العربية
HE
العربية
HE
On November 23, 2023, the High Court of Justice (HCJ) rejected the petition filed by HaMoked and other human rights organizations to reverse the very severe deterioration in the conditions of Palestinian “security” inmates, implemented with no transparency and on the direction of the Minister of Public Security soon after the outbreak of the war. The organizations argued that these changes were made contrary to the Prison Ordinance, and to the basic legal principle whereby prisoners retain basic human rights during their incarceration. The urgent principled petition was summarily dismissed on procedural grounds, without a hearing, with no consideration of its arguments, and without reviewing the actual conditions on the ground. The judgment adopted the State’s claim that it did not deprive the prisoners of their vested rights but only limited their conditions to the minimal threshold required by law. The State refuted some arguments, claiming among other things and contrary to accounts received by HaMoked, that daily showers were allowed but for shorter periods than before the war, and that meetings with attorneys was possible but with delays arising from the very high numbers of inmates. In rejecting the petition, the Court ruled that the proper forum for addressing these concerns was through submitting individual prisoner petitions – this although, as part of the unlawful downgrading of conditions, prisoners had no contact with the outside world, neither family, lawyers nor the ICRC.
Several weeks into the war, the water supply to some wings had been renewed and a schedule set for daily yard outings and showers, but implementation remained problematic and many inmates remain without the ability to maintain basic hygiene or have the required exercise time. Additionally, the waiting time to meet with a lawyer is two or three months, and sometimes even longer, even when incarcerated minors are concerned. The sweeping denial of rights continues in other aspects, including severe overcrowding, pervasive complaints of violence[JM1] , the ban on contact with families, and insufficient quantities of food, while detainees are not allowed to purchase food and hygiene items at the canteen. As a result, all prisoners and detainees represented by HaMoked have lost 20-40 kilograms. These harsh conditions harm the prisoners’ bodily integrity, health and dignity.
In recent months, HaMoked filed over a dozen prisoner petitions to the District Courts on behalf of individual prisoners regarding conditions in Nafha, Megiddo, Ramon and Gilboa prisons inside Israel and to the HCJ regarding Ofer Prison, located in the West Bank. The petitions demanded in practice and not just in declarations made in court that prisons receive daily showers, an hour-long yard time; supply of adequate food in both quality and quantity – and supply of minimal necessary items to replace the personal belongings confiscated (including underclothes, a change of clothes, shoes, and basic hygiene articles such as toilet paper, soap and toothpaste).
The approach of the HCJ to the principled petition, of avoiding judicial review of prison conditions, has been followed by the lower courts in the individual prisoner petitions. Eight petitions were dismissed without due consideration[u2] . Another three petitions were dismissed due to the petitioner’s transfer to another prison; although similar conditions prevail in the new facility, they would have to be challenged with a new petition to a different district court. One petition was rejected following the prisoner’s release.
In its March 28, 2024 response to one of the petitions, the State declared that prisoners would be allowed an hour-long yard time and a 15-minute shower, but implementation has been faulty.
HaMoked submitted to the Supreme Court four requests to appeal judgments of the district courts; three have already been rejected. One of these requests, submitted July 3, 2024, regarding the Be’er Sheva District Court’s judgment of June 3, 2024, concerned the inadequate hygiene conditions and lack of essential hygiene products. In this Request, as in the others, HaMoked clarified that this was a “unique ‘principled’ request to appeal” that did not concern only the individual prisoner but also “the basic rights of prisoners in the shadow of the Respondent’s declaration of an emergency situation in the prisons…” and the “drastic harm to the basic rights of those in custody, inflicted in conditions of lack of contact with the outside world.
HaMoked stressed that the petition was rejected based on the State’s general claims regarding arrangements for the provision of the required minimum conditions, without reviewing the Respondent’s obligation to implement the proclaimed policy and without examining its implementation in the individual petitioner’s case. The judgment “leads to a situation where it is impossible to uphold the judgment [in the principled petition] as in the framework of a prisoner’s petition the Court would not demand to examine the individual arguments and accepts the Respondent’s general claims, as if this were a matter of principle” – leaving security prisoners with no viable recourse to challenge the conditions under which they are held”.
The Supreme Court rejected the request to appeal on July 7, 2024. However, in his decision, Justice Kabub noted regarding future petitions: “the multiplicity of claims regarding the IPS’ failure to uphold its duties towards a certain prisoner population, whether regarding claims raised in the petition that is the subject of the current request or another matter, could raise doubts as to the presumption of state propriety, such as would justify shifting the burden to the IPS – which possesses the evidence – to prove it fulfils its duties towards the prisoners in its custody. Each case and its circumstances. Therefore, the fact that the petition was rejected in the present case, does not indicate in any way that the IPS has been exempted from upholding its obligations and declarations made to this Court” (emphases added).
Two prisoner petitions and one request to appeal are still pending at this time.
