Adalah to Israel Prisons Authority: Immediately Permit Sheikh Raed Salah to have Physical Contact with his Newborn Son

30/12/2003

On 20 December 2003, Adalah sent a letter to the Director of the Kishon Detention Facility demanding that the Israel Prisons Authority (IPA) immediately permit Sheikh Raed Salah, the head of the Islamic Movement in Israel, to have physical contact with his newborn son during family visits. This request is one of a series of interventions undertaken by Adalah during the last year challenging the legality of the IPA practice of preventing physical contact between "security prisoners" and their children. Adalah Attorney Abeer Baker prepared the letter and has been corresponding with the IPA on behalf of numerous prisoners.

Sheikh Raed Salah and four other members of the Islamic Movement in Israel were arrested in May 2003, and were subsequently indicted for alleged offenses relating to the transfer of funds to charity organizations associated with Hamas in the 1967 Occupied Territories. The five men have been detained without bond for the last eight months at the Kishon Detention Facility, where the IPA has classified them as "security prisoners."

During his detention, Sheikh Raed Salah's wife gave birth to their son, who is now three months old. The IPA has prevented all physical contact between Sheikh Raed Salah and his child during family visits.

In the letter, Adalah argued that prohibiting physical contact between Sheikh Raed Salah and his child violates his right to family visits. According to IPA regulations, the Director of a prison facility may allow prisoners to have physical contact with their children, under the age of six, during family visits. According to the terms of the IPA regulations: "Visitation is one of the most important means of contact between the prisoner and his family, friends, and acquaintances. Visitation may assist the prisoner while in custody and encourage him in times of crisis." Further, following a hunger strike by prisoners, the Levy Commission was formed to seek ways to improve security prisoners' conditions. One of the main recommendations issued by this Commission in 1992 emphasized the importance of allowing security prisoners' physical contact with their children.

Adalah also argued that the denial of physical contact between the prisoner and his child harms the best interest of the child. Since the enactment of the Basic Law: Human Dignity and Liberty and Israel's ratification of the International Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC), there has been a shift toward greater collective societal responsibility toward protecting the rights of children. According to information obtained by Adalah, the IPA prevents physical contact between prisoners and their children, only when the former are classified by the IPA as "security prisoners." If this is accurate, this unreasonable practice not only constitutes discrimination between prisoners but also against the children of security prisoners. Differentiating between children on account of their parents' actions or alleged actions, Adalah asserted, is unjust and violates the CRC and other international human rights treaties.

Incarceration does not strip an individual of all of his or her rights. While incarcerated, prisoners lose their right to liberty; however, all other rights, especially the right to human dignity, should be protected to the greatest extent possible. Although Israeli law allows "security prisoners" to be treated differently in some instances for security reasons, Adalah argued that there is no basis for treating them differently in this instance. The IPA must give the highest priority to protecting prisoners' rights to family visits, including physical contact with their children.