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Human Rights
Detention and Torture
During the course of the Palestinian uprising, the Israeli authorities have conducted a widespread arrest campaign against suspected Palestinian activists. Numerous detainees were held without charge or trial and more were prohibited from receiving visits from lawyers and relatives.
Key Events
BY TOPIC: Palestinian Prisoners' Hunger Strike (15 August 2004-)
BY TOPIC
Arrest and Detention
Detention
Prison experience as a normal part of life, Ray Smith (10 February 2005)
Release of children should be a priority, DCI-PS (29 December 2004)
Arrest of Palestinian Human Rights Defender, HRW (6 August 2004)
Adminstrative detention, risk of ill-treatment or torture, OMCT (31 July 2004)
Assume the position: a play about prison is followed by arrests, Amahl Bishara and Nidal al-Azraq (29 May 2004)2003: The State of Human Rights in Israel, ACRI (10 February 2004)
Marwan Barghouti: "Why don't you refuse?", Arjan El Fassed (29 September 2003)
More Palestinian children taken into custody, DCI-PS (23 September 2003)
Palestinian human rights defender detained for further 6 months without trial, DCI/PS (3 September 2003)
The Israeli Supreme Court approves order denying Palestinian detainee access to legal representation, PCHR (18 August 2003)
Israeli government leaves Palestinian child detainees out of prisoner release, DCI-PS (6 August 2003)
Addameer: Selection of Palestinian detainees to be released solely reflects Israeli criteria, Addameer (5 August 2003).
4,200 Palestinians on Hunger Strike, Kristen Ess and Nada Khair (1 August 2003)
Israeli prison guards use violence against Palestinian female prisoners, PCATI (13 July 2003)
"It is not I who is on trial in Israel", Marwan Barghouti (3 October 2002)
Israel resumes trial against Barghouti, Arjan El Fassed (6 April 2003)
Secret Prison Facility 1391
Facility 1391: a secret prison (PDF) ICJ report from a hearing in the High Court of Justice in Jerusalem (1 December 2003)
High Court of Justice Ruling on Petition to Close the Secret Detention Facility 1391 (PDF) Observation Mission Avocats San Fontieres (December 2003)
Facility 1391: Israel's secret prison, Chris McGreal, The Guardian (14 November 2003)
Facility 1391: Israel’s Guantanamo, Jonathan Cook, Le Monde Diplomatique (November 2003)
PCATI to Israeli government: "Shut down secret detention facility 1391", PCATI (4 September 2003)
A story from the heart of Israel's secret prison, Mohammad Daraghmeh (9 July 2003)
High Court Petition on 1391
Torture
Abusive interrogation techniques continue to be practiced in Israel. The Supreme Court there ruled in September 1999 that six frequently-used practices of the Israeli Security Agency (then known as the General Security Service, or GSS) violated existing laws. These included beatings, prolonged sleep deprivation, violent shaking, and prolonged painful positioning. There appears to be agreement among Israeli human rights activists and defense lawyers that these techniques are used less frequently, but have been replaced by techniques that are extremely stressful psychologically, including: greater isolation for longer periods; denial of access to lawyers and family members for extended periods; prolonged interrogation sessions; use of collaborators to threaten detainees; and threats to family members.
The Supreme Court ruling also permits the security agency to claim the “necessity defense” in cases where “exceptional interrogation means” are allegedly needed, as in so-called “ticking bomb” cases. The Israeli daily Ha’aretz reported in July 2002 that the GSS had up to that point employed “exceptional interrogation means” against ninety Palestinians. The readiness of the Attorney General to grant “necessity defense” requests, along with the fact that since 1999 no Israeli Security Agency or GSS officer has faced criminal or disciplinary charges for acts of torture or ill-treatment, appears to have led to an erosion of the restraints initially imposed by the 1999 ruling.
In addition, physical violence—or the threat of it—is often present in the treatment of detainees. Most former detainees interviewed by Human Rights Watch in 2004 described physical abuse at the time of their arrest and transfer to Israeli detention or interrogation centers.
-- from "Torture Worldwide", Human Rights Watch (27 April 2005)
Adminstrative detention, risk of ill-treatment or torture, OMCT (31 July 2004)
Israeli link possible in US torture techniques, Ali Abunimah (11 May 2004)
Torture and ill-treatment of child detainees, OMCT (12 December 2003)
Palestinian Political Prisoners, NAD-PLO (July 2003)
Increased reports of torture by Israel in Occupied Territories, IRCT (12 April 2002)
Memorandum to UN Committee Against Torture, Human Rights Watch (May 1998)
Israel: Concluding Observations, UN Committee Against Torture (June 1994)
Torture and Ill-treatment: Israel's Interrogation of Palestinians from the Occupied Territories, Human Rights Watch (June 1994)
Medical rights
Medical concern for Palestinian detainee held in Ashkelon prison, PCHR (15 October 2003)
Denial of access to medical care in Israeli prisons, OMCT (18 September 2003)
Multimedia
Photostory: Khiam Detention Camp, Arjan El Fassed (30 October 2004)
Diaries
Prisoner stories
Websites
Palestinian Prisoner Society
Sumoud: A Political Prisoner Solidarity Group
Addameer
BY TOPIC: Human Rights Organizations
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