Knesset on the verge of passing legislation to detain asylum seekers indefinitely, despite Supreme Court ruling on human rights violations December 2, 2013 The Knesset is currently considering a new amendment to the Law to Prevent Infiltration that would be even more draconian than what was already struck down by the High Court of Justice. In its September 16 ruling, the court called Israel’s law allowing migrants to be imprisoned for up to three years without trial “a grave and disproportionate abuse of the right to personal freedom, which is a fundamental right of every human being, and deviates from the principles accepted in Israel and the enlightened world.” The legislation that is about to pass the Knesset would be an even worse violation of human rights. The amendment, prepared by Interior Minister Gideon Sa’ar, would allow the government to imprison new asylum seekers for a year without trial. Upon their release, they would be transferred to an “open” detention facility, and held there for an unlimited period of time without judicial review. This “open” facility would not only hold newly arriving asylum seekers, but also those who already live in Israel and are not currently in prison. The plan also involves the transfer of the remaining detainees from Saharonim prison to the new “open” center, Sadot, located nearby in the Negev desert. This flies in the face of the High Court’s ruling, which instructed the government to release the prisoners from Saharonim within 90 days. As that date draws near, it is clear that the government hopes to send these prisoners to yet a new form of prison. The government has attempted to depict Sadot as an “open” facility, but the details show that this is just another detention center. The Israel Prison Service, whose mission is to “put criminals behind bars,” will run the facility. Detainees will be counted three times a day, and thus cannot go very far from the facility grounds. At night, the center will be closed, and no one will be permitted to enter or leave. Detainees will not be permitted to work outside of the facility, and even if they were, there would be nowhere for them to go, as Sadot is located in the middle of the desert, far from any populated areas. The authorities at Sadot will be able to search, punish and remove prisoners. Anyone accused of breaching a condition of the “open” center will be transferred to Saharonim prison for up to one year. Even the Knesset’s legal adviser has stated that the new amendment may not withstand a challenge from the High Court, and that the “open facility” will turn out to be nothing but a prison. Government reports estimate that at least 3,300 people will be held in this “open” facility until they return to their home countries. Given that the majority of asylum seekers in Israel are from Sudan and Eritrea, returning safely to their countries is not a viable option in the near future. ASSAF and other human rights organizations view this plan as a means for the government to continue its practice of “voluntary” repatriation, in which asylum seekers are sent back to their countries of origin. This practice is in violation of Israel’s obligation to non-refoulement, a principal enshrined in the 1951 UN Refugee Convention, to which Israel is a signatory. According to the UN Refugee Convention, all asylum seekers must have access to an individualized assessment to justify their detention and determine their refugee status. In order to adhere to these international standards, Israel must release asylum seekers from detention and discontinue the inhumane practice of encouraging “voluntary” repatriations. Rather than using standard protocols to allow time for public comments, debate and discussion of the bill, the 1 Knesset is utilizing a special procedure to hasten the legislative process. The Ministerial Committee on Legislation approved the bill on November 18. On November 25, the legislation passed the first reading of the Knesset in a vote of 43 to 17. The second and third readings are scheduled for this week, and once approved, the bill will become law. The government plans to spend 440 million NIS per year to facilitate this legislation – money that would be better spent on improved infrastructure and services in south Tel Aviv. A new detention center will surely not alleviate the misery of the 53,000 asylum seekers who are not currently living in jail, nor improve the lives of Israeli residents of south Tel Aviv. This law reflects the belief of the government that asylum seekers and refugees are infiltrators and criminals, rather than human beings who seek refuge from war, genocide, political persecution, torture, and rape. It is widely known that many of the asylum seekers who arrive in Israel are victims of smugglers in the Sinai desert, where they were held in torture camps for weeks or even months, repeatedly beaten and sexually abused until their family and friends from abroad were able to pay their ransom. This torture they endured was of course in addition to the suffering that led them to flee the countries they once called home. Detaining asylum seekers indefinitely, leaving them with no hope for the future, will only serve as another form of persecution. 2.