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EU HUMAN RIGHTS WATCH: 16 .JUNE - 15 OCTOBER 1999
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
The new government of Israel which has been in power since July 1999, is currently reviewing Israeli legislation and practice in the field of human rights. The ruling of the Israeli Supreme Court against the use of so-called '"moderate physical pressure" has contributed to this development. It remains to be seen whether this will translate into improvements of the human rights situation on the ground.
On 6 September the Israeli Supreme Court ruled that various forms of interrogation methods (including hooding, shackling, sleep deprivation and the placing of detainees in painful positions for several hours at a time) are illegal. (Previous to the 6 September ruling, within the period under review, these methods were used against Palestinian prisoners of the Israeli security service, the GSS). The Supreme Court further ruled that there is no legal basis for applying physical pressure on suspects. To date the ruling has been observed, although there are legislative efforts to legalize "physical pressure" in certain circumstances. The Israeli Minister of Justice has declared his opposition to any legislative initiative which would enable interrogators to apply "physical pressure" on detainees.
The number of Palestinians who died at the hands of the Israeli security forces was during this period, as in the last, extremely low: only one death was reported. It is not obvious that this resulted from any change in the Israeli security forces' policy towards the use of lethal force, rather than from the absence of serious unrest among Palestinians.
On 17 October the Israeli Minister of the Interior announced that the Israeli government would no longer demand proof of seven years of residency in Jerusalem for Palestinians to receive the right to continue living and working there. They will be expected instead to demonstrate an appropriate link with the city. This change of policy has not yet been put into effect. It is unclear what will constitute an appropriate link with Jerusalem. No such restriction applies to Israeli residents of East or West Jerusalem.
Eight Palestinian houses were demolished by the Israeli authorities for lack of building permission. The lower number of demolitions appears to mark a welcome change in the Israeli government's policy on demolitions. No changes however have been made in the system by which building permission is granted and refused, and which makes permission extremely difficult and expensive to acquire. Meanwhile housing units for Israelis continued to be built on land in the Occupied Territories confiscated from Palestinians: further details are provided in the separate Settlements Watch.
Closure was imposed on the Occupied Territories for 6 days during this period, as a precaution against terrorist attacks during Jewish holidays. Safe passage between Gaza and the West Bank, whose southern route was opened on 25 October, has increased two-way access for Palestinians between the two regions, with 15,000 permits issued so far.
The number of Palestinian administrative detainees held in Israeli prisons without trial has decreased from 72 to 20 during the period in question. The Israeli Justice Minister has indicated that he favors allowing the state of emergency, which has existed in Israel since 1948, to lapse, which would imply discontinuing the use of administrative detention. The number of Lebanese administrative detainees remains unchanged at 21.
II CONDUCT OF THE PALESTINIAN AUTHORITY
The Palestinians cannot ratify international human rights instruments, such as the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights or the Convention Against Torture, as Palestine is not an independent state, and the Palestinian Authority (PA) is forbidden by the terms of the Oslo Agreement from doing so. But we recall that:
The situation in the areas under full control of the PA continues to fall short of required human rights standards.
Torture is frequent in Palestinian prisons and detention centers.
At least two hundred people continue in detention without trial, a large number of whom have been detained for over a year. Persons accused of tax evasion and fraud have again been tried in
State Security Courts during this period.
No death sentences were carried out during this period, although one was passed.
A journalist, Maher AI-Dasouqi, was detained in September for over two weeks, charged with possession of material inciting against the Palestinian Authority. Dr Iyad al-Saaaj, director of the Gaza Community Mental Health Programme, was summoned for questioning in August after writing an article critical of the Authority for the magazine of a human rights group.
Detainees whose release has been ordered by the Palestinian Supreme Court remain in many cases still in detention. An Attorney General (Zuheir al Sourani) has been appointed but no Supreme Judicial Council has been set up; instead responsibility for supervision of judges in Gaza was given to the President of the Gaza High Court of Justice.
Democratic municipal elections remain overdue. The Basic Law, which would enshrine democratic norms and human rights standards in law, has not yet been ratified by Yasser Arafat although work continues on drafting of a Palestinian constitution.
A report issued by a taskforce sponsored by the US non-governmental organization the Council on Foreign Relations in July praised certain aspects of the Palestinian Authority's performance, while proposing, among other recommendations:
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