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Contents
Overview
The month of May saw a continuation in Israeli military arrests of under-18's, including 15 year-old Jihad Shaker Abu Ayesh and 16 year-old Hussam Sameh Zeitun, who were arrested while working near a checkpoint on May 31 and held incommunicado for 15 days, before being released without charges.
The shocking frequency of cases like this has already spurred a significant increase in child arrests this year, to around 320 by mid-May, according to DCI/PS estimates. DCI estimate that this figure is an average 14% ahead of 2002, which was itself a record year for child arrests and detentions, witnessing over 750 arrests over the course of the year.
In the case of Jihad and Hussam, the boys were taken to Hawara military camp and held incommunicado from May 31 to June 15. In all this time, our lawyer was unable to obtain access to the boys, although he found out that there were no formal charges against them. Amnesty International took up an urgent action on this case, but the boys were finally released on 15 June 2003 without charges, fines or any explanation for their arrest.
The shocking fact is that under the arbitrary and repressive system of Israeli military orders that governs life for Palestinians, it is possible to hold children for this length of time, even without charges, and then release them (military order 1500 of April 2002). However, this conduct is totally illegal in international terms and basically leaves juvenile justice at the whim of military officers, with scarce reference to proper judicial process.
Meanwhile, for long-term child detainees at the four major detention facilities - Telmond, Ramle, Megiddo and Ketziot - conditions remained virtually unchanged during May. The situation in Ketziot military prison camp in the Negev desert is truly appalling, due to the shoddy facilities, overcrowding and sweltering heat. Previous sources of relief, such as the provision of ice, have been stopped, as the administration says it cannot afford the freezers. In addition, 120 prisoners share 2 showers. This means that the 28 boys in this prison have to book an appointment to wash.
Prison Life
Ramle Prison - On 30/5/2003 a DCI lawyer visited the 11 girls in Ramle prison. Conditions are similar to previous months, namely poor and inadequate food, lack of books and educational materials, lack of summer clothing and lack of medical attention. The prison representative said that there has also been some trouble with the administration after prison guards started shouting and abusing prisoners for no reason when they brought in food.
A new problem is overcrowding, although the minors are not affected by this as yet. The girls report that newly admitted adult Palestinian prisoners are being held in punishment cells, rather than in the regular rooms, because there is not enough space in the prison.
Ketziot Military Camp - A DCI lawyer visited Ketziot prison in the Negev desert on 20/5/2003 and found that there are 28 child administrative detainees held there. There situation is extremely difficult, with poor hygiene, food and general conditions, particularly because of the desert heat. Prisoners said that the food is terrible, while there are not enough materials to maintain basic personal hygiene, such as razors and soap.
The statistics back this up, with 120 people sharing two rundown showers and four toilets. Prisoners have to make appointments to use the showers. Despite repeated requests to the administration to fix the toilets and provide more facilities, there has been no improvement.
The heat is almost insufferably for the boys. They used to be given ice to drink or cool down their bodies while they sat in their tents, but the prison administration has told them that it doesn't have enough money to buy freezers, which means that they can't have ice.
The heat is also affecting food hygiene, particularly after an incident when Israeli guards left food in the sun to spoil before giving it to some adult prisoners. The whole tent of 30 prisoners got food poisoning.
Like all Israeli prisons and detention centres, it is very difficult for families to visit, even families with Jerusalem ID (as opposed to West Bank). Visitors from Jerusalem can only see prisoners once a month for half an hour with a 1.5 metre cement barrier between them and wire meshing on the top. Conversation is difficult and prisoners and visitors have to shout to be heard.
Megiddo Prison - This military prison is by far the best facility for the 16-18 year olds who are held with adult prisoners-date. Unlike other prisons, there is a health clinic on site, and prisoners have access to proper medical care. Prisoners are also brought an adequate variety and quantity of food, which they cook themselves. They also have fruit every day, boys told the DCI lawyer visiting 4/6/2003.
Meanwhile, prisoners don't have formal education, but they teach each other classes, including English and Hebrew. This month some prisoners are taking their Tawjihi exams.
The only major problem is arranging family visits, since most of the children are West Bank ID holders and their families are not allowed into Israel because of the many travel restrictions. This also means that the boys lack clothing, which would usually be provided by their families.
The general difficulty with family visits to all prisons and detention centres stems from restrictions on all Palestinian ID holders movements into Israel "proper." Under international law, prisoners should be kept in their own country (Article 76, Fourth Geneva Convention) although Israeli flouts this rule, as it does many others relating to the administration of Justice in the Occupied Territories.
Telmond - On 18 May 2003, the DCI lawyer visited Telmond prison for boys, near Haifa, where 66 Palestinian children are held alongside Israeli juvenile criminal prisoners. The administration again made things difficult for the lawyer, keeping him waiting for 2 hours at the entrance and leaving long intervals between bringing each prisoner.
Circumstances in Telmond are currently difficult with many small punishments and incidences of mistreatment which make life hard for the boys, who are all under 16.
One such incident happened on 13 May, when families from the Jerusalem area were allowed to visit the boys. Before the visit, prison guards searched the prisoners down to their underwear, which was a very humiliating experience, boys told the DCI lawyer. Prison guards had also searched their rooms and confiscated prayer mats. This mistreatment combined with the poor quality of the food prompted the boys to go on hunger strike for one day on May 14.
Ali Mughrabi, the boys representative, then asked the administration to stop these inspections and this was agreed. However, this has been agreed previously with little effect.
Meanwhile, the boys are not being adequately fed. Boys have to pay for the food, and since some families don't have much money to send, there are some children who can't afford to buy the food that they need. Some international organizations also donate money for food, but the boys have said that it is not enough right now.
The boys in Telmond continue to have limited access to formal education from a teacher who comes 5 days a week. Boys can attend classes once every other day because of the number of students. Some students are also going to sit the tawjihi, although they told the DCI lawyer that they still don't have the right books to study from.
Case Studies
Case 1: Sameh Muhammad Sa'id Nasef, aged 17, is from Nablus and in the seventh grade at school (i.e. well behind his age group). He also works as a tailor. Sameh was arrested from home at 2.30 am on 28/5/2003 by Israeli soldiers who took him away with his hands tied and his eyes blindfolded. He was taken to Hawara military detention centres where they hit him on the head with their machine guns.
After 15 days he was transferred to Petah Tikva interrogation centre and put in a dark cell in solitary confinement. The next day, he was interrogated about his intention to undertake a suicide operation. During the interrogation he was continually beaten. Sameh said he then admitted to the charge, even through it was false, so that the interrogation would end. On the third day he was sent back to Hawara detention center. His trial has been scheduled for 26/6 at Salem military court.
The lawyer visiting Sameh said that the boy seems quite simple and didn't really understand what to do.
Case 2: Mu'tamed Mahmoud Tawfiq Nasasira is 16 from Beit Furik in Nablus. Mu'tamed was arrested at 3am on 26/1/2003 from his home and then kept for nearly 12 hours (until 2.30pm) at Hawara checkpoint. Mu'tamed said that all this time his eyes were blindfolded and his hands were tied. He was not given any water or food, or allowed to go to the toilet. After this, he was transported to Hawara military detention centre and then onto to Kadummim interrogation centre. There, Israeli soldiers interrogated him about throwing a bottle of burning oil at an army vehicle.
Mu'tamed said that he was beaten during the interrogation and his hand ties were pulled even tighter. He was also tied to a chair for a long period of time. Mu'tamed admitted to the charges against him, and he was then returned to Hawara, where he is now the longest standing prisoner in this "temporary" detention centre. On the twelfth day after his arrest, he was taken to court, but his trial was postponed to 22/4/03. He wasn't taken to court on that date, but on the 27/5/03 he went to court, when his trial was postponed until 17/7/03.
Case 3: Fida Ishak Ibrahim Ghanem is 16 years old, a student in the 9th grade at school, from the old city of Hebron. Her domestic situation is very deprived, and the whole family, including 10 children, rely on her father's income.
Fida was arrested on 7/2/2002 on her way to school and accused of attempting to stab a soldier. Fida was interrogated several times by the Hebron police, but was not allowed to see either an attorney or her parents during the interrogation. Fida was beaten during her arrest and interrogation and treated very badly. However, she continued to deny the charge of attempting to stab a settler and did not make a confession.
Fida was finally tried in at Beit El military court on 13th of January 2003 when she was sentenced to 30 months imprisonment and a 30-month suspended sentence along with a 3000 NIS ($1=NIS4.4) fine.
Fida was shocked by the sentence, because she maintains that she is innocent of these charges. On 19th May 2003, DCI appealed on Fida's behalf at Beit-El military appeal court. This resulted in a reduction of Fida's sentence to 24 months imprisonment, a 30-month suspended sentence and a 3,000 NIS fine. On 16 June, Fida's third trial resulted in no further reductions.
Fida is currently held with 60 adult female Palestinian prisoners in Ramle prison in very poor circumstances. Fida told the DCI attorney that she has been beaten by the prison guards and been put in an isolation cell a number of times. Given that the Israeli authorities refuse to provide education to girl prisoners, despite their obligations under International law, Fida is unable to continue her schooling and will lose at least two years of education.
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