1 Author: Dr Leticia Armendáriz, researcher at NOVACT-International Institute for Nonviolent Action ([email protected]) She is also a Doctor in Law and currently lectures in Law (International Humanitarian Law and Human Rights Law) at the Open University of Catalonia (UOC). Coordination team: Mar Benseny ([email protected]), Ana Sánchez ([email protected]), Alys Samson Estapé ([email protected]) and Felipe Daza ([email protected]) Photography: ActiveStills www.activestills.org Frontpage, design and edition: La Guspira www.guspiragrafics.com Proof-reading: Alys Samson Estapé and Richard Samson Cover picture: A Palestinian boy with a bicycle looks at a group of Israeli settler children and a private security guard, Silwan, East Jerusalem, April 4, 2007. The neighborhood of Silwan in East Jerusalem contains what some Jews consider to be “The City of David”. Even though Silwan is a Palestinian neighborhood, the Housing Authority in Israel assists archeological organizations and settlers in seizing control of property in the area by declaring houses absentee properties (often while people still live in them) and demolishing homes that were built without permits that Israeli authorities have made virtually impossible to obtain. The author would like to express her gratitude and appreciation for their disinterested contributions to this report to Eitay Mack, Jonathan Frishberg, John Doe, B’Tselem, Yesh Din and Association for Civil Rights in Israel (ACRI). The author would like to give special thanks to for their contribution to this report to Who Profits and Palestinian Center for Human Rights (PCHR). Framework: The privatization of security in the occupied Palestinian territory continues the research collection “The Privatization of War Series” of NOVACT-International Institute for Nonviolent Action. The present publication is also part of the international project “Observatory of Private Military and Security Companies & Human Rights”, which has been supported by the International Civil Service of Catalonia and has been funded by the City Council of Barcelona and the Catalan Agency for Development Cooperation. Legal Deposit: This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution- Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 2.5 Spain license. This work may be copied, distributed, publicly broadcast, translated and modified, provided that this is for non-commercial ends and that its authorship be recognised using the following text: ARMENDÁRIZ, L. (Author), The privatization of security in the occupied Palestinian territory (2015) THE PRIVATIZATION OF SECURITY IN THE OCCUPIED PALESTINIAN TERRITORY The role and impact of private military and security companies (PMSCs) and settlement civilian self-defense forces on Palestinian Human Rights Leticia Armendáriz 4 TABLE OF CONTENTS // Foreword...............................................................................................................................................................7 // Executive Summary..............................................................................................................................................9 // Introduction........................................................................................................................................................11 01/ The development of the PMSC industry..................................................................................................15-44 a/ Background: the process of military and security privatization in Israel............................................................15 b/ PMSC in the oPt: contexts, activities and rationale..................................................................................................19 i. West Bank............................................................................................................................................................................20 1. Checkpoints...............................................................................................................................................................20 2. Settlements and industrial zones.......................................................................................................................25 3. The Wall.......................................................................................................................................................................31 4. Prisons.........................................................................................................................................................................34 5. Escort and protection services............................................................................................................................35 ii. East Jerusalem.................................................................................................................................................................35 1.Checkpoints.................................................................................................................................................................36 2.Settlements................................................................................................................................................................37 3.Light rail train.............................................................................................................................................................41 iii. Gaza Strip..........................................................................................................................................................................41 1. Checkpoints...............................................................................................................................................................43 02/ The impact on human rights: Observatory of Private Military Security Companies & Human Rights in the oPt...................................................................................................................................................45-52 03/ Legal framework.......................................................................................................................................53-89 a/ National Law..........................................................................................................................................................................53 i. Legislation on PMSCs.....................................................................................................................................................53 ii. Military orders...................................................................................................................................................................56 iii. Rules for the use of force – Rules of engagement................................................................................................58 iv. Command, supervision and discipline.......................................................................................................................61 v. Accountability...................................................................................................................................................................62 b/ International Law.................................................................................................................................................................65 i. The status of PMSCs employees and settlement Civilian Security Coordinators under IHL.....................68 ii. Limits to outsourcing: obligations of Israel as an occupying power.................................................................76 1. Activities reserved to armed forces and State authorities..........................................................................77 2. The maintenance of public law and order..........................................................................................................80 3. Direct participation in hostilities (DPH)............................................................................................................83 iii. Rules for the use of force..............................................................................................................................................85 iv. Accountability...................................................................................................................................................................87 // Conclusions............................................................................................................................................ .....90-94 5 // FOREWORD 6 THE PRIVATIZATION OF SECURITY IN THE OCCUPIED PALESTINIAN TERRITORY THE ROLE AND IMPACT OF PRIVATE MILITARY AND SECURITY COMPANIES (PMSCS) AND SETTLEMENT CIVILIAN SELF-DEFENSE FORCES ON PALESTINIAN HUMAN RIGHTS // FOREWORD The present report analyzes the role of Private Military and Security Companies (PMSCs) and their implication in human rights violations in the occupied Palestinian territory (oPt). We need to understand the nature and use of PMSCs in general in order to understand their specific role in the oPt. Since the Declaration of the State of Israel in 1948, the Israeli government has used the pretext of security to justify the occupation of the Palestinian people, committing terrible atrocities and violating human rights, for example blockading Gaza and building the Wall. In this context, Israeli security and defense