Amnesty International Report 1999 - Israel

:ISRAEL (STATE OF) AND THE OCCUPIED TERRITORIES

At least 1,200 Palestinians were arrested on security grounds and at least 270 administrative detention orders were served. Scores of administrative detainees were released early in the year. Eighty-three Palestinians remained held in administrative detention at the end of the year. Prisoners of conscience and possible prisoners of conscience included administrative detainees, conscientious objectors and sentenced prisoners. At least 40 Lebanese nationals were imprisoned in Israel; 22 of them were held without charge or trial or after expiry of their sentences. A further 140 Lebanese nationals were held without charge or trial in the part of South Lebanon occupied by Israel. Other political prisoners included more than 1,500 Palestinians sentenced after unfair trials in previous years. More than 70 Palestinian prisoners were released in the context of peace agreements. Hundreds of Palestinians were tried before military courts, whose procedures failed to comply with international fair trial standards. Torture and ill-treatment continued to be officially sanctioned and used systematically during interrogation of security detainees. Israeli security forces killed at least 20 Palestinian civilians in circumstances suggesting that they may have been extrajudicially executed or otherwise unlawfully killed. One house was destroyed as punishment.

In October the Israeli government and the Palestine Liberation Organization (plo) signed the Wye River Memorandum under which Israel agreed to withdraw its troops from a further 13 per cent of the West Bank, and the plo agreed to "take all measures necessary" to protect Israel's security. The Israeli government maintained the border closures between Israel and the West Bank (excluding East Jerusalem), and between Israel and the Gaza Strip, restricting severely Palestinians' freedom of movement (see Palestinian Authority entry). The closure was strengthened in September after threats of attacks by the Islamist opposition group Hamas on Israeli civilians. Israeli security forces destroyed scores of Palestinian houses in the Occupied Territories claiming they had been built without permits.

Violent demonstrations occurred in many areas of the Occupied Territories, particularly in May (the 50th anniversary of the establishment of the State of Israel) and in December (calling for the release of political prisoners). During the year attacks continued to be carried out on Palestinians by armed Israeli settlers and on settlers by armed Palestinians. Armed opposition groups targeted civilians in attacks in Jerusalem and elsewhere.

A bill regulating the General Security Service (GSS) passed its first reading in the Knesset (parliament) in January; the law failed to outlaw the use of torture or ill-treatment. In July the government withdrew a draft law which would have invalidated the majority of compensation claims brought against the Israeli security forces for human rights violations committed in the Occupied Territories (see Amnesty International Report 1998).

In January the UN Special Rapporteur, appointed pursuant to Commission on Human Rights resolution 1993/2a "to investigate Israel's violations of the principles and bases of international law", visited areas under the Palestinian Authority's jurisdiction. Israel continued to refuse cooperation with the Special Rapporteur.

In May the UN Committee against Torture examined Israel's second periodic report. It stated that hooding, shackling in painful positions, sleep deprivation and shaking of detainees – interrogation methods which Israel admitted using – constituted torture as defined in Article 1 of the UN Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment. The Committee also requested Israel to review the practice of administrative detention to ensure that it complied with Article 16 of the Convention. In May the UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention declared that the detention of 21 Lebanese nationals (see below) by Israel was arbitrary. In July the UN Human Rights Committee considered Israel's initial report on its implementation of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) and affirmed the Covenant's applicability to territories occupied by Israel. It stated that interrogation methods used by Israel and the use of administrative detention violated the ICCPR and expressed concern about unlawful killings and demolition of Palestinian houses.

At least 270 administrative detention orders were served; 83 Palestinians remained in administrative detention at the end of the year. In early 1998 scores of administrative detainees, many of whom had been detained for years, were released. Wissam Rafidi, a prisoner of conscience, and ‘Itaf ‘Alyan were released in January (see Amnesty International Report 1998). Ahmad Qatamesh was released from administrative detention in April; he had been held for more than five years (see previous Amnesty International Reports). ‘Usama Jamil Barham remained in administrative detention at the end of the year; he had been held since November 1993 except for 17 days in September 1994. He appealed twice against his detention; both appeals took place without him or his lawyer being able to examine evidence against him.

Prisoners of conscience and possible prisoners of conscience held during the year included administrative detainees, conscientious objectors and sentenced prisoners. For example, a military court sentenced Andrew Hare, a conscientious objector, to 28 days' imprisonment in June for refusing to serve in the Israeli Defence Forces (IDF). He was released in July. Charges brought against ‘Ilham Abu Saleh in 1997 were dropped and she was released from house arrest (see Amnesty International Report 1998).

At the end of the year at least 40 Lebanese nationals were imprisoned in Israel. In addition, 140 Lebanese nationals – men, women and children – were held without charge or trial in Khiam Detention Centre in Israeli-occupied South Lebanon (see Lebanon entry). At least 21 of the imprisoned Lebanese nationals were held in administrative detention, including 10 held without charge or trial for up to 12 years. In March the Supreme Court authorized the publication of its November 1997 ruling concerning 10 of these detainees, who were detained administratively after the expiry of their prison sentences. The Supreme Court found it lawful to hold prisoners as "bargaining chips" for exchange with Israeli nationals killed or missing in Lebanon or information concerning them. In May ‘Ali Ahmed Banjak, who had been abducted from Lebanon in 1996, was released after a military appeals court upheld his acquittal of charges of membership of an illegal organization and attacking Israel. In June, 10 prisoners held in Israel and 50 prisoners held in Khiam Detention Centre were released in exchange for the return to Israel of three Israeli soldiers' body parts retained by the Lebanese armed opposition groups Amal and Hizbullah. Among those released was Husayn Mikdad, held in administrative detention in Israel since 1996 as a hostage (see Amnesty International Report 1998).

More than 1,500 Palestinians sentenced in previous years for political offences remained in prison following trials that failed to comply with international fair trial standards. Hundreds of Palestinians were tried before military courts for offences such as membership of illegal organizations and stone-throwing. Confessions extracted through torture frequently formed the main evidence against defendants.

In March Mordechai Vanunu, serving a 17-year prison sentence for treason, was allowed restricted association with other prisoners after spending more than 11 years in solitary confinement (see previous Amnesty International Reports). In May a parole board rejected his application for early release. In September a parole board released 80-year-old Avraham Klingberg to house arrest on health grounds. He had been held since 1983 on charges of spying. Amnesty International had expressed concern about his health (see previous Amnesty International Reports).

Torture and ill-treatment continued to be officially sanctioned and used systematically during interrogation of security detainees. Official secret guidelines allowed the GSS to use "moderate" physical and psychological pressure. The ministerial committee overseeing the GSS continued to extend, for three-month periods, authorization to use "increased physical pressure". GSS officers were allowed to use tiltul (violent shaking) after obtaining permission from the head of the GSS.

In January the High Court of Justice scheduled an unprecedented hearing by nine judges to review the legality of interrogation methods used by the GSS. The Court held two hearings and had not ruled on the petitions by the end of the year. However, the Court continued to reject petitions for injunctions to prevent the GSS from using physical force to interrogate named detainees. For example, the Court twice refused to grant an injunction to prevent the use of torture against ‘Abd al-Rahman Ghanimat, who had been arrested in November 1997. During his interrogation, which lasted for weeks, the GSS forced him for five-day periods to sit on a small slanting chair to which his hands and legs were shackled, with a thick sack over his head. Loud music was played and he was deprived of sleep. ‘Abd al-Rahman Ghanimat complained of dizziness and pain throughout his body.

Palestinians were frequently beaten or otherwise ill-treated at check-points, during demonstrations or immediately after arrest. In September the Israeli police reportedly injured dozens of Palestinian Israelis by beating demonstrators and firing tear gas and rubber bullets as they broke up a sit-in near Umm al-Fahm protesting against government plans to use a plot of land as an IDF training ground. Security forces also beat and ill-treated Jewish protesters. In August the Israeli police reportedly beat ultra-Orthodox Jews repeatedly with clubs during a demonstration in East Jerusalem against a road construction project which the demonstrators claimed would desecrate Jewish graves. In October the Israeli police repeatedly beat student protesters with clubs during a demonstration in Tel Aviv.

Israeli security forces killed at least 20 Palestinian civilians in circumstances suggesting that they may have been extrajudicially executed or otherwise unlawfully killed. In many cases those killed posed no danger to the lives of the security officers. In September the IDF shot dead brothers ‘Imad and ‘Adel ‘Awadallah, allegedly members of the ‘Izz al-Din al-Qassam brigades, the armed wing of Hamas. The killings appeared to be extrajudicial executions. The Israeli government refused to release their bodies and the High Court of Justice imposed restrictions on media reporting of the incident (see Palestinian Authority entry).

Members of the security forces who carried out extrajudicial executions or other unlawful killings almost invariably enjoyed total impunity. In March the Border Police shot dead Ghaleb Musa al-Rajub, ‘Adnan Jibril Abu Zunayd and Muhammad Sharzi al-Sharawneh and injured six other Palestinian men as they approached a check-point in Hebron district. An IDF inquiry concluded that the Border Police officers had believed their lives were in danger, even though the victims were unarmed. The officers were not brought to trial.

In November the Israeli army carried out the punitive destruction of the house of ‘Akram Maswadeh where the IDF killed ‘Imad and ‘Adel ‘Awadallah (see above).

In May Amnesty International submitted its concerns on torture and administrative detention to the UN Committee against Torture. The organization also presented its concerns regarding the  detention of prisoners of conscience, administrative detention, unfair trials, torture, extrajudicial executions and other unlawful killings to the UN Human Rights Committee in July.

In September Amnesty International published a report, Israel/Occupied Territories and the Palestinian Authority: Five years after the Oslo Agreement – human rights sacrificed for "security".

During the year Amnesty International expressed concern to the Israeli authorities that the bill on the GSS would continue to legitimize Israel's systematic use of torture and grant impunity to perpetrators. The organization called for the immediate and unconditional release of all prisoners of conscience. Amnesty International also called for the release of all detainees held as hostages and for other administrative detainees to be released unless promptly charged with recognizably criminal offences and given fair trials in line with international standards. The organization also appealed for an end to extrajudicial executions and other unlawful killings, and recommended prompt and independent investigations into all cases of suspected unlawful killings, including deaths in custody, and for the results to be published.

In an oral statement to the UN Commission on Human Rights in March, Amnesty International stated that Israel had or was in the process of officially sanctioning human rights violations, such as extrajudicial execution of suspected "terrorists", hostage-taking, and the use of torture and ill-treatment, and was denying adequate compensation to victims of human rights abuses.

Amnesty International called on the armed opposition groups Amal, Hamas, Hizbullah and Islamic Jihad to refrain from the deliberate and arbitrary killing of civilians and to respect fundamental principles of humanitarian law.