Medical Coercion: Human Rights Organizations Seek Independent Doctor for Ill Gazans Detained by the GSS at Erez

(Haifa, Tel Aviv-Jaffa, Gaza) Adalah submitted two administrative appeals to the Magistrate Court in Beer el-Sabe (Beer Sheva) on 26 July 2012 seeking permission for an independent doctor to visit two detainees, Wa’il Kamil Muhammad At-Taweel and Rawhi Fouad Qazaz from Gaza, in order to perform medical tests and document their conditions. The appeals also asked for the release of their medical records. 

Mr. Qazaz and Mr. At-Taweel were arrested in Beit Hanoun (Erez) Checkpoint, after the General Security Service (GSS) called them for questioning there. Both men sought permits to leave Gaza to go for medical treatment in Al-Mukassad Hospital in East Jerusalem. Adalah Attorney Fatmeh El’Ajou filed the appeals on behalf of Mr. At-Taweel and Mr. Qazaz, and in the name of Physicians for Human Rights – Israel (PHR-I) and Al-Mezan Centre for Human Rights in Gaza.

The human rights organizations warn of an escalation in this detention policy.  In addition to the two cases noted here, a third such case occurred in early July, in which a young man from Gaza asking to escort his eight year-old brother for medical treatment inside Israel was arrested and then released only after 17 days.

The human rights organizations call upon the Israeli security authorities to stop this policy of detaining patients, while cynically using their medical needs, and to ensure that adequate medical treatment is available and/or accessible for all Gaza patients. The arrest of patients is another expression of Israel's effective control of Gaza and over the lives of 1.5 million Palestinians living there. We call on all relevant parties in Israel, as well as members of the international community to intervene immediately in order to release the detainees to medical care in hospitals.

Background

Wa’il At-Taweel, who is nearly 40 years old, applied for a permit to leave Gaza to travel to East Jerusalem for surgery, and later he was summoned for questioning at Erez on 5 July 2012. He arrived at 8am and remained there until 6:30 pm. During this time, he was assaulted by Israeli soldiers who slapped his face, pulled his hair, and held him in an underground room; he was subsequently released. Three days later, the GSS summoned him for questioning again, and he was arrested upon arrival at Erez Crossing, which is under the control of the Israeli authorities. At midnight, his family received a telephone call notifying them that At-Taweel was being held in Section 4 of Shikma Prison. Following his family’s request due to his medical condition, PHR-I approached the Israel Prison Service (IPS) asking that an independent doctor be allowed to examine At-Taweel. The IPS has not responded to the request.

Rawhi Qazaz, 42 years old, was also directed for medical tests in Al-Mukassad Hospital. In May 2012, Qazaz applied for a permit to leave Gaza for his medical tests, but he did not receive any response. After intervention by PHR-I and Al Mezan, Qazaz was summoned to meet with security investigators at Erez Crossing on 15 July 2012. Immediately upon his arrival, he was questioned, arrested, and transferred to Shikma Prison. In this case as well, the IPS did not respond to PHR-I’s requests for an independent doctor to examine Mr. Qazaz and record his condition.

One of the most important rights guaranteed to all individuals, even when they are detained, is the right to health, Adalah argued in the appeals. The right to health is part of the right to life, which is constitutionally protected under the Israeli Basic Law: Human Dignity and Freedom – 1992. Further the right to enjoy the highest possible level of health care is protected by the International Covenant on Economic, Social, and Cultural Rights, ratified by Israel in 1991.

The petitioners also argued that Israeli Patients’ Rights Law – 1996 provides for the right of the sick to receive a second opinion on his/her treatment. In prior rulings, the Supreme Court decided that prisoners and detainees held in Israeli prisons have a right to receive treatment from independent doctors, and to receive a second opinion from an independent doctor chosen by the detainee. Accordingly, as the IPS has failed to respond, the IPS is denying Mr. At-Taweel and Mr. Qazaz their right to see an independent doctor, which violates Israeli law and international human rights law.

Further, in the cases of At-Taweel and Qazaz, there is a fear that their health problems coupled with the difficult conditions of the detention facilities and long interrogations, will substantially worsen their health. These circumstances highlight the necessity of permitting an independent doctor to examine them without delay.

Case Citations:

Administrative Appeal 52052-07-12, Wa’il Muhammad At-Taweel v. State of Israel (Beer el-Sabe Magistrate Court), case pending

Administrative Appeal 052058-07-12, Rawhi Hussein Qazaz v. State of Israel (Beer el-Sabe Magistrate Court), case pending

For more information, please contact:

Salah Mohsen, Adalah Media Coordinator, salah@adalah.org, 052-595-0922

This Project is funded by the European Union

Joint project of Adalah, Al Mezan (Gaza) and Physicians for Human Rights-Israel

The contents of this paper are the sole responsibility of Adalah, Al Mezan (Gaza), and Physicians for Human Rights-Israel and can in no way be taken to reflect the views of the European Union