Human rights organizations in an urgent High Court petition: Stop the violation of basic rights and minimal living conditions of Palestinian “security” prisoners

On October 25, 2023, the Association for Civil Rights in Israel, HaMoked, Adalah, Physicians for Human Rights-Israel, and the Public Committee Against Torture in Israel petitioned Israel’s High Court of Justice (HCJ) to stop the violation of the basic rights of Palestinian “security” prisoners who had been arrested and tried before the war. The organizations argued that the emergency policy in this matter has been established contrary to the Prison Ordinance, and causes severe and ongoing harm to the health and minimal living conditions of the prisoners, which the State in obligated to provide.

In the petition, the organizations address the prolonged denial of the prisoners’ right to talk with their attorneys, the hours-long disconnection of electricity and water supplies, the denial of access to medical treatment and more; this, alongside reports of severe violence. The organizations stated that this policy which amounts to cruel punishment, has been implemented with complete lack of transparency, pursuant to orders issued in obscurity, without making public the aims and contents of this policy. In the petition, the organizations claimed that protection of prisoners’ rights and the prevention of arbitrary denial of rights, also and especially in times of war, is a vital condition for the preservation of a civilized society, which also protects the rights of those who have transgressed against it.