Ideas Imprisoned - Part II: Conditions of Imprisonment

Ideas Imprisoned - Part II: Conditions of Imprisonment

J. David Thompson

SWJ Note - This is a multipart series exploring administrative detention in Israel and the occupied Palestinian territory.

Ideas Imprisoned: Administrative Detention in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, Conditions of Imprisonment, and the Role of the International Community (Introduction to 5 Parts)

Ideas Imprisoned - Part I: Administrative Detention

Medical Care

The Israeli Prison Service (IPS) employs the medical professionals who treat the detainees, which creates a problem of dual loyalty.[i] This causes issues of impartiality towards the patient—the person receiving treatment or the IPS.[ii] Physicians have an ethical duty to their patient, but the physician cannot fulfill this obligation impartially because their employer is also the patient’s imprisoner. For example, physicians of the Israeli Prison Service did not report to the Committee Against Torture the number of suspected torture and ill-treatment cases.[iii] Further, the physicians failed to report injuries indicative of abuse.[iv] Additionally, the IPS often denies the requests of hunger-striking Palestinians for an independent physician visit, which contradicts other IPS directives.[v] In addition to failing to report to the treaty bodies, no reports were found of physicians reporting to anyone. Physicians may have a proclivity of not reporting for fear of employer reprisal.

The Knesset (Israeli Parliament) passed Israel's Prisons Ordinance (No. 48) 5775-2015, “Prevention of the harm of hunger strikers,” which permits force-feeding. The Israeli Prison Services considers hunger-striking a disciplinary offense.[vi] Force-feeding, though, constitutes cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment (CIDT) and may amount to torture.[vii] The High Court of Israel upheld this law despite outcries from human rights organizations.[viii] Force-feeding counters multiple human rights norms. The ICRC opposes force-feeding.[ix] The European Court of Human Rights held in numerous cases that force-feeding may amount to torture.[x]

Held Abroad

The Government of Israel detains many Palestinians inside the 1967 boundaries of Israel, which makes it difficult or impossible for their families to visit.[xi] To make matters more complicated and further discourage visitors, the prisons are often on Israeli military bases. The Government of Israel holds administrative detainees in three areas: Ofer Prison (located inside Ofer Military Base), Ketzoit Prison (located in the Negev Desert), and Magiddo Prison (located inside another Israeli military base).[xii]

As indicated by the map, Ofer Prison is the blue dot inside the West Bank near Jericho. Ketzoit Prison is the green down near the Egyptian border in the Negev, which is inside the 1967 borders of Israel. Magiddo Prison is north of the West Bank, which is also inside the 1967 borders of Israel. Locating prisoners outside of the West Bank imposes numerous difficulties on family members wishing to visit detainees. Additionally, most Palestinians apply to enter the 1967 borders several days before traveling. This leads to multiple changes in taxis or buses, multiple searches, and more. Once the families arrive at the prison, the family then has to go through more searches to get onto the military base. In summary, it makes little difference whether the IPS hold an administrative detainee inside the 1967 borders of Israel or in a foreign country.

Solitary Confinement

Many detainees, not just administrative detainees, face solitary confinement.[xiii] Solitary confinement is the “confinement of prisoners for twenty-two (22) hours or more a day without meaningful human contact.”[xiv] Prolonged solitary confinement is the same but for fifteen days or more.[xv] Israeli legislation allows for solitary confinement of prisoners via three main procedures: solitary confinement for and during interrogation,[xvi] solitary confinement as a form of disciplinary punishment,[xvii] and solitary confinement under a procedure called separation.[xviii]

The Israeli Prison Service may hold prisoners in solitary confinement for fourteen non-consecutive days for infractions to the Prison Ordinance.[xix] The IPS holds children and mentally handicap individuals in solitary confinement.[xx] The further alarm with children in solitary confinement is that they are interrogated while separated.[xxi] The IPS justifies holding mentally handicap individuals in solitary confinement as a way of safeguarding them;[xxii] however, reports show that solitary confinement exacerbates both physical and mental handicaps.[xxiii] As such, solitary confinement is a cruel practice that is counterproductive to prisoner rehabilitation,[xxiv] which is a stated goal of the IPS.[xxv]

In addition to solitary confinement, the IPS established “Protected Wards.”[xxvi] [xxvii] [xxviii] These protected wards hold prisoners under solitary confinement type conditions without limitations; however, the IPS does not classify the protected wards as solitary confinement.[xxix] Therefore, the numbers of prisoners held in protected wards are not included in reports on solitary confinement even though the conditions are analogous.[xxx] Because the IPS does not define protective wards as solitary confinement, there is no judicial review. 

Children

Children are not exempt from administrative detention. Under the Order Regarding Security Provisions, the Government of Israel regarded a child as anyone under twelve (12) years of age.[xxxi] The order defined a juvenile as a person between the ages twelve (12) and fourteen (14).[xxxii] The order defined a young adult as someone between the ages of fourteen (14) and sixteen (16).[xxxiii] Later, the Government of Israel regarded a minor as someone under the age of sixteen (16).[xxxiv] The military finally, in September 2011, amended the order to define a minor as someone under the age of eighteen (18).[xxxv] [xxxvi] The IPS reported two (2) minors in administrative detention at the end of November 2017.[xxxvii] In the broader prison population, though, Palestinian children face particular challenges and concerns. While minors only account for 2% of the broader prison population, they account for 6% of the solitary confined population.[xxxviii]

End Notes