Supreme Court Hears of Inhumane Conditions of Palestinian Detainees Held at Ansar III
The evidence submitted by the petitioners shows that conditions in Ansar III do not meet minimum standards for a detention facility. Ansar III is situated in the Naqab desert, which is exceedingly hot during the day and very cold at night. Detainees are housed in tents with old and worn tarpaulin roofs, exposed on all four sides to the elements, and to insects, scorpions, and reptiles. Twenty detainees are housed in each 4 x 12 meter tent. There is only one toilet for every 66 detainees, and one shower for 60-66 detainees. Such conditions are particularly harsh for the many detainees who suffer from health problems such as high blood pressure and diabetes.
Yesterday, the Supreme Court held its first hearing on a petition filed in June 2002 by seven Palestinian detainees and ten Palestinian and Israeli human rights organizations challenging the inhumane conditions under which Palestinian detainees are being held at the Ansar III ("Ketziot") Detention Center in the Naqab (Negev). At the time of filing, about 500 people were detained at Ansar III; that number has since increased to 939. The petitioners argued that the inhuman conditions of detention violate the dignity of the detainees and asked the Court to order the Military Commander in charge of Ansar III to immediately improve the standards at the facility.
Adalah Staff Attorney Morad el-Sana submitted the petition on 27 June 2002. The petitioners include Adalah, Qanun (LAW), HaMoked, B'Tselem, Addameer, Al Haq, Women's Center for Legal Aid and Counselling, Nadi el-Asseer, the Public Committee Against Torture in Israel, and Physicians for Human Rights - Israel. The petitioners named Yuni Ben David, Military Commander of Ansar III and Minister of Defense Benjamin Ben-Eliezer as respondents.
The evidence submitted by the petitioners shows that conditions in Ansar III do not meet minimum standards for a detention facility. Ansar III is situated in the Naqab desert, which is exceedingly hot during the day and very cold at night. Detainees are housed in tents with old and worn tarpaulin roofs, exposed on all four sides to the elements, and to insects, scorpions, and reptiles. Twenty detainees are housed in each 4 x 12 meter tent. There is only one toilet for every 66 detainees, and one shower for 60-66 detainees. Such conditions are particularly harsh for the many detainees who suffer from health problems such as high blood pressure and diabetes.
The detainees are also denied sufficient supplies and facilities necessary to maintain basic hygiene. They are allotted insufficient soap (six bars of soap for 60 detainees for seven days) and no shampoo; sponges (one sponge for 20 detainees); toilet paper (one roll for 10 detainees for 20 days); and toothpaste (one tube for 10 detainees for 20 days). Due to the poor sanitation facilities, contagious diseases such as scabies (a skin parasite) are spreading throughout the camp.
The petitioners based their legal claims on Israeli and international human rights and humanitarian law. The Basic Law: Human Dignity and Liberty (1992) upholds the right of all persons to dignity, and Israeli Supreme Court case law clearly extends the right to dignity to those in detention. InDarweesh v. Prison Authority (1980), Justice Haim Cohen stated that those in prison in Israel have the right to "humanitarian, civilized conditions." Further, the detention of these individuals in Israel, all of whom are from the West Bank, violates Article 76 of the Geneva Convention (IV) Relative to the Protection of Civilian Persons in Time of War (1949). Article 76 states that "[p]rotected persons accused of offences shall be detained in the occupied country, and if convicted they shall serve their sentences therein. They shall, if possible, be separated from other detainees and shall enjoy conditions of food and hygiene which will be sufficient to keep them in good health, and which will be at least equal to those obtaining in prisons in the occupied country."
The state argued that the petition should be dismissed. According to the state, the conditions at Ansar III are not unreasonable; in fact, Israeli soldiers are afforded conditions, accommodations, and provisions similar to those of the detainees. In addition, the state claimed that the current conditions at Ansar III are better than those faced by detainees held at the facility during the first Intifada. The state noted that the Supreme Court dismissed a petition in 1988, which challenged the conditions of detention at Ansar III at that time. In that case, the state agreed that while some conditions could be improved, the matter was one of budget resources, and there was no need for judicial review.
At yesterday's hearing, Supreme Court Chief Justice Barak and Justices Beinisch and Englard agreed that international humanitarian law applied to the Palestinian detainees. The Court elected to reserve judgment in order to give the matter further consideration.
