Human rights organizations in an urgent appeal to the Military Advocate General: the incarceration conditions at Anatot camp are illegal and amount to torture; inmates must be moved to regulated incarceration facilities

On December 16, 2024, human rights organizations – ACRI, HaMoked, PCATI and PHR-Israel – sent an urgent appeal to the Military Advocate General regarding the inhumane conditions in the military incarceration facility Anatot in the West Bank and the abuse and humiliation of inmates in this facility.

The letter was based on affidavits collected by HaMoked attorneys from detainees held in the Camp. According to these accounts, the incarceration conditions are similar to those that existed at the beginning of the war at the Sde Teman military detention facility and include routine of abuse and inhumane treatment amounting to torture: inmates are held in corrals, some 50 people in each corral, blindfolded and their hands shackled, often painfully, at all times; there are forbidden from communicating with each other for days on end; during the day, they must sit crowded together on  a thin blanket on the ground; and at night are made to sleep on a thin mattress, in the cold without adequate blankets. In addition, the inmates are prevented from sleeping throughout the night as they are woken by soldiers every hour and made to stand for half an hour and so on, so they do not get more than three-hours of sleep per night; there is inadequate access to the bathroom and insufficient toilet paper; they are given a change of clothes and a shower only once a month; food is insufficient and there is no access to medical treatment; detainees are not allowed a walk in the open air. In addition, detainees reported that soldiers humiliate them, spit on them and curse them.

In their letter, the organizations noted that the Incarceration of Unlawful Combatants Law requires holding those held pursuant to this law under adequate conditions, such that they meet “the State of Israel’s obligations under international humanitarian law”. At a minimum these conditions include, among other things, a bed and a mattress, sanitary and hygienic conditions, medical treatment, and the minimum required living space. The organizations also noted the High Court judgment in their petition to close the Sde Teman incarceration facility, which stated the obvious and applies equally to Anatot: “the Regulations, which establish detailed rules regarding incarceration conditions, constitute a law which binds the State in the operation of the facility… the claim that in principle powers may be exercised in an incarceration facility in a manner which deviates from the stipulations of the Incarceration of Unlawful Combatants Law cannot be accepted…”.   

The organizations demanded that all inmates be transferred from Anatot camp to regulated incarceration facilities where they would be accorded the conditions they ought to receive according to Israeli and international law. The organizations also demanded that a thorough investigation be initiated into the conduct of the troops, particularly the commanders of the facility, in view of the accounts of harsh and humiliating treatment.