ADALAH PRESS RELEASE
28 February 2012

Walid Dakka

(Haifa, Israel) On 17 February 2012, the Nazareth District Court once again refused to allow political prisoner Mr. Walid Dakka, a Palestinian citizen of Israel, to meet his wife for conjugal visits in order to father a child. The court ruled that the decision was based on secret evidence that proved that Mr. Dakka still has connections to anti-Israel organizations, and that he could use intimate meetings with his wife to exchange information harmful to the state's security. The court declined to disclose the evidence, claiming that there was a risk of exposing the sources. Mr. Dakka and his lawyers are unable to examine the information and determine its credibility and accuracy. Adalah associated Attorney Abeer Baker petitioned the District Court on behalf of Mr. Dakka in December 2011.

The court relied solely on secret evidence, not touching on the evidence and statements presented by Adalah during the hearing, statements that that made his political positions and the human dimension of his personal desire to have children clear. The court ignored Mr. Dakka's constitutional right to family life and parenthood, which has already been recognized in numerous decisions issued by the Israeli Supreme Court and national courts of democratic countries.

Background

Mr. Walid Dakka, a Palestinian citizen of Israel who is imprisoned for life, is classified by Israel as a "security prisoner". He has been struggling along with his wife Sana for over nine years to realize their basic right to have a child. The Israel Prison Service (IPS) has consistently turned down their request on the pretext that intimate meetings between them may threaten state security, claiming that Mr. Dakka is still in contact with "hostile organizations" to the State of Israel. Despite the Israeli Supreme Court's recommendation last year that the IPS reconsider its position, the IPS continues to deny Mr. Dakka his right to father a child. Upon Mr. Dakka's appeal to the Supreme Court, the IPS committed to review his case, but has still not changed its position. As a result, on 1 December 2011, Attorney Abeer Baker re-petitioned the Nazareth District Court on behalf of Adalah and Mr. Dakka.

Mr. Dakka was born in 1961; he is from the Arab town of Baqa al-Gharbiya in Israel. He entered prison in 1986 after receiving a life sentence, and is one of the longest-serving Palestinian political prisoners with Israeli citizenship. He and his wife, a human rights activist who has dedicated her life to defending the rights of prisoners, have been struggling for their right to have children since their marriage in 1999. In the absence of any hope of his release in the near future, and since he has been excluded from all prisoner exchange deals, having a child is the only way left for Mr. Dakka and his wife to fully express their shared love. The couple continues to work in the hope of bearing a child who will carry their name.

Case Citation: Nazareth District Court, Prisoner's Petition 54950-11-11, Walid Dakka v. Israel Prison Service
The petition filed in December 2011 (Hebrew)
The petition filed in July 2008 (Hebrew) (Prisoners' Petition 609/08, Walid Dakka v. The Israel Prison Service)

For more information, see:
Press Release, 4 December 2011 on the petition, and Walid Dakka, 'Security Prisoners or Political Prisoners?' Essay in Adalah's Newsletter, Volume 24, April 2006.