On 27 October 2008, the Supreme Court of Israel held a hearing on two petitions filed by Adalah and HaMoked: Center for the Defence of the Individual, demanding that residents of Gaza be permitted to visit their Palestinian relatives – around 1,000 people – being held in Israeli prisons on a regular basis. The Israeli army has placed a total, sweeping ban on visits by the families of prisoners from Gaza since June 2007. The Supreme Court is expected to deliver its decision on the case in the near future.
The state contended in its response to the petitions filed on 24 October 2008 that military rule imposed on Gaza came to an end with the “Disengagement” plan in 2005. As a result, Israel is not obliged to allow residents of Gaza to enter its borders and Gaza is considered to be, “an enemy entity controlled by a terrorist organization, and with which Israel is in a state of war”. The state added, “Just as it would be unreasonable, for example, for Israel to be obliged to allow an Iranian citizen, a Lebanese citizen, or a Syrian citizen to visit his relative imprisoned in Israel, so Israel is also not compelled to allow a citizen from Gaza to enter the territory under its jurisdiction… Opening the borders with Gaza would constitute a danger to the safety of Israeli citizens and soldiers.”
At the hearing, Adalah Attorneys Hassan Jabareen and Fatmeh El-‘Ajou argued that prisoners incarcerated in Israel have constitutional rights, and therefore any limitations placed on their constitutional rights must be proportional to the damage caused. The absolute prohibition on family visits to prisoners from Gaza, proposed by the state, without allowing the possibility of individual security checks is overly broad and sweeping. Adalah further argued that international law applies in this case, which provides protections for the rights of prisoners and their families.
Adalah Attorney Abeer Baker filed the petition on 17 June 2008 on behalf of the families of Palestinian political prisoners from the Gaza Strip, the Al-Mezan Center for Human Rights and the Association for the Palestinian Prisoners.
As was detailed the petition, preventing family visits has in practice led to the complete isolation of approximately 1,000 prisoners from the outside world. Prohibiting family visits means that Palestinian prisoners are prevented from receiving basic necessities in prison, including clothing and money, as visits are the prisoners’ sole means of contact with the outside world. The transfer of money to prisoners to his/her account necessitates the presence of a member of the prisoners’ family in the prison. “It is apparent that preventing prisoners from the Gaza Strip from receiving family visits is designed to put pressure on the Palestinian factions to respond to Israel’s demands, thereby transforming Palestinian prisoners into pawns used by Israel in order to secure political gains that have absolutely no relation to the official reason for their imprisonment,” argued the petitioners.
Adalah stressed in the petition that transferring Palestinian prisoners from the Occupied Palestinian Territory (OPT) to prisons located within the Green Line violates international humanitarian law. This violation makes Israel doubly responsible for allowing prisoners to meet their families in reasonable conditions and at a reasonable pace, Adalah argued.
The petition contained a number of testimonies gathered by Al Mezan from the families of Palestinian prisoners from Gaza, including the testimony of Ms. Ruweida al-Bourdini, the wife of a Gazan prisoner. She stated that, “My husband has undergone ten surgical operations during his period in prison. I found out that he had had another operation a month ago, but because I there is no way of contacting him, I don’t know what his state of health is now… My children and I miss my husband very much… we want to exercise our right to visit him in prison. We have committed no sin… Why are they punishing us?”
H.C. 5399/08, Adalah et al. v. The Defense Minister et al.
The Petition (Hebrew)
The State’s Response (Hebrew)