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Following is a summary
of a report from an Israeli public defenders office
published in May 2004. The report addressed the conditions of
detention
and incarceration in Israeli police stations and facilities of the
Israeli
Prison Authority. The report was prepared after the public defenders
office undertook 15 visits to detention centers and three visits to
prisons in
2003. It covers the conditions of incarceration of both criminal and
political prisoners.
Comments from Addameer are included as notes.
The general conditions in these facilities as seen during the
majority of
the visits were very poor. These conditions represent a clear
violation
of both the requirements of the law and Israeli court decisions
regarding
living conditions. The Israeli High Court of Justice has given the
concerned parties until 1 June 2004 to apply the minimal standards
such as
providing a bed for each detainee.
THE DETENTION CENTERS
1. Prisoners sleeping on the ground
Detainees were sleeping on the floor without a bed in 9 of the 15
detention
centers visited by the committee of the public defenders office. For
example, during the first visit to the Russian Compound, 35
detainees were sleeping on the floor and 18 detainees continued to
sleep on the floor during the second visit.
Note:
All Palestinian detainees sleep on the floor in all military
detention centers and interrogation centers. [end note]
2. Size of the rooms and the living conditions in them
More than half the detention centers are over crowded: 20 detainees
in the
Russian Compound are held in a room with only 12 beds.
Note:
According to a sworn affidavit given to Addameer on 25 April 2004
regarding the conditions at Azion Detention Center:
"The cell is designed for 10 persons and we were 12 detainees. The
room
measures 4 x 4 meters, there are 10 mattresses in the room - some
are in
very bad condition, they're ripped and smell bad. Some are covered
and
others aren't. One mattress is moldy and is dirt black. Each
detainee
has one blanket. The walls are smooth and painted but the ceiling is
covered
with mould, there is only one light from a window measuring 1.50 or
1.10
square meters. It has metal bars and glass wiring, the ventilation
is
insufficient. We go out for a walk once a day for an hour. In the
morning, we only go out for 10 minutes. We can only use the bathroom
three times a day; sometimes the soldiers won't let us out more than
three times so we
have to urinate in a bottle in the room.
The average size of rooms in most prisons is 2 meters, although it
is sometimes as large as 2.5 or 3 meters. The rooms in Askelan
Detention Center are 8 x 6 meters and 8 persons are held there, some
large rooms hold up to 20 detainees." [end note]
The space allocated for each detainee is considered much less than
that required in the internal regulations for detention centers. In
Ramle Detention Center, the allocated space per detainee is 1 meter,
and each detainee in Lod Detention Center is allocated 1.2 meters.
3. The lack of separation between the shower and the toilet
There is no separation between the shower and the toilet in 11 of
the 15
detention centers that were visited. The shower drain is the same as
the
toilet drain, which causes bad smells that are difficult to get rid
of.
This is harmful to the detainees health who complained to the
members of
the committee of the public defenders office of the existence of
insects and
mice in the rooms and courtyards. The delegates saw these insects
themselves when they visited the Jalame Detention Center. The walls
are
filthy and unpainted. The ceiling is black and damp. The floor is
filthy
and full of dirt in Maabar Nitsan, although the rooms were in better
condition during the second visit. This is also the situation in
central
prisons such as Askelan where "the toilet and shower are in the same
1 x 2
meter room."
4. Unacceptable ventilation
The committee found that the ventilation was unacceptable in 10 of
the 15
centers visited. The smell was unbearable inside the room. In the
Lod
Police Station there are no windows at all, there is only one air
vent
that is out of order.
5. The deprivation of the right to a daily break in an open space
The law stipulates that no person should be detained for more than
seven
days in a center where there is no possibility of executing his/her
right
to a daily break. Therefore the Israeli Prison Authority must
transfer
him/her to another facility where s/he can execute his/her right to
a daily break.
The detainees are deprived of this right in 8 of the 15 centers
visited.
During most visits, there were detainees who had been deprived of
their
right to a daily break for period ranging between seven days to two
months.
There are no special courtyards for the walks in the Lod and Dimona
Detention Centers.
Note:
The daily break was reduced from 4 hours to 2 hours, one in the
morning
and one in the evening, in all the central prisons. The exercise
hour has
been banned in prisons since July 2003. All the sports material was
removed
from the metal-roofed courtyards, which measure 15-25 by 20 meters.
It is
forbidden to return to the room immediately after the daily break. A
water fridge was installed in the courtyard at Askelan. Before 2003
there was
table tennis, basket ball and volley ball equipment in the yard, but
now
the detainees run during the daily break. Each section goes out on
the daily
break alone. All sections have between 70-80 detainees, and there
are 120
detainees in certain prisons. Visits between the sections are
forbidden
despite the fact that they are only 4-5 meters from each other. The
detainees at Askelan don't know anything about the detainees in the
other
sections. Not all the detainees pray together during the Friday
prayer
which is permitted in place of the daily break in Hadoriym
[end note]
6. Weak lighting in the rooms
No sunlight enters the rooms in the Lod Detention Center. The light
is
prevented from entering the rooms in the Russian Compound, where the
rooms
are completely covered.
7. Use of the telephone and/or receiving visits is not allowed
Detainees held until the end of the proceedings have the right to
make one
phone call a day. Nevertheless, the possibility of making a phone
call
from the pay phone at the Haifa Police Station or port police is
extremely
limited. Detainees are often punished by being denied family visits.
The
director of the Emakim Detention Center, allowed detainees to
receive
visits, but the two visiting rooms are very small. The detainee is
separated from his visitors by a wire mesh and a window. The
distance
between the detainee and his family or visitors is 120 centimeters.
The
conversation is carried out using internal phones. The visibility
and
possibility of conversation are limited.
Note:
See separate Addameer statements on lawyers and family visits.
[end note]
8. The Clinic and the right to treatment
There have been problems with detainees receiving treatment in 3 of
15
centers visited. There are no adequate health and/or psychological
services. The children detainees in the Ansar 3 (Ketziot) complained
of
the lack of specialized medical services, and those who had a cold
had to wait
for four days to see the nurse.
9. The delay in transferring detainees through the Nitsan entrance
The process of transferring detainees in order to attend court
hearings is
difficult and problematic. The committee recalled the case of a
detainee
from Hadoriym who was transferred to Nitsan on Thursday because his
hearing was on Sunday in Petah Tikva, which is 40 minutes away from
Hadoriym.
He spent the night at the Nitsan entrance in very poor conditions.
The judge
ordered after ruling on the detainee's petition that he be
transferred
immediately from Hadoriym to Petah Tikva to attend his hearing.
Note:
Palestinian political prisoners complain of the frequent, difficult
and
humiliating conditions of their transfer, whether it is from one
prison to
another, or in order to attend their trials. This creates a feeling
of
instability because most of the security detainees currently in
prison are
detained but have not yet been convicted. For example, the transfer
of a
detainee from Nafha to attend his trial in Salem can take up to a
week,
since the prisoner is transferred from Nafha to Ramle then to Jalama.
After that he attends his trial after having spent a night in each
center.
After the trial, the detainee has to spend a night in Jalame, then
Ramle until
he reaches Nafha. One detainee, Walid Habbas, is transferred nearly
every 20
days from one prison to another. In the past two months he was
transferred
to four prisons. Nearly 20-30 detainees are transferred weekly from
Askelan. [end note]
10. The delay in transferring prisoners to the prison authority
The delay in transferring detainees who have been charged or
sentenced to
the facilities of the prison authorities is a violation of their
rights.
It also increases the crowding of detainees in detention centers,
obstructs
the execution of the law, and limits the detainees' rights inside
the
facilities of the prison authority. The delegates of the committee
found that of the
199 detainees in Russian Compound, 23 had been sentenced and should
have
been transferred to a prison facility. During another visit there
were
176 detainees, 38 of which were sentenced and should have been
transferred to
the facilities of the prison authorities.
THE CENTRAL PRISONS
The committee visited three prisons: Shatta, Tesalmon and Harmon.
The
public defenders office stated Shatta is extremely crowded, and the
space
allocated for each detainee is substantially less than the space
ordered
by internal regulations.
Solitary confinement./ isolation rooms
Committee delegates mentioned the case of two prisoners who were
punished
by being isolated for a week in the Shatta Prison. They spent the
first 24
hours in a room without a mattress or a bed. Sixty-two (62) criminal
prisoners and 11 political prisoners were sleeping on the floor on
the day
the committee visited Shatta. The committee described the conditions
in
the rooms as difficult and incompatible with the minimum standards
in the
regulations, especially regarding health and sanitation. The walls
are
rotten, the paint is peeling off because of the dampness in the
filthy
rooms, and the ventilation is bad in several rooms filled sewer
smells.
These conditions do not include the new political prisoner section.
Political prisoners are held in isolation in Section 8 of Beer al-Sabe
and
in three sections of Hadarim. Prisoners are deprived of their right
to an
education in the isolation section in Hadarim. Prisoners are
prevented
from continuing thier education if they have "security problems" or
if they
contact a university themselves. Prisoners are often punished by
being
deprived from continuing their education for a period lasting up to
a
year.
The religious rights
The religious needs of all the prisoners are not met. Although there
is a
rabbi and a place for prayer for Jewish detainees, there is no
religious
representative for Muslim or Christian detainees, despite the fact
that
the majority of prisoners are Muslim.
Violence at the hands of the prison guards
The public defenders office delegates referred to the extreme
violence by
the prison guards as a "new phenomenon". There have been many
complaints
from prisoners about untreated or severe violence by the guards.
Committee members heard many claims regarding the use of collective
punishment
against the political prisoners by the guards. They complained about
mass
searches of their rooms, and punishments accompanied by severe,
continuous, and
organized violence.
There have been complaints from prisoners who have been asked to get
undressed in front of their fellow prisoners and the police, often
accompanied by personal punishment, physical violence and beating
all over
the body. Committee members questioned the prison doctor about these
incidents and requested photos to document the injuries. The doctor
and
the prison officer refused to let the committee look at the pictures
in the
prisoners' medical files - a response which seemed incomprehensible
to the
members of the committee.
The committee stated that this information should be handled with
caution,
but one must not turn a blind eye to the number and the repeated
complaints because of the fear of the administration's lack of
concern regarding
these complaints.
Finally, prison conditions in Israel are difficult, violate the
prisoners'
health and dignity, and are contrary to the laws and regulations
regarding
the conditions of detention.
Note:
Special police forces break into the prisoners' rooms at night,
armed with
guns and batons, and fire bullets that resemble rubber bullets that
don't
pierce the body but leaves bruises and red marks that convince the
prisoner he has been injured. They force the prisoners to lie down
on the floor,
tie their hands, and take them out of their rooms during the search.
Last
Tuesday, two rooms were broken into and searched at Askelan from 5
am to
11 am. A week ago, the B units broke into rooms at Nafha.
The naked body search is used in several instances (especially in
Shatta,
where prisoners are forced to take their underwear off too):
1. When the prisoner is transferred to and from Shatta Prison.
2. When he goes out to meet his lawyer.
3. When he goes out to meet his family.
4. When he is transferred to attend his trial or transferred from
Shatta
to another prison.
5. When he asks to go to the clinic.
In Hadoriym, the prisoner is searched only when he is transferred to
and
from Hadoriym to attend trials or to be transferred to another
prison
where he is made to stand naked in front of the police and the other
prisoners.
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