Supreme Court Issues Order to Show Cause Requiring Israel Prison Service to Explain Policy of Prohibiting Palestinian Political Prisoners from Embracing their Young Children during Family Visits
On 15 July 2008, the Supreme Court of Israel issued an order nisi which directed the Israel Prison Service (IPS) to explain its policy of not allowing political prisoners, who are classified under Israeli law as "security" prisoners, to embrace their children under the age of ten during visits. The court issued this order during a hearing held before Supreme Court Justices Salim Jubran, Edna Arbel and Uzi Fogelman to address the petition filed by Adalah in August 2004 demanding that Palestinian political prisoners be permitted to embrace their young children during visits.
During the hearing, the IPS requested that the court close the session and that Adalah Attorney Abeer Baker who represents the petitioners, leave the courtroom to allow the IPS to present secret material prepared by the General Security Services (GSS or Shabak). According to the IPS, the secret evidence would prove the security danger posed by children over the age of six and under the age of ten. Attorney Baker vehemently objected to this request arguing that this move was a clear attempt to transform the humane issues raised by this case into security considerations. Following the arguments, the court did not review the secret material.
Since the filing of the petition in 2004, the IPS presented several recommendations to the court regarding child visits with their imprisoned parents, which were rejected by Adalah. The most recent suggestion was to limit the age of the children, whom the imprisoned parents would be allowed to embrace, to the age of six and not to ten as was demanded in the petition. The IPS claimed that limiting the age of the children to six years comes from logistical considerations due to staff shortages; according to the IPS, as children over the age of six have the ability to speak, they constitute a security danger. Adalah countered this claim by arguing that it was illegal and inhumane in that in totally negates the children's need to embrace their parents and to receive affection and love.
Adalah also emphasized that the IPS's position ignores its duty to allocate special resources and personnel to fulfill the rights of prisoners. This is especially true as the IPS is holding approximately 9000 Palestinian political prisoners who have been transferred from the Occupied Palestinian Territory (OPT) to Israel to complete their sentences, in violation of international law. As such, this situation creates enormous difficulties for family visits due to the need for special coordination with and permission from the Israeli army. Therefore, the IPS is doubly obligated to make the visits possible and to facilitate them. Logistical and financial considerations cannot justify human rights violations, Adalah argued.
Adalah also objected to the IPS's practice of preventing prisoners from embracing their young children as punishment for disciplinary offenses. Adalah argued that this measure is a form of collective punishment against Palestinian children and violates the prisoners' constitutional rights to family life, dignity, and privacy.
Citation: H.C. 7585/04, Hakeem Kana'ni, et. al. v. The Israel Prison Service
