the compound in Ramla. In spite of the many complaints regarding the inferior medical treatment and neglect in the center that have accumulated since 1997 and until today, the IPS has refused to allow Physicians for Human Rights-Israel doctors into the medical center to assess the quality of treatment given there. The claim is that Physicians for Human Rights-Israel does not have the legal status to do so.Due to this, Physicians for Human Rights-Israel decided to open a project whose goal to is to gather information by using questionnaires given to prisoners held in the IPS Medical Center, via lawyers, in order to reveal the faults and bring them to the public’s knowledge. Hopefully this will bring about external professional review of this institution.In March 2002 the report “These Worldly Bars” was published by Physicians for Human Rights-Israel- the report described the medical institute as one nearly without any medical or other review, it also described many cases of poor medical treatment, nursing care given by working prisoners with no training in doing this sort of work, intervention by non medical personal into the treatment, problems in transferring patients to outside centers, neglect of patience requiring nursing care and those in rehabilitation, threatening patients who complain and sanitary and living conditions which are unfit for humans. The report analyzed the legal status of the ill prisoners in all IPS centers, according to which they are not entitled to health services under the National Health Insurance act, as are all residents of Israel, but rather from the public health ordinance- a situation which leads to the medical services being given by medical staffs which are bowed to the authority of non-medical bodies. The reports points out this structure as being the root problem, since it inevitably leads to the situation of dual loyalties on part of the medical staff- loyalty on the one hand to the institute that employs them and is powerful, and on the hand loyalty to the doctor’s obligation to treat the patient. The report recommended not only to investigate the incidents which were described in the report and to correct the faults which caused them, but also to close down the IPS Medical Center and to transfer its patients to the relevant medical institutes, and to set up a investigation committee which would make recommendations regarding the structure and hierarchy in the IPS Medical Center.The publication of the report aroused public interest, and was followed by the filing of a High Court petition by Physicians for Human Rights-Isreal and lawyers from Adam, which focused on the recommendations of the report and the demands to set up a medical review committee for the IPS Medical Center.The High Court agreed to some of the demands, and instructure that a committee be established and that it include representatives from the Mnistry of Health, IPS, IMA (Israel Medical Association) and Physicians for Human Rights-Israel. The committee filed its recommendations and demanded the creation of new review systems to supervise the medical services given by IPS, additional training to the doctors of IPS and the entire medical staff at IPS, the creation of new systems to handle complaints by prisoners regarding their medical treatment, improvement of the referral system of prisoners to specialists which are not part of the IPS clinics on a regular basis, better supervision of the prison conditions and the care of prisoners needing nursing care who reside in the IPS Medical Center. As of today, the matter is still in court.
Physicians for Human Rights-Israel
Many complaints regarding problems in receiving medical treatment, the prison conditions, and violence towards inmates reach Physicians for Human Rights-Israel from prisoners and detainees held in Israel Prison Service (IPS) detention centers.While the police allows Physicians for Human Rights-Israel to tour its centers, the IPS, responsible for the custody of prisoners, does all it can to stop outside review. IPS does not allow open tours of its centers, and allows only for visits by doctors or lawyers to specific inmates, arranged in advance, and they are not allowed to visit the prisoner’s cell or to inspect the conditions. Therefore Physicians for Human Rights-Israel’s information on the conditions is very limited, and arrives indirectly from analyzing data from testimonies and affidavits of prisoners who turn to the association.It seems, based on the prisoners’ complaints from various prisoners, that IPS does not respond properly to health problems of the prisoner.· Prisoners’ requests to be examined by the compound doctor are not, in many cases, answered within a reasonable amount of time.· Laboratory tests, MRI or a specialist examination outside of the prisoner are regularly delayed because of the steps involved in taking a prisoner outside of the compound.· In spite of the existence of a medical center in IPS, it cannot properly handle prisoners who suffer from chronic illnesses which require medical follow ups and periodical examinations and follow up on the affects of drug treatment.· IPS doctors are not specialist, as opposed to the norm today in community clinics of the HMOs (Sick Funds) where doctors are specialists in family medicine.· Like many patients outside of incarceration centers, prisoners too are usually not explained in a clear manner what the nature of their problem is, what is the treatment they are receiving and what are the prospects for the future. As opposed to patients who are not incarcerated the prisoners do not have the option of turning to another doctor in the event that they are not satisfied with the prison doctor and his treatment. Also, the option they have to file complaints regarding the medical treatment in limited and pass through the prison staff, which can then treat the prisoners unfairly in light of their complaint.In addition to all the above-mentioned problems, there is no medical supervision on the part of the Ministry of Health of the medical system of IPS and its centers despite the large variety of medical cases it handles.IPS Medical CenterPrisoners which suffer from health problems which do not allow for them to be held in the regular prisons but who do not require hospitalization are held in the IPS Medical Center which is located within the compound in Ramla. In spite of the many complaints regarding the inferior medical treatment and neglect in the center that have accumulated since 1997 and until today, the IPS has refused to allow Physicians for Human Rights-Israel doctors into the medical center to assess the quality of treatment given there. The claim is that Physicians for Human Rights-Israel does not have the legal status to do so.Due to this, Physicians for Human Rights-Israel decided to open a project whose goal to is to gather information by using questionnaires given to prisoners held in the IPS Medical Center, via lawyers, in order to reveal the faults and bring them to the public’s knowledge. Hopefully this will bring about external professional review of this institution.In March 2002 the report “These Worldly Bars” was published by Physicians for Human Rights-Israel- the report described the medical institute as one nearly without any medical or other review, it also described many cases of poor medical treatment, nursing care given by working prisoners with no training in doing this sort of work, intervention by non medical personal into the treatment, problems in transferring patients to outside centers, neglect of patience requiring nursing care and those in rehabilitation, threatening patients who complain and sanitary and living conditions which are unfit for humans. The report analyzed the legal status of the ill prisoners in all IPS centers, according to which they are not entitled to health services under the National Health Insurance act, as are all residents of Israel, but rather from the public health ordinance- a situation which leads to the medical services being given by medical staffs which are bowed to the authority of non-medical bodies. The reports points out this structure as being the root problem, since it inevitably leads to the situation of dual loyalties on part of the medical staff- loyalty on the one hand to the institute that employs them and is powerful, and on the hand loyalty to the doctor’s obligation to treat the patient. The report recommended not only to investigate the incidents which were described in the report and to correct the faults which caused them, but also to close down the IPS Medical Center and to transfer its patients to the relevant medical institutes, and to set up a investigation committee which would make recommendations regarding the structure and hierarchy in the IPS Medical Center.The publication of the report aroused public interest, and was followed by the filing of a High Court petition by Physicians for Human Rights-Isreal and lawyers from Adam, which focused on the recommendations of the report and the demands to set up a medical review committee for the IPS Medical Center.The High Court agreed to some of the demands, and instructure that a committee be established and that it include representatives from the Mnistry of Health, IPS, IMA (Israel Medical Association) and Physicians for Human Rights-Israel. The committee filed its recommendations and demanded the creation of new review systems to supervise the medical services given by IPS, additional training to the doctors of IPS and the entire medical staff at IPS, the creation of new systems to handle complaints by prisoners regarding their medical treatment, improvement of the referral system of prisoners to specialists which are not part of the IPS clinics on a regular basis, better supervision of the prison conditions and the care of prisoners needing nursing care who reside in the IPS Medical Center. As of today, the matter is still in court.
Monday, March 3, 2008
Israeli Prisons Are Basically Political Prisons
Israeli Prisons Are Basically Political Prisons
By Crystal Robert
The inmates are mostly Palestinians suspected, accused, and too often –based on coerced confessions- “convicted” of planning, abetting, or carrying out acts of resistances, whether peaceful or armed. Statistics for the total prison are unavailable, but the amount of inmates in maximum-security prisons serving long-term sentences is approximately 3,000; thirty Palestinian women are held in Neve Tertza. Lawyers estimate that until the recent uprising, some 20,000 Palestinians were jailed every year.
There are ten prisons within the pre-1967 borders:
· Kfar Yonak
· Ramle Central Prison
· Shattah
· Damun
· Mahaneh Ma’siyahu
· Tel Mond (for juveniles)
Nine prisons are located in the post-1967 Occupied Territories:
· Gaza
· Nablus
· Ramallah
· Bethlehem
· Fara’a
· Jericho
· Tulkarm
· Hebron
· Jerusalem
There are regional detention centers at:
· Yagur (Jalameh)
· Atlit, near Haifa
· Abu Kaber, in Tel Aviv
· Moscobya in Jerusalem (Russian compound)
There are also police headquarters in Haifa, Acre, Jerusalem, and Tel Aviv. The eighteen police stations throughout the state and the forty police outposts in the Occupied Territories are also used to detain suspects for interrogation and torture. Other military installations all over the country also serve as interrogation and torture centers. All prisoners agree that the worse of these is Armon ha-Avadon, known as the “Palace of Hell and “Palace of the End;” it is located at Mahaneh Tzerfin near Sarafand.
Detention camps with only tents for shelter have been erected to contain the large population of Palestinian prisoners brought from Lebanon during the 1982 invasion and the youths caught during the current resistance. Three detention centers have become notorious for their inhumane conditions and daily routine of torture.
No matter where the prisons are located, the conditions are pretty much the same. The Israeli prison authorities keep a rigorous segregation between people held on criminal charges and others convicted of “security offences”, the political prisoners.
Because only a small amount of Jews qualify as political prisoners, and only a small amount of Palestinians, especially those from the Occupied Territories are criminal offenders, this separation entails de-facto segregation between Jewish prisoners and Palestinian prisoners. No contact or communication is allowed and they are either in separate prisons or different wings of the same institution.
Distinctions are made between Palestinian detainees from the Occupied Territories post-1967 and “Israeli-Arab” inmates, who are Palestinians and Druzes residing in pre-1967 Israel and holding Israeli citizenship. The conditions of detention for inmates from the West Bank and Gaza are a lot worse than those of pre-1967 “Israeli” inmates.
Not all detainees from the pre-1967 Israel are allowed a bed or mattress. About 70% of these Israeli prisoners enjoy this privilege. They also are allowed to receive a visit every two weeks and send two letters every month. They get three blankets in summer and five in winter. As for the prisoners from the post-1967 Occupied Territories, they sleep on the floor, even during winter. They are allowed a rubber mat ¼” [0.5cm] thick, one visit and one postcard a month.
In European and American prisons, the average living space per inmate is 112.5 square feet [10.5m²]. For Palestinians detained in the West Bank and Gaza, the living space is one tenth of this area, or 16 square feet [1.5m²] per prisoner.
The Israeli prison bureaucracy is a law unto itself. When a citizen enters an Israeli jail, he loses all rights and becomes subject to wholly arbitrary authority of people selected for their harshness.
Among the 114 existing clauses in the Prison Ordinance (revised 1971), not a single clause or sub-clause defines prisoners rights. What the Ordinance provides is a legally binding set of rules for the Minister of the Interior. These rules are formulated by administrative decree, by no other than the Minister himself!
No provision stipulating obligations incumbent upon the prison authorities exists, or does any clause guaranteeing prisoners a minimum standard of living. In Israeli prisons, it is legally acceptable to cram twenty inmates in a cell no bigger than 15 feet [5m] long, 12 feet [4m] wide, and 9 feet [3m] high. The space includes an open lavatory, and inmates spend twenty-three hours every day in such cells!
The inmates are mostly Palestinians suspected, accused, and too often –based on coerced confessions- “convicted” of planning, abetting, or carrying out acts of resistances, whether peaceful or armed. Statistics for the total prison are unavailable, but the amount of inmates in maximum-security prisons serving long-term sentences is approximately 3,000; thirty Palestinian women are held in Neve Tertza. Lawyers estimate that until the recent uprising, some 20,000 Palestinians were jailed every year.
There are ten prisons within the pre-1967 borders:
· Kfar Yonak
· Ramle Central Prison
· Shattah
· Damun
· Mahaneh Ma’siyahu
· Tel Mond (for juveniles)
Nine prisons are located in the post-1967 Occupied Territories:
· Gaza
· Nablus
· Ramallah
· Bethlehem
· Fara’a
· Jericho
· Tulkarm
· Hebron
· Jerusalem
There are regional detention centers at:
· Yagur (Jalameh)
· Atlit, near Haifa
· Abu Kaber, in Tel Aviv
· Moscobya in Jerusalem (Russian compound)
There are also police headquarters in Haifa, Acre, Jerusalem, and Tel Aviv. The eighteen police stations throughout the state and the forty police outposts in the Occupied Territories are also used to detain suspects for interrogation and torture. Other military installations all over the country also serve as interrogation and torture centers. All prisoners agree that the worse of these is Armon ha-Avadon, known as the “Palace of Hell and “Palace of the End;” it is located at Mahaneh Tzerfin near Sarafand.
Detention camps with only tents for shelter have been erected to contain the large population of Palestinian prisoners brought from Lebanon during the 1982 invasion and the youths caught during the current resistance. Three detention centers have become notorious for their inhumane conditions and daily routine of torture.
No matter where the prisons are located, the conditions are pretty much the same. The Israeli prison authorities keep a rigorous segregation between people held on criminal charges and others convicted of “security offences”, the political prisoners.
Because only a small amount of Jews qualify as political prisoners, and only a small amount of Palestinians, especially those from the Occupied Territories are criminal offenders, this separation entails de-facto segregation between Jewish prisoners and Palestinian prisoners. No contact or communication is allowed and they are either in separate prisons or different wings of the same institution.
Distinctions are made between Palestinian detainees from the Occupied Territories post-1967 and “Israeli-Arab” inmates, who are Palestinians and Druzes residing in pre-1967 Israel and holding Israeli citizenship. The conditions of detention for inmates from the West Bank and Gaza are a lot worse than those of pre-1967 “Israeli” inmates.
Not all detainees from the pre-1967 Israel are allowed a bed or mattress. About 70% of these Israeli prisoners enjoy this privilege. They also are allowed to receive a visit every two weeks and send two letters every month. They get three blankets in summer and five in winter. As for the prisoners from the post-1967 Occupied Territories, they sleep on the floor, even during winter. They are allowed a rubber mat ¼” [0.5cm] thick, one visit and one postcard a month.
In European and American prisons, the average living space per inmate is 112.5 square feet [10.5m²]. For Palestinians detained in the West Bank and Gaza, the living space is one tenth of this area, or 16 square feet [1.5m²] per prisoner.
The Israeli prison bureaucracy is a law unto itself. When a citizen enters an Israeli jail, he loses all rights and becomes subject to wholly arbitrary authority of people selected for their harshness.
Among the 114 existing clauses in the Prison Ordinance (revised 1971), not a single clause or sub-clause defines prisoners rights. What the Ordinance provides is a legally binding set of rules for the Minister of the Interior. These rules are formulated by administrative decree, by no other than the Minister himself!
No provision stipulating obligations incumbent upon the prison authorities exists, or does any clause guaranteeing prisoners a minimum standard of living. In Israeli prisons, it is legally acceptable to cram twenty inmates in a cell no bigger than 15 feet [5m] long, 12 feet [4m] wide, and 9 feet [3m] high. The space includes an open lavatory, and inmates spend twenty-three hours every day in such cells!
The Kutler Report
The Kutler Report
By Crystal Robert
An extensive enquiry into the physical conditions inside the prisons located within pre-1967 Israel, written by Israeli journalist Yair Kutler, was published in Haaretz. Kutler concluded that life in Israeli prisons is “hell on earth.”
What he observed follows…
Kfar Yonah (the grave of Yonah): This detention center terrifies those who pass through its gates. It is also named Meurat Petanim (The Lair of Cobras.) The reception for those awaiting trial is really frightening.
Extremely cold and dam cells are “furnished” with shabby and filthy mattresses. The cells are so overcrowded that most inmates must sleep on the floor. The stench of human excretions, sweat and filth is absolutely overwhelming. A putrid odor floats in the cells all the time. In Wind D, three rooms are crammed with 12, 18, and 20 prisoners.
Central Prison of Ramle: One of the harshest prisons in Israel, Ramle was once used as a stable for horses. Later, it was used as a British police station. Overcrowded and stinky, it is packed with no less than 700 inmates. Many detainees do not have a few square meters, a small corner, or a bed for themselves. It is frequent to see one-hundred men lying on the floor.
Ramle counts twenty-one isolation cells (‘X’s). The sun never penetrates the isolation cells, which are totally sealed-off. Only a dangling bulb from the ceiling gives off some kind of light all day long.
There are also dungeons in Ramle! Dark and filthy, the stench is unbearable. There are no light bulbs. The sole light hitting the cells comes from a small opening in the door giving to the corridor. Before an inmate is placed in the dungeon cell, he is first stripped naked. He is being given a thorn and thin overall. He gets to use the toilet once a day. The rest of the day, he has to contain himself for another 24 hour period. He can urinate through a wire mesh in the door. No daily walk or shower is allowed.
Beatings are frequent at Ramle. Guards enjoy using the “blanket method” where a few guards cover the prisoner’s head and beat him until he falls unconscious. If an inmate wants to avoid solitary confinement, he must know how to live a life of self-abasement and of total submission.
Shattah: The stench can be smelled from a far distance. The overcrowding is beyond imagination. The cells are damp and dark and the air is suffocating. During the hottest period of summer, the prison is a blazing hell.
Sarafand: It sits behind a high wire fence that tourists can see when they pass by on the road from Jerusalem to Tel Aviv, and five miles from Ben Gurion Airport, Sarafand covers ten square miles.
It is the largest army ordinance and supply depot. It is the repository of the Jewish National Fund and stores equipment for construction of new settlements, in pre-1967 Israel and the post-1967 Occupied Territories.
It is evident that there exists an inexorable relationship between occupation, settlements, colonization, and the system of torture visited on Palestinians. As the “torture center”, Sarafand has historical relevance.
Built prior to WWII, it served as the principal ordinance depot for Britain. It is known as one of the most notorious camp for detainees during the Palestinian uprising against the British rule and Zionist colonization of the land.
The old British Mandate buildings were taken over by Israeli authorities, their function unaltered and used for a new Palestinian detainee generation. During the British Era, both Israelis and Palestinians knew the center as the “concentration camp” and have been kept as such in use and character.
Nafha- A political prison: While they have not received the status of Prisoners of War, prisoner camps are being built for them. Its inhabitants have given it the term “political prison.”
Located eight kilometers in the desert from Mitzoe Ramon and halfway between Beersheba and Eilat, Nafha is a barren area with terribl sandstorms. Sand penetrates everything. It is extremely cold at night and the heat is unbearable during the day. Snakes and scorpions roam the cells.
In Nafha, a typical cell is 18 feet by 9 feet [6x3m]. Ten mattresses cover the floor leaving no other space. There is a primitive lavatory in a corner and a shower just above it. While one is using the toilet, others are washing themselves or doing dishes. Ten prisoners share this cell twenty-three hours a day.
Everyday, ten prisoners must walk half-an-hour daily in a small concrete yard 15 feet x 45 feet [5mx15m]. Many of the inmates are ill, after repeated torture sessions; the living conditions in Nafha are simply brutal. The more I keep digging into this, the more I wonder how a human being can remain sane while being submitted to such horrible living conditions…
The Palestinian people need the international community to step up and do what is right. We must ask for the unconditional release of all Palestinian political prisoners and this immediately. We absolutely need to raise awareness of this situation in the Western hemisphere where the mainstream media paints a different picture and make people believe that “Israel has the right to defend itself.” People seem hypnotized by these words and whenever I bring up this important issue to people, I get this “Israel has the right to defend itself” mantra….
On the bright side, people are finally becoming more receptive to our message… There has been some improvement during the last five years, due to several anti-Zionist groups that have popped all over the internet. They had not counted with the internet. Now, we have a way to connect in seconds globally and news travel at internet speed.
Life Behind Bars in Israel
Life Behind Bars in Israel
By Crystal Robert
Palestinian and Arab prisoners serving high sentences are held at this facility, along with detainees awaiting trial. Ashkelon Central Prison is located South of Tel Aviv; the facility is set up with an interrogation section and a solitary confinement wing.
During the first intifada (1987-1994), Israel arrested some 175,000 Palestinians. Our brother, Qandeel Kamel IIwan died on February 24th, 1988, from medical negligence…
According to the Israeli Human Rights Organization B’tselem, as much as 85% of Palestinian prisoners have been tortured during investigation. Almost all detainees are subjected to some form of torture or mistreatment. Common methods include: severe beatings, punching and kicking; being handcuffed for long periods of time in contorted positions, for example to a small chair or a pipe hanging from the ceiling; exposure to very loud music, sounds, or screaming; sleep deprivation; denial of food, water, and use of toilet; psychological threats and pressure to collaborate; hooded with a heavy, dirty sack sometimes soaked in urine and smeared in faeces; sexual abuse or threat of sexual abuse; solitary confinement; denial of medical treatment for injuries received during arrest, such as bullet wounds.
There are 24 detention centers for holding Palestinians: 14 prisons and military camps, 5 detention and holding facilities, and 5 interrogation centers. 19 of these facilities are outside of the Gaza Strip and of the West Bank. This means that the prisoners are illegally transferred, outside of the Occupied Territories, in violation of the 4th Geneva Convention.
Many detainees are held for years without ever facing charge or trial. All detention centers are extremely crowded. Detainees often sleep on wooden planks covered with thin mattresses. The blankets are often torn, filthy, and insufficient for the amount of detainees. The food is not only inadequate, but also insufficient for the number of detainees. Because access to toilets is restricted, prisoners are often forced to urinate in bottles inside their cells.
Poor sanitary conditions are notorious within Israeli prisons. Even denial of adequate medical treatment is used to pressure detainees into collaboration!
In a series of 60 interviews with ex-detainees from the Bethlehem area in 1994, 90% of the interviewed people claimed that the administration uses the denial of medical treatment to recruit collaborators. Given these statistics, I wonder if Qandeel died because of medical negligence and why? Was he refusing to “collaborate”? I am still working on finding his file, somewhere. He died exactly 20 years ago and it is difficult to find any data before 1989.
A former prisoner said that detainees were so well aware that Israeli prison hospitals use the threat of withholding treatment to force detainees, that they are reluctant to sick treatment for fear of being a suspected collaborator.
We can safely say that Israeli prisons are essentially political prisons. Their population consists mostly of Palestinians who are suspected, accused, and occasionally (though through coerced confessions) “convicted”. Convictions range from carrying out, abetting, or planning acts of resistance whether peaceful or armed. The number of prisoners in maximum security prisons serving long sentences is about 3,000. 40 police outposts in the Occupied Territories are used to detain, interrogate, and torture subjects. Military installations throughout the country also serve as interrogation and torture centers.
Prisoners are often being denied visitation rights, and the administration doesn’t provide any explanations for these illegal acts. Some detainees spend 5 years or even more in solitary confinement. During this time, they are repeatedly transferred from one detention facility to another. Again, no explanation is being given from the administration. There are times when isolated prisoners are not even allowed to communicate with other detainee. They are repeatedly attacked and violated by the soldiers. All these procedures are in direct violation to the 4th Geneva Convention, the international law, and to basic principles of human rights.
The food given to detainees is bad and insufficient, forcing the detainees to buy their own food from the prison canteen, sold at an outrageous price. Knowing all this, it is easy to conclude that harsh living conditions, abuse, deprivation from basic human rights, solitary confinement for extended periods constitute the life of Palestinian detainees in Israeli prisons.The Detainees Media Office started a campaign. Several institutions and parties were contacted in order to arrange protests against the violations. Several human right groups were also contacted and asked to pressure the Israeli Prison Authorities to improve the conditions of the detainees and provide them with basic human rights guaranteed by the 4ht Geneva Convention and by in
During the first intifada (1987-1994), Israel arrested some 175,000 Palestinians. Our brother, Qandeel Kamel IIwan died on February 24th, 1988, from medical negligence…
According to the Israeli Human Rights Organization B’tselem, as much as 85% of Palestinian prisoners have been tortured during investigation. Almost all detainees are subjected to some form of torture or mistreatment. Common methods include: severe beatings, punching and kicking; being handcuffed for long periods of time in contorted positions, for example to a small chair or a pipe hanging from the ceiling; exposure to very loud music, sounds, or screaming; sleep deprivation; denial of food, water, and use of toilet; psychological threats and pressure to collaborate; hooded with a heavy, dirty sack sometimes soaked in urine and smeared in faeces; sexual abuse or threat of sexual abuse; solitary confinement; denial of medical treatment for injuries received during arrest, such as bullet wounds.
There are 24 detention centers for holding Palestinians: 14 prisons and military camps, 5 detention and holding facilities, and 5 interrogation centers. 19 of these facilities are outside of the Gaza Strip and of the West Bank. This means that the prisoners are illegally transferred, outside of the Occupied Territories, in violation of the 4th Geneva Convention.
Many detainees are held for years without ever facing charge or trial. All detention centers are extremely crowded. Detainees often sleep on wooden planks covered with thin mattresses. The blankets are often torn, filthy, and insufficient for the amount of detainees. The food is not only inadequate, but also insufficient for the number of detainees. Because access to toilets is restricted, prisoners are often forced to urinate in bottles inside their cells.
Poor sanitary conditions are notorious within Israeli prisons. Even denial of adequate medical treatment is used to pressure detainees into collaboration!
In a series of 60 interviews with ex-detainees from the Bethlehem area in 1994, 90% of the interviewed people claimed that the administration uses the denial of medical treatment to recruit collaborators. Given these statistics, I wonder if Qandeel died because of medical negligence and why? Was he refusing to “collaborate”? I am still working on finding his file, somewhere. He died exactly 20 years ago and it is difficult to find any data before 1989.
A former prisoner said that detainees were so well aware that Israeli prison hospitals use the threat of withholding treatment to force detainees, that they are reluctant to sick treatment for fear of being a suspected collaborator.
We can safely say that Israeli prisons are essentially political prisons. Their population consists mostly of Palestinians who are suspected, accused, and occasionally (though through coerced confessions) “convicted”. Convictions range from carrying out, abetting, or planning acts of resistance whether peaceful or armed. The number of prisoners in maximum security prisons serving long sentences is about 3,000. 40 police outposts in the Occupied Territories are used to detain, interrogate, and torture subjects. Military installations throughout the country also serve as interrogation and torture centers.
Prisoners are often being denied visitation rights, and the administration doesn’t provide any explanations for these illegal acts. Some detainees spend 5 years or even more in solitary confinement. During this time, they are repeatedly transferred from one detention facility to another. Again, no explanation is being given from the administration. There are times when isolated prisoners are not even allowed to communicate with other detainee. They are repeatedly attacked and violated by the soldiers. All these procedures are in direct violation to the 4th Geneva Convention, the international law, and to basic principles of human rights.
The food given to detainees is bad and insufficient, forcing the detainees to buy their own food from the prison canteen, sold at an outrageous price. Knowing all this, it is easy to conclude that harsh living conditions, abuse, deprivation from basic human rights, solitary confinement for extended periods constitute the life of Palestinian detainees in Israeli prisons.The Detainees Media Office started a campaign. Several institutions and parties were contacted in order to arrange protests against the violations. Several human right groups were also contacted and asked to pressure the Israeli Prison Authorities to improve the conditions of the detainees and provide them with basic human rights guaranteed by the 4ht Geneva Convention and by in
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