Israel: Follow-up of case ISR 160210_ISR 160210.VAW_Renewal of the administrative detention order of Ms. Hana Yahya Shalabi and harsh conditions of detention
Case
ISR 160210.1/ ISR 160210.1.VAW
Follow-up
of case ISR 160210/ ISR 160210.VAW
URGENT
CAMPAIGNS/ VIOLENCE AGAINST WOMEN
Renewal of administrative detention against
a Palestinian women/ Harsh detention conditions
The
International Secretariat of the World Organisation Against Torture (OMCT) has received new information and requests your URGENT intervention in the following
situation in Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territories.
New information
The International Secretariat
of OMCT has been informed by a reliable source and
Antenna International, a member of OMCT SOS-Torture Network, about the renewal of the
administrative detention order of Ms. Hana Yahya Shalabi, 27 years old. She
reportedly continues to be detained in harsh conditions of detention at Section 12 of Hasharon Prison, one of Israel’s largest prison
facilities.
According to the information
received, on 12 September 2010, Ms. Hana Yahya Shalabi’s administrative detention order was extended for an
additional six month period. She is now to be held detained, without charge or
trial, until 11 March 2011.
The
International Secretariat of OMCT reiterates its deep concern
about the situation of Ms. Hana
Yahya Shalabi and, in particular, the fact that the procedure under which her
administrative detention has been ordered and prolonged, as well as her
detention conditions, do not meet international human rights standards.
Background
information
OMCT had earlier been informed
about the administrative detention of Ms. Hana Yahya Shalabi. According to the information
received, on 14 September 2009 at approximately 1:30 a.m., Israeli soldiers surrounded Ms. Hana Yahya Shalabi’s family home in Burquin Village, near the West Bank town of Jenin, ordered Ms. Hana Yahya Shalabi’s entire family outside of the house and
demanded Ms. Hana Yahya Shalabi to give them her identity card. During the
search of the house, one soldier reportedly took framed pictures of Ms. Hana Yahya Shalabi’s brother, Samer
[1],
and tore them apart. The soldiers also reportedly shouted and cursed her and
her family, pushed her 63-year-old father with the butt of a rifle, handcuffed and arrested her.
According to the same
information, Ms. Hana Yahya Shalabi was
transferred in a military jeep to Salem Detention Centre, during which her
abaya[2]
came open, uncovering her clothes and parts of her body. At that moment, some
of the soldiers allegedly took pictures of her, knowing she would feel offended
and humiliated. When they arrived to Salem Detention Centre, she was given a
quick physical examination and was then transferred to Kishon Detention Centre
in Israel, where she was interrogated every day from 10:00 am until late hours in the evening
for eight days.
During the interrogation
period, she was allegedly held in solitary confinement in a very dirty cell
measuring six square meters with no windows or natural sunlight. The lack of
natural sunlight caused her to lose all sense of time. She was unable to
monitor time in order to respect her fast in the period of Ramadan, so she decided
not to eat at all, during the entire eight day period. She was allegedly
subjected to sexual harassment and physical violence. During one interrogation
session, one of the Israeli interrogators called her “habibti”(darling) in a
provocative way. Ms. Hana
Yahya Shalabi felt humiliated so she shouted at him. The interrogators
reportedly responded by slapping her and beating her on her arms and hands. The
guards then brought her back to her cell, where she was tied to her bed. They
also took pictures of her in that position.
According to the same
information, after the interrogation period concluded, Ms. Hana Yahya Shalabi
remained at Kishon Detention Centre for nine days (Israeli authorities claimed
for investigation reasons). On 29 September 2009, Israeli Military
Commander Ilan Malka issued a six-month administrative detention order
against Ms. Hana Yahya Shalabi, on the grounds that she posed a threat to
the “security of the area”. The order was set to expire on 28 March 2010. On 5 October 2009, a judicial review of the
order took place at the Court of Administrative Detainees in Ofer Military
Base, near the West Bank city of Ramallah. On that occasion,
the military judge confirmed the order of detention of six months. The judge
based his decision on “secret information”
[3]
made available to him by the military prosecution and claimed that Ms. Hana
Yahya Shalabi was intending to carry out a “terrorist attack”, though he
provided no evidence to support this allegation. Ms. Hana
Yahya Shalabi’s attorneys filed an appeal against her administrative detention
order, but the appeal was refused. As the judge decided this time to count from
the day she was detained, Ms. Hana Yahya Shalabi was expected to be
held detained, without charge or trial, until 13 March 2010. Her attorneys filed an appeal against her
administrative detention order, but the appeal was refused. The order was
subsequently extended for six months, until September 2010.
On 1 October 2009, Ms. Hana
Yahya Shalabi was finally transferred to Section 2 of Hasharon Prison, after
spending 17 days at Kishon Detention Centre, where she was not given once a
change of clean clothes. Due to overcrowding, she was placed in the same sector
as female Israeli criminal offenders, violating the Israeli Prison Service
Regulations
[4] and placing her in a
sector where Palestinian women enjoy fewer recreation hours and are usually
subject of discrimination, humiliation and threats by Israeli prisoners. The
attorney of the Palestinian NGO Addameer subsequently filed a complaint with
the Hasharon Prison administration regarding her detention conditions. On 25 October 2009, after being
held twenty five days among Israeli criminal offenders, she was eventually
transferred to Section 12
[5].
Ms. Hana Yahya Shalabi has been suffering from the harsh detention
conditions and she has complained of overcrowding, humidity, lack of natural
sunlight and adequate ventilation, as well as poor hygiene standards.
According to the same
information, prior to her arrest by
the Israeli authorities, Ms. Hana Yahya Shalabi was arrested and
detained by the Palestinian intelligence forces for a week (she was detained
from 9:00 am to 11:00 pm while being allowed to sleep at home) in 2009 for the
purpose of interrogation.
Background
Information
Israel has been holding
hundreds of persons from the Occupied Palestinian Territories (OPT) in administrative detention. In the occupied Palestinian West Bank, the Israeli army
carries out administrative detention on the basis of Military Order 1651, which
empowers military commanders to detain an individual for up to six months if
they have “reasonable grounds to presume that the security of the area or
public security require the detention.” On or just before the expiry date, the
detention order is also frequently renewed and this process can be continued
indefinitely.
Administrative detention deprives detainees of basic safeguards,
including the right to challenge the evidence on which the detention is based,
warrants are not required, and the detainee may be held in incommunicado
detention for an extended period, subject to renewal.
The United Nations Committee Against Torture has already
expressed concern that administrative detention does not conform with article
16 of the Convention
[6].
This type of indefinite administrative detention, following manifestly unfair
proceedings, can amount to cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment. On the issue
of prison conditions of incarcerated Palestinian women, OMCT and the Public
Committee Against Torture in Israel (PCATI) in a 2005 alternative country report to the United Nations Committee on Elimination of Discrimination against Women
(CEDAW)
, already highlighted that “female Palestinian detainees
and prisoners are often held in poor conditions of detention that are in contravention
of the standards set in Israeli law, international law and the UN Minimum
Standard Rules for the Treatment of Prisoners”. Furthermore,
in a study conducted by Addameer
[7],
it was found that lack of specialized gender sensitive care continues to be a
problem for detainees in Hasharon prison and other places in the Occupied Territories.
OMCT expresses its deep concern about the situation of Ms. Hana Yahya Shalabi and, in particular,
the fact that the procedure under which her administrative detention has been
ordered and prolonged, as well as her detention conditions, do not meet
international human rights standards, including
her right not to be arbitrarily detained as well as her absolute right at all
times not to be subjected to any cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment,
including sexual harassment.
Action requested
Please write to the
authorities in Israel urging them to:
i.
Guarantee, in all circumstances, the physical and
psychological integrity of Ms. Hana Yahya Shalabi;
ii.
Guarantee immediate and unconditional access to all
members of her family and adequate medical care, including the independent
specialized, gender-specific care, that she may require;
iii.
Order her immediate release in the absence of valid
legal charges that are consistent with international legal standards, or, if such
charges exist, bring her promptly before an impartial, independent and
competent tribunal that will ensure due process at all times;
iv.
Carry out a prompt, effective, thorough,
independent and impartial investigation into the reports of ill-treatment,
including sexual harassment, the result of which must be made public, in order
to bring those responsible before a competent, independent and impartial
tribunal and apply penal, civil and/or administrative sanctions as provided by
law;
v.
Guarantee that adequate compensation is awarded to Ms. Hana Yahya Shalabi for the violation
of her human rights;
vi.
At all times ensure strict respect for international
human rights and humanitarian law in the exercise of its jurisdiction, including
in connection with military operations in the Occupied Palestinian Territories.
Addresses
Ø
Mr. Benjamin Netanyahu, Prime Minister,
Office of the Prime Minister, 3, Kaplan Street, PO Box 187, Kiryat Ben-Gurion,
Jerusalem, Israel,
Fax: +972- 2-651 2631,
Email: pm_eng@pmo.gov.il
Ø
Mr. Menachem Mazuz, Attorney General,
Fax: + 972 2 627 4481; + 972 2 628 5438;
+972 2 530 3367
Ø
Brigadier General Avihai Mandelblit, Military Judge
Advocate General, 6 David Elazar Street, Hakirya, Tel Aviv, Israel,
Fax: +972 3 608 0366, +972 3 569
4526, Email: arbel@mail.idf.il, avimn@idf.gov.il
Ø
Permanent Mission
of Israel to the United Nations Office and Specialized Institutions in Geneva,
Avenue de la Paix 1-3, 1202 Geneva, Fax:
+41 22 716 05 55, Email: mission-israel@geneva.mfa.gov.il
Please also write to the
embassies of Israel in your respective
country.
***
Geneva,16 December 2010
Kindly inform us of any action undertaken quoting the code of this appeal in your reply.
[1] He was reportedly killed by the Israeli army on 29 September 2005 during an incursion in
the village.
[2] Traditional Muslim
religious dress covering the entire body worn by women over home clothes.
[3] Neither lawyers nor detainees are permitted to
see the “secret information” used as a basis for the detention orders,
rendering any possible legal defence meaningless.
[4] Administrative detainees are to be held
separately from all other detainees and prisoners, including those who have
been convicted of a crime.
[5] Building which now constitutes the prison complex served as the headquarters of
the British Mounted Police during the British Mandate in Palestine and, as such, was never designed for the
incarceration of women.
[6] CAT/C/ISR/CO/4, para 17.
[7] In
Need of Protection. Palestinian Prisoners in Israeli Detention. http://www.aseerat.ps/files