civilian or military?

What are your rights as an Israeli, Palestinian or International in the Palestinian territories?

There is no simple answer to these questions. Today I attended a lengthy training conducted by the Public Committee Against Torture in Israel (PCATI) about some of the legal issues that we, as internationals, should be aware of and I hoped to find answers. There are some rights, yes, but observance of these rights, or enforcement of laws for that matter, remains an ongoing issue, particularly if you are a Palestinian.

There are two legal systems to in Israel and the Palestinian territories, civilian law – which applies to Israeli’s (regardless of whether their physical residence is in Israel or the Palestinian territories), internationals like myself, temporary residents and settlers, and military justice, which applies to Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza. The differences that I note are frightening. I will not get into all the details here but just briefly: there are drastic differences in the length of time someone can be held without charge or trial, in administrative detention, often based on secret evidence of a nature relating to national security – sound familiar? There are currently 8-900 Palestinians under administrative detention.

Palestinians are rarely told that they have the right to remain silent (though this is required by military law) and the instructions that what they say may be used against them are never given. Torture, increasingly psychological in nature, is used routinely to elicit confessions or statements, upon which a charge will then be laid and become the basis for a conviction. Between 95-97% of confessions lead to convictions and it’s believed by legal rights groups that over 90% of confessions are obtained through the use of torture.

Military court, like Israeli civilian court, is conducted in Hebrew. Few Palestinians can afford representation. When they can, finding someone who speaks Hebrew is extremely difficult. Understanding the hearings or charges against them, unlikely as interpretation is not provided.

A suggestion by another NGO at the training was to create ‘know your rights’ cards to hand out or have available. While the lawyers present said this wasn’t a bad idea, the difficulty with someone then maintaining his right to remain silent or refusal to sign a statement, would likely lead to an increased probability of torture or torture being prolonged. What’s the detainee to do? The problem is much bigger than a few well meaning NGOs can take on.
Another issue of significant concern is minors. Under civilian law you are considered a minor under the age of 18. In military law, a minor is under the age of 16. The military system does not have a separate juvenile court and juveniles are detained with adults. Children under 12 are not to be held in detention, yet frequently they are (keep in mind that most of this applies primarily to boys). Parents or guardians are required to be present for any official interaction under the Israeli law, yet this does not apply to Palestinians under military law and the boys are for all intensive purposes on their own. If convicted, a Palestinian minor is transferred to a juvenile facility within Israel, where, due to the permit system, family members can only visit through special arrangement of the Red Cross and subject to security clearance required to enter Israel. Due to the current situation in Gaza and with Lebanon visitation has been suspended for Palestinians. Families, in addition to visiting their children, are also the sole suppliers of hygiene items, underclothing and other basic necessities.