Special focus: Punishment in Prison

Since the start of 2004, Israeli arrests of Palestinian children have intensified steadily. DCI/PS, which represents on average around two-thirds of Palestinian child detainees, received 171 cases of children who had been arrested between January-May 2004, compared to a total of 207 cases for the whole of 2003. Almost every night without fail, Israeli soldiers storm the house of some unsuspecting Palestinian family. Often innocent men and boys are dragged away, bound and blindfolded, to one of the detention centres dotted across the occupied territories. There they are subjected to beatings, verbal abuse, threats and humiliation until in many cases, particularly among children, confessions are coerced out of them.

Case Study Bilal, a 14-year old boy from a village near Jerusalem, was arrested on 20 April 2004. Israeli soldiers surrounded the family's house at 1.00am and took Bilal from his bed. His hands were tied and a blindfold was immediately put on. Bilal was taken for interrogation at Ma'ale Adumim police station. Upon arrival he was questioned for four hours during which time he was beaten by a security officer. Bilal was told that if he did not confess then the beatings would continue, he was also threatened with electric shocks. Unable to sleep, denied any food, and very afraid, Bilal eventually confessed to throwing stones and Molotov cocktails. Following his confession, Bilal was sent to Gush Etzion detention centre. He was put in a poorly-ventilated isolated cell where food was provided twice a day and he was limited to only three trips to the bathroom a day. On the third day after his arrest and confession, Bilal was allowed a visit from the DCI/PS lawyer, but it was a further two weeks before Bilal was brought before the military court on 7 th May. He remained in detention until he was sentenced. For purposes of confidentiality, the boy's identity has been protected Source: DCI/PS Legal Unit

Prison Life Conditions in the permanent prisons inside Israel, where around 260 Palestinian children are held, continue to defy international guidelines on juvenile detention. Cells are invariably overcrowded with detainees forced to sleep on mattresses on the floor; poor ventilation in the rooms is exacerbated by the placing of metal grills and panels over windows which also prevent natural light from penetrating the cells. Food is regularly of poor quality and the quantities are insufficient to meet the needs of child detainees. Hygiene standards are also extremely poor – many children complain that toilets are blocked, the bathrooms dirty with sewage leaking onto the floors, moreover detainees' access to toilets and washing facilities are severely restricted. As if merely coping with such conditions were not enough, Palestinian child detainees find themselves the frequent victims to often arbitrary punishment by prison guards and the prison administration. Punishment in prisons International Law The United Nations Rules for the Protection of Juveniles Deprived of their Liberty (adopted by the General Assembly 14 December 1990) establish specific guidelines on the disciplining of children in detention. Any punitive measure, the rules state, “should be consistent with the upholding of the inherent dignity of the juvenile and the fundamental objective of institutional care, namely, instilling a sense of justice, self-respect and respect for the basic rights of every person” (Article 66). Moreover, Article 67 explicitly forbids prison authorities from administering certain forms of punishment: “All disciplinary measures constituting cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment shall be strictly prohibited, including corporal punishment, placement in a dark cell, closed or solitary confinement or any other punishment that may compromise the physical or mental health of the juvenile concerned. The reduction of diet and the restriction or denial of contact with family members should be prohibited for any purpose…. No juvenile should be sanctioned more than once for the same disciplinary infraction. Collective sanctions should be prohibited.” Despite the existence of decisive and unambiguous rules (to which Israel is itself a State Party), Palestinian minors detained for political offences in Israeli civil and military prisons are frequently subjected to cruel and degrading punishments, administered by prison authorities often with little or no justification. Top of the page

CASE STUDY During a visit to Telmond prison in early May, a DCI/PS lawyer learnt that the situation for Palestinian boys detained there that had deteriorated markedly. After a prolonged campaign of harassment by the guards on one or two prisoners, five boys attacked one of the guards who consistently beat the boys. The boys were immediately beaten. Their hands and feet were bound and they were placed in isolation cells. The cells were devoid of mattresses and blankets and the children were only offered mattresses after four nights of sleeping on the bare floor. After this as a further punishment for the same offence, the seven boys were transferred to Hadarim – a facility which is also inside Telmond, which is used to house adult prisoners who are serving life sentences. Here the boys were only allowed outside into the open air for 45 minutes every other day. As additional punishments, family visits have also been forbidden and the children were fined 450 NIS each. As a collective punishment on the other Palestinian child detainees in the facility, the prison administration confiscated all electrical items, including TVs, radios and kettles, for a period of two weeks. Source: DCI/PS Legal Unit

Fines Prison authorities regularly fine child detainees as a form of punishment. The amount is withdrawn from what is often referred to as the “canteena” – a bank account for prisoners held in a normal commercial bank into which individuals and organisations, such as the prisoners' families, the Ministry of Detainees & Ex-Detainees Affairs, the Palestinian Prisoners' Club and other NGOs, are able to deposit money. The bank account, which is normally held in one account for all prisoners, is administered by the prison authority. Although prisoners should be informed when a deposit has been made on their behalf, the prison authorities frequently fail to provide inmates with vouchers or receipts indicating their account balance. As a result it can be very difficult for detainees to keep track of the money that is rightfully theirs. The canteena enables detainees to buy items that go a very small way towards improving their situation in prison. The quantity and quality of food and drink are major issues of concern for children in prison. Using funds from the canteena, children are able to buy additional food such as chocolate, and supplement the amount of hot drinks they are entitled to under the prison administration's statutory provisions. The canteena is also used for buying necessities such as soap and sanitary towels. Although the canteena has been established specifically for the prisoners' benefit, the prison administration at Telmond Prison are confiscating funds as a form of punishment with increasing frequency. Top of the page

Among the so-called “offences” for which a child can be fined are: - Delay in standing during the thrice-daily roll call - Smoking during roll call - Standing in the wrong position during roll call - Looking a prison guard in the eye - Listening to music - Praying in the yard - Praying collectively - Singing or celebrating - Going outside without having tied hair up (applies to girls)

In practice however, a fine may be imposed on a detainee for any behaviour or act to which the guard takes exception. Since the prison administration has control over the canteena account, the detainees are unable to refuse to pay the fine, even if the reasons for the punishment are spurious. Moreover, since the prisoners are not always aware of the balance of the account, the administration does not always inform the detainees that money has been deducted for a penalty. While international legal guidelines clearly state that a punishment must only be assigned to the individuals charged with committing the offence, guards in Telmond have also been known to penalize one child for another's alleged misdemeanours. In one such case a juvenile Palestinian detainee cut his hair in a way that the prison guard disliked. As a punishment, the guard charged a fellow inmate and friend of the child with a NIS 150 fine Palestinian girl-child prisoners Of the 91 Palestinian children detained in Telmond Prison (the majority of whom have not yet been sentenced but are still awaiting trial), there are a total of eight Palestinian girls aged under 18. The girls were transferred to Telmond at the start of 2004, having previously been held in Ramle Women's Prison. The girls have testified to DCI/PS lawyers that they are frequently subjected to abuse from the prison guards. For no obvious reason, the girls may at any time be beaten, sworn at, humiliated or fined. On 23 April one female Palestinian inmate was severely beaten in front of the prisoners, and her headscarf was ripped off revealing her hair. The girls say that the conditions in their section of the prison are particularly bad. There is insufficient space in the cells and some girls are forced to sleep on the floor. This is all the more unpleasant since there are rats and other vermin in the rooms. The toilets are blocked and smell and there is no hot water. Windows are boarded up with iron panels which block out the light and intensify the heat in the rooms. Recently the panels on the doors, through which the guards pass the food, have been kept shut, reducing ventilation and preventing the girls in separate rooms from communicating with one another. The food on offer is particularly bad and limited – every day for two months the girls were given a small plate of spaghetti and an apple for their main meal. When 35 girls complained about bad treatment and the quality of the food in February, they were immediately fined NIS 200 each. More recently, the girls told their lawyer that they had tried to refuse eating their evening meal on 11 May since it had been brought to their cells so late. When he learnt of their decision, a prison officer started shouting at the girls – he told them if they would not eat he would send into isolation the prisoner who the girls had nominated to represent their interests. The girls were then surrounded by guards holding truncheons and small electric shock devices. Intimidated, the girls ate their meal, however the following day they refused their lunch. The representative was immediately sent to a filthy isolation cell and was sentenced by the prison director to spend a week in isolation. This was commuted however as the director of the Israeli Prison Authority was scheduled to visit Telmond.

Top of the page Data overview, as of 31 May 2004: Telmond Boys 82 Girls 9 Ofek Hasharon Boys 5 Megiddo Boys 70 Ofer Military Camp Boys 60 Ketziot Military Camp Boys 100 Interrogation and detention centers Russian Compound Al Jalame Petah Tikva Askelan. Etzion (Detention and Interrogation Centre) Benjamin (Inside Ofer prison) Kadumim Huwwara Salem Erez 4 - 1 2 8 22 8 3 2 - Total children detainees 376