Violations Against Palestinian Prisoners in Israeli Prisons and Detention Centers
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Addameer Prisoner Support and Human Rights Association Addameer (Arabic for conscience) is a Palestinian non-governmental, civil institution that focuses on human rights issues. Established in late 1991 by a group of activists interested in human rights, the center offers support to Palestinian prisoners and detainees, advocates for the rights of political prisoners, and works to end torture through monitoring, legal procedures and solidarity campaigns. Addameer is surrounded by a group of grassroots supporters and volunteers, Addama’er, who share Addameer’s beliefs and goals, actively participate in its activities, and endeavor to support Addameer both financially and morally. Addameer is a member of the Palestinian NGO Network, the Palestinian Human Rights Organizations Council, the Palestinian Coalition for the Defense of Civil Rights and Liberties, and the Regional and International Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty. Addameer is also a 2013 member of the International Network against Torture. Addameer believes in the importance of building a free and democratic Palestinian society based on justice, equality, rule of law and respect for human rights within the larger framework of the right to self-determination. Addameer strives to: • End torture and other forms of cruel, inhumane or degrading treatment or punishment and abolish the death penalty. • End arbitrary detention and guarantee fair, impartial, and public trials. • Support political prisoners by providing them with the legal aid and social and moral assistance and undertaking advocacy on their behalf. • Push for legislation that guarantees human rights and basic freedoms and ensure its implementation on the ground. • Raise awareness of human rights and rule of law issues in the local community. • Ensure respect for democratic values in the local community, based on political diversity and freedom of opinion and expression. • Lobby for international support and solidarity for Palestinians’ legitimate rights. Addameer’s programs: • Legal Aid: Addameer provides free legal counseling and representation to Palestinian detainees and their families. Services include legal defense; regular visits to prisons, detention and interrogation centers; submission of petitions and complaints against cases of torture, ill-treatment and other violations. • Research and Documentation: Addameer documents violations committed against Palestinian detainees, monitors their detention conditions through regular lawyers’ visits, and collects statistics and lists of detainees, providing the basis for the publication of research papers and reports. • Advocacy and Lobbying: Addameer publishes statements and urgent appeals on behalf of detainees, submits alternative reports and complaints to the United Nations and other international forums, and briefs international delegations as well as the media on the situation VIOLATIONS of Palestinian prisoners. The advocacy and lobbying unit also works towards building local, Arab and international solidarity campaigns to oppose torture and arbitrary detention while supporting the rights of Palestinian prisoners. • Training and Awareness: Addameer raises local awareness regarding prisoners’ rights on three levels: by training Palestinian lawyers on the laws and procedures used in Israeli military courts to improve their efficiency; by increasing the prisoners’ own knowledge; and by Against Palestinian Prisoners reviving grassroots human rights activism and volunteerism and working closely with community activists to increase their knowledge of in Israeli Prisons and Detention Centers civil and political rights from an international humanitarian law and international human rights perspective. Against Palestinian Prisoners in Israeli Prisons and Detention Centers Violations Addameer Prisoner Support and Human Rights Association Ramallah, Raidein Sq., Sebat Bldg., 1st Floor, Suite 2 Tel: +972 (0) 2 296 0446 Fax: +972 (0) 2 296 0447 Postal Address: P.O. Box 17338 Jerusalem [email protected] www.addameer.org Twitter: @addameer Facebook: Addameer Association Violations against Palestinian Prisoners and Detainees in Israeli Prisons and Detention Centers 1 Violations against Palestinian Prisoners in Israeli Prisons and Detention Centers Annual Report 2013 Addameer Prisoner Support & Human Rights Association Ramallah – Palestine 2 Violations against Palestinian Prisoners and Detainees in Israeli Prisons and Detention Centers Table of Contents Introduction 5 Methodology 7 Executive Summary 8 Foreword 9 Chapter 1: Detention Conditions of Palestinian Prisoners and Detainees in Israeli Prisons in 2013 11 Chapter 2: Torture, and other Cruel, Inhumane, and Degrading Treatment during Arrest 21 Chapter 3: Military Trials and Guarantees of a Fair Trial 37 Chapter 4: Violations of Israeli Prisons Service of the Livelihood and Health Rights of Prisoners and Detainees 77 Chapter 5: Conclusions and Recommendations 91 Appendices 97 4 Violations against Palestinian Prisoners and Detainees in Israeli Prisons and Detention Centers Introduction This report examines the violations committed against prisoners’ rights in Israeli prisons and constitutes a part of the continuous effort made by Addameer Prisoner Support And Human Rights Association, which ultimately seeks an unconditional release for all Palestinian political prisoners. Until this goal is met, Addameer carries on with its efforts in cooperation with international human rights organizations to advocate to ensure the female and male Palestinian prisoners their rights guaranteed by International Humanitarian Law (IHL), and International Human Rights Law (IHRL). Through its annual reports, Addameer aims to shed light on policies of the Israeli Prison Service (IPS) that seek to break the spirit of the prisoners’ movement. Namely, it aims to expose the Israeli authorities’ strategic practices that violate prisoner’s rights guaranteed by Public International Law, especially by International Criminal law, and IHL. These annual reports are also an essential part of documenting the history of the Palestinian prisoners’ movement and its struggle against the occupation’s oppressive policies, notably by highlighting the efforts put forth by IPS to repress Palestinian prisoners’ collective consciousness and, undermine the movement’s potential. 6 Violations against Palestinian Prisoners and Detainees in Israeli Prisons and Detention Centers Violations against Palestinian Prisoners and Detainees in Israeli Prisons and Detention Centers 7 Methodology This report applies a descriptive analytical methodology. It is based on a collection of 100 sworn affidavits from prisoners collected by Addameer in 2013, along with 200 interviews with prisoners in Israeli prisons. The violations perpetrated against prisoners and their families were examined and analyzed within the framework of IHL and IHRL regulating prisoners’ rights. The report also reviews IPS regulations applied to Palestinian prisoners in order to compare them to relevant international standards. In general, the report emphasizes the prisoners’ cause as a collective one, based on Addameer’s belief that all Palestinian prisoners, whether from the West Bank (including East Jerusalem), the Gaza Strip, or the 1948 Territories, are one people, who bear the same burdens and face common violations in their struggle for dignity and freedom. Finally, this report provides a comprehensive overview of major developments in the ongoing confrontation between the prisoners’ movement and the IPS. It is published following successful efforts by the prisoners’ movement in obtaining some of their rights as enshrined in IHRL and IHL, including the Third and Fourth Geneva Conventions. The IPS has adapted a well-studied methodology that aims to suppress accomplishments achieved by the prisoners’ movement, to turn its cause into a burden on Palestinian society. Furthermore, it has utilized the movement as a source of political pressure, seeking to gain political compromises from the Palestinian leadership. 8 Violations against Palestinian Prisoners and Detainees in Israeli Prisons and Detention Centers Executive Summary This report highlights the violations that Palestinian prisoners were subjected to throughout 2013, starting from the moments of arrest, and interrogation. It addresses violations during detention periods under inhumane conditions and degrading treatment. This report consists of 5 main chapters. Chapter 1 provides an overview of Palestinian prisoners and detainees in Israeli prisons in 2013 in terms of the number of detainees, main events, and cases of death that occurred during arrest. Chapter 2 addresses mental and physical torture of prisoners during arrest and interrogation executed by IPS’s special units. These took place during transfer from detention centers to courts, transfer between prisons, and during raids of prisoners’ rooms and sections in various prisons. During these times, IPS and its special units committed numerous violations, especially during individual and collective hunger strikes. Chapter 3 focuses on Israeli violations, in its military judicial procedures, of minimum guarantees of fair trial. Chapter 4 addresses the detention of human rights defenders by highlighting violations committed against Addameer’s staff members, which began with a travel ban imposed on the Chairman of the Board of Directors from travel between Jerusalem and other West Bank cities. In addition, Addameer lawyers have been banned from visiting prisons and meeting prisoners and detainees,