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Ben-Gurion University of the Negev Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences Department of Middle East Studies

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Ben-Gurion University of the Negev Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences Department of Middle East Studies BEN-GURION UNIVERSITY OF THE NEGEV FACULTY OF HUMANITIES AND SOCIAL SCIENCES DEPARTMENT OF MIDDLE EAST STUDIES THE INTERNATIONAL COMMITTEE OF THE RED CROSS IN ISRAELI PRISONS PALESTINIAN PERCEPTIONS OF THE ICRC’S ACTION FOR PRISONERS Figure 1. Minister Qaraqa in front of posters critiquing the ICRC during a demonstration before the ICRC office in Ramallah on 6 March 2012 [Sarnau, 2012] Translation: The failure of ICRC’s protection of prisoners is unacceptable : تقصير الصليب في حماية اﻻسرى غير مقبول ?The ICRC: Whose interests do you serve : الصليب اﻻحمر لصالح من تقبلون In English: “The ICRC is an impartial, neutral and independent organisation…” Yves Daccord THESIS SUBMITTED IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF MASTER OF ARTS VALENTINE SARNAU Under the supervision of Lecturer Dr. MAYA ROSENFELD & Senior Lecturer Dr. NIMROD HURVITZ NOVEMBER 2012 Abstract The efforts of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) to protect victims of war and to develop International Humanitarian Law (IHL) have been unanimously applauded. Indeed, few independent studies have challenged the ICRC’s immaculate image of a bastion of humanity in the cruelty of war. Commitment to neutrality, one of the central principles with which the ICRC is identified, is the key tool which gives the organisation access to places which are otherwise closed. At the same time, adherence to neutrality often gives rise to compromising practices which may be at odds with the ICRC's role as guardian of humanitarian law. This duality in the mode of operation of the ICRC loomed large in my research on the role of the ICRC in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Since the 1967 War and the ensuing enforcement of the Israeli military occupation in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip, the ICRC has been engaged in several major humanitarian projects in the Occupied Palestinian Territories (OPT). The organization's action on behalf of Palestinian prisoners is perhaps the largest in scope and the most salient in significance among its projects. Through special agreements with Israel the ICRC was given a privileged access to the detainees and to the detention facilities. It was also authorized to facilitate prison visits by members of prisoners' families. The importance of this role cannot be overestimated given the centrality of the Palestinian prisoners’ issue for Palestinian society and in the Palestinian-Israeli conflict in general. Despite its evident importance, until now the action of the ICRC in Israel and the Palestinian territories has not been reviewed. One possible reason for the absence of research stems from the difficulty in conducting it objectively given the fact that the greater part of the ICRC's reports are confidential and hence not accessible to the researcher. This hindrance compelled me to redirect my study from considering the ICRC's overall operations, to focusing on the evaluation of the ICRC's operations by the beneficiaries, in my case, Palestinian prisoners, their families, and institutions that work on behalf of prisoners. The research integrates the results of small scale fieldwork which included a series of brief interviews with prisoners' relatives, several interviews with Palestinian officials and lawyers, and a number of in-depth interviews with ICRC officers. I The investigation showed that the Palestinians are generally satisfied with the ICRC’s routine work. The ICRC was found to be particularly successful in helping families to maintain contact with prisoners and in providing prisoners with material help. However, the majority of the Palestinian interviewees were highly critical of the fact that the organisation failed to raise its voice or to take any measures in response to the ongoing and occasionally escalating violations of IHL by Israel. Several interviewees claimed that the organisation only acts within the limits of Israel’s discretion. Since the second Intifada, a combination of factors and circumstances has led to a serious deterioration in the conditions of imprisonment that Palestinian prisoners face in Israeli prisons, detention centres and interrogation facilities. However, contrary to expectations, rather than intensifying, the ICRC’s interventions have tended to diminish in scope. Two features of the ICRC’s policy assist us in explaining this failure: 1) The organisation has a “standardized” bureaucratic mode of action: the ICRC has been applying the same procedure to conflict related imprisonment throughout the world for decades. Neutrality also contributes to rigidity by restraining the organisation from taking a stronger stance. 2) In order to be able to operate in Israel, the ICRC has had to find a modus vivendi with the occupying force, a constraint which regularly compels the organization to refrain from harsh reaction to incidents of human rights violations on the part of the Israeli authorities. Hence open condemnations and the application of sanctions are very rare, even at times when violations have become more frequent and/or more severe. This apparent tension between the restraints that derive from the ICRC's dependence on the goodwill of the Israeli authorities and between its role as a guardian of IHL emerged strongly in my research. II Table of contents Introduction 4 Chapter 1: Presentation of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) 1. Literature review 8 2. The ICRC’s mode of action: neutrality & persuasion 11 3. The ICRC in Israel and the Palestinian territories 13 a. The ICRC in Israeli prisons 17 i. 1967-1993: the establishment of ICRC routine activities 17 ii. 1994-2000: the Oslo years & massive release of 22 Palestinian prisoners iii. 2000-today: Decrease of the ICRC’s involvement and 26 retraction of prisoners’ rights iv. Assessment of the importance of Palestinian prisoners’ 30 issues in the action of the ICRC 4. How I came to the substance of this thesis 32 Chapter 2: Opinions of some Palestinians 1. Methodology 36 2. Analysis of the interviews 41 a. In-depth interviews 41 i. Qaddura Fares, chairman of the Prisoners’ Club 41 ii. Samia Zaid, lawyer at the Prisoners’ Club 47 iii. Issa Qaraqa, Minister of Prisoners and Former Prisoners 49 Affairs iv. Murad Jadallah, researcher at Addameer 51 v. Mahmud Hassan, lawyer at Addameer 53 b. Short interviews 55 3. Summary of criticism and praise of results of the ICRC 59 4. Additional anecdotes and experiences in the field 67 1 Chapter 3: The ICRC’s response 69 1. Interviews with the ICRC 69 a. Sarah Avrillaud, head of the protection department 69 b. Joana Gamuel, delegate 74 c. Conclusion of the interviews with both ICRC employees 82 Conclusion 84 Bibliography 90 Tables and Illustrations Figure 1. Minister Qaraqa in front of posters critiquing the ICRC during a demonstration before the ICRC office in Ramallah on 6 March 2012 [Sarnau, 2012] Figure 2. Almost no women, but they are in the foreground. Demonstration before the ICRC office, Ramallah, 6 March 2012 [Sarnau, 2012] Figure 3. Reporters interviewing a woman during a demonstration in Ramallah on 20 March 2012 [Sarnau, 2012] Figure 4. Palestinians demonstrating before the ICRC office in Tulkarem on 17 April 2012 [Sarnau 2012] Figure 5. A Palestinian man throws eggs at an ICRC office in Gaza on 23 June 2011 in protest to an ICRC call for Hamas to show signs that Gilad Shalit was still alive. [AFP Mohammed Abed, http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=399392 - last accessed: 12-11- 2012] Figure 6. A Palestinian woman entering the ICRC office in Ramallah during a demonstration in support for the prisoners on 10 April 2012 [Sarnau, 2012] Figure 7. A poster in support of Hana Shalabi on an ICRC car in a demonstration in Ramallah on 20 March 2012 [Sarnau, 2012] 2 Glossary GSS General Security Service of Israel ICRC International Committee of the Red Cross IHL International Humanitarian Law IPS Israeli Prison Services OPT Occupied Palestinian Territories PNA Palestinian National Authority PRCS Palestinian Red Crescent Society PCATI Public Committee against Torture in Israel 3 Introduction The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) is an “independent, neutral organisation ensuring humanitarian protection and assistance for victims of armed conflict and other situations of violence. It takes action in response to emergencies and at the same time promotes respect for international humanitarian law (IHL) and its implementation in national law”1. Since the 1967 war, the ICRC has established a permanent office in Israel and the Palestinian territories where it has been playing an important role in different humanitarian projects: it has developed the Palestinian health services in cooperation with the Palestinian Red Crescent Society (PRCS), it has provided assistance to families whose homes had been demolished as a result of the conflict, it has complained to the relevant authorities in cases of violation of international law, it has spread the knowledge of IHL, it has helped to reunify and to create contact between families separated by the conflict and it has built up several programmes for Palestinian prisoners. The ICRC has special agreements with Israel which afford privileged access to Palestinian prisoners. Consequently its action is very important and it was even more important before the Oslo accords when it was the only body that took care of prisoners and their families. The ICRC is an important link between prisoners and their families. It helps the families to obtain permits to visit their relatives and transfers both written and oral messages (salamaat). This role was crucial in the case of Gazan prisoners who had no family visits from June 2007 to July 20122. The question of Palestinian prisoners is one of the central issues in the Israeli- Palestinian conflict for two main reasons. Firstly, it concerns a large number of Palestinians: the Palestinian Ministry of Prisoners and Former Prisoners Affairs estimates that about 750 000 Palestinians have been detained by Israel from 1967 to 20083.
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