 PCATI actions for the protection of human rights during the war in Gaza
| During the last days of 2008 and beginning of 2009, the war in Gaza forced PCATI, as well as other human rights organizations in Israel, to confront the severe and widespread harm done to civilians and the fact that most of the Israeli media refrained from raising and debating this issue. Operation "Cast Lead" brought about intense joint actions by human rights organizations in Israel. PCATI together with a number of other human rights organizations published a prominent advert in the "Ha'aretz" newspaper stating "Civilians are not Canon Fodder. Not in Gaza. Not in Sderot". PCATI in cooperation with the Social TV disseminated this ad to a large number of people together with the film "The Laws of War", and an on-line campaign, which included the film with Arabic, Russian and English subtitles gaining extensive exposure in the "Ha'aretz" website during the war. We also took part in a joint campaign with other organizations which was publicized during the war on the Y-Net news website. Tens of thousands accessed the banners reaching the message of the organizations and a daily blog in Hebrew and English that included daily updates on harm to civilians and civilian infrastructure in Gaza and southern Israel and on the organizations' actions relating to these.
We were partners to the submission of two petitions that were filed to the High Court of Justice during the first days of the war. One against the attacks on medical staffs in the Gaza Strip and the prevention of the provision of medical care to the wounded, and the second demanding that action be taken to put a stop to the collapse of the vital civilian infrastructure in Gaza. Both petitions were later rejected by the Court. Because the media in Israel did not engage in genuine debate on the severe harm suffered by civilians, a group of eight organizations appealed to television, radio, press and internet news editors, admonishing them for their virtual failure to give the public vital information and access to critical voices and that, in fact, the Israeli media is derelict in its duty to the public. Later, on 14 January, a group of nine human rights organizations, including PCATI, held a press conference in Jerusalem where we appealed to the Prime minister, the Minister of Defense, high ranking military officers and the Attorney General and warned of the clear and present danger to the lives and welfare of tens of thousands of civilians in the Gaza Strip and the collapse of basic civilian infrastructure. The press conference was widely covered in the local and the international press. Later on, the organizations appealed to the attorney General demanding the establishment of an independent body that will investigate the killing and injury of civilians during the war in Gaza where a well grounded suspicion exists that violations of the laws of war by the Israeli army had taken place. In addition, at the beginning of February, we joined other organizations in the publication of a series of three large ads in the "Ha'aretz" newspaper (Hebrew edition) stating "If there's nothing to hide, why not investigate? Take responsibility. Investigate the events in Gaza now". | Protection of Gaza detainees It was clear, from the beginning of "Cast Lead" operation, that PCATI must take action to protect the basic rights of Palestinians detained by Israel in Gaza. We had to take steps to ensure that they were held in appropriate conditions and not subjected to torture and ill treatment. We appealed (together with ACRI and three other organizations) to the military Judge Advocate General, demanding to receive detailed information on the condition of the detainees that were arrested during the war and the moment it became possible, PCATI attorneys began meeting with the detainees held in Israel in order to collect sworn affidavits. The testimonies of the detainees, and those of persons who were released in the course of the war, reveal a harsh picture according to which Israel held many of the detainees in harsh and degrading conditions that endangered their lives and health. PCATI together with six other human rights organizations wrote to the Attorney General demanding an independent, impartial and comprehensive investigation that will ensure that this sort of treatment of detainees will not be repeated. | Following international pressure, the Israel Medical Association decided to investigate the involvement of physicians in the torture of detainees Following international pressure, the Israel Medical Association (IMA) decided to investigate allegations of the involvement of physicians in the torture and ill treatment of Palestinian detainees and the fact that these cases were not reported. At the IMA request, PCATI and Physicians for Human Rights (PHR) sent a number of individual complaints relating to this issue. These were cases that were documented in PCATI's May 2007 report "Ticking Bombs". A prominent story on this decision was published in the Y-NET news website (in Hebrew). | Following actions by PCATI and Physicians for Human Rights (PHR), the Israel Prison Service published an order concerning the binding of hospitalized detainees and prisoners Following actions undertaken by PCATI and PHR, including a Freedom of Information petition filed by PCATI, the Israel Prison service for the first time published an order that sets regulations concerning the binding of prisoners and detainees in public places, including hospitals. PCATI's involvement with this issue began with a complaint we received in November 2007 concerning Mohammad Ashkar, a prisoner who lay dying at the Soroka Hospital in Beer Sheba while bound to his bed. Mr. Ashkar was shot by prison wardens during a violent prison confrontation at the Ketziot prison. He was bound to his hospital bed although he was unconscious, and obviously presented no danger to any person and was in no position to escape. Following this case, PCATI and PHR demanded that the Minister of Internal Security and the Israel Prison Service formalize regulations concerning the binding of detainees and prisoners during medical treatment outside prison facilities. This led to the publication, in November 2008, of a new Israel Prison Service order (no. 04.15.01) that for the first time clearly defines what is permissible and what is forbidden regarding the binding of detainees and prisoners in public places, including medical facilities and hospitals. The new order is a step forward because, contrary to previous situations, when the only option was binding each and every hospitalized detainee or prisoner, each case today is considered and handled on an individual basis. However, this change is still not applicable to hospitalized Palestinian detainees to whom the change does not apply and remain shackled to this day. | The High Court of Justice criticizes a law that violates the rights of security suspects On 14 January 2009, a hearing was held at the High Court of Justice before an expanded panel of 9 justices presided over by Chief Justice Dorit Beinich on the petition filed by PCATI, the Association for Civil Rights in Israel (ACRI) and Adalah concerning the legality of the law on the detention of security suspect.
During the 5-hour hearing, the Justices criticized various aspects of the law which allows such persons to be held for 21 days without any judicial oversight, but for one hearing and this only after 4 days of interrogation. The law also permits their detention to be extended in the detainee's absence and allows the interrogators to withhold such information from the detainee. The State argued that it has classified material that clarifies the purpose of the law and that it insists that this material be brought before the Court ex parte, not in the presence of the petitioners. The petitioners opposed this request, arguing that the materials in question relate to the core issue of the constitutionality and purpose of the law, which the State also admits violates detainee’s rights. Another hearing on the petition is scheduled for 24 March 2009. | PCATI's Freedom of Information petition partially upheld On 25 February 2009, the Jerusalem District Court held a hearing on the Freedom of Information petition that was filed by PCATI and the Movement for Freedom of Information demanding to receive detailed information concerning the treatment of complaints filed by GSS interrogees. At the end of the hearing the judge, Noam Solberg, ordered the Ministry of Justice to give PCATI some of the requested information in addition to the information that we had already received following the submission of the petition. On the other hand, the judge, who heard the state's arguments that were given ex parte, decided not to intervene in the State's refusal to reveal information concerning the number of complaints that were closed on the basis of the "necessity defense". | |
| Film and Human Rights | In the past two months we have expanded the Film and Human Rights activities we are holding under the title of "Bad Things Happen when Good People Keep Silent". A Second educational film series now being held in Jerusalem Following the success of PCATI's first film and human rights series, a second 4-part film series is being held at the Kerem Institute, 7 Avida Street, Jerusalem, once a month on Friday, at 10:00-13:00. At the beginning of each session a background talk is given on the subject matter followed by the film and a discussion on the film itself, led by Tali Zilberstein, a university lecturer on cinema. The first two meetings screened the film " North Country" preceded by an introductory lecture by Roni Ben Canaan from the Jerusalem Rape Crisis Center, and the film " Walkout" preceded by a lecture by Moshe Shriki, former principle of the Kedma School in Jerusalem. The two next meetings will be held on 13 March and on 3 April. For additional details and registration please contact:
Yoav Loeff
Tel: 02-6429825, extension 117
Mobile: 054-3368434 Expanding activities PCATI has expanded its public film activities and we are now holding these for both adults and youths in formal and informal frameworks. We have begun a series of meetings at various schools in Jerusalem, at the community center in the Dora neighborhood of Netanya and with a group of adults in Jerusalem's Kiryat Yovel neighborhood led by the " Mahapach-Taghir" organization. Each meeting combines the screening of a film and a discussion on the issues it raises. We expect this activity to continue and to grow in the coming months. | The Law of Occupation: Third film in a PCATI - Social TV joint project You are invited to view the third film in the joint PCATI - Social TV series on International Humanitarian Law (IHL). The film (in Hebrew) focuses on the laws of occupation. The two films previously shown centered on the protection of civilians and the laws of war (with English, Arabic and Russian subtitles). The fourth film will focus on torture. An additional series of films will present a critical look at the way that the official and commercial media reports on events in the Occupied Territories. The programs may be viewed on PCATI's website, the Social TV website, on websites of other social change organizations and on video sharing websites. They are also being broadcasted on the community TV station "Mi'Ka'n", channel 98 on cable and satellite. | Additional updates | In February 2009, PCATI took part in a meeting of human rights organizations with Mr. Karel Schwarzenberg, the Minister of Foreign Affairs of the current presidency of the European Union, the Czech Republic. Issues raised at the meeting, that was held in Prague, included violations of human rights and of international law during the operation "Cast Lead" in Gaza and in Southern Israel. Participants included Dr. Ishai Menuchin, Executive Director of PCATI, Mohammad Zeidan, Director of The Arab Association for Human Rights, Maysa Zorob, Legal Researcher at Al Haq, and representatives of the Euro-Mediterranean Human Rights Network that organized the meeting. Mission participants raised the need to investigate war crimes and other violations of international humanitarian law allegedly committed by all parties during the Gaza operation and the demand that the European Union set human rights criteria in its negotiations on the upgrading of Israel's relationship with the European Union. | PCATI letter to President Barack Obama In February, PCATI wrote a letter to US President Barack Obama welcoming his decision to close the Guantanamo detention facility and the secret CIA detention centers and to put an end to the use of torture by US security agencies. In the letter, PCATI's Executive Director, Dr. Ishai Menuchin, expressed his hope that the government that will be formed in Israel will take similar steps concerning the interrogation methods of the GSS (General Security Service) in Israel and the Occupied Territories. | Rabbis for Human Rights grant Human Rights Award to Hannah Friedman Shomrei Mishpat - Rabbis for Human Rights granted its Human Rights Award to Hannah Friedman, one of the founders of PCATI and its Executive Director for many years. Hannah Friedman received the award, along with other recipients, at a festive event held in Maaleh Ha'hamisha in January that commemorated the 20th anniversary of the founding of Rabbis for Human Rights. | Additional public events In addition to the above activities, we continued to meet with the public in a variety of other frameworks. These included lectures to Hebrew University students from Israel and abroad on PCATI's activities and participation in a public discussion on torture in Israel before a large audience which came to see Ram Loevy's film "The Film that was not" that was screened at the Tel Aviv University. | Community supported Fair Trade Partnership We are proud to present Community Supported Fair Trade Partnership, a joint venture of Fair Trade/Green Action and the Public Committee Against Torture in Israel. PCATI joined this project in order to advance the Fair Trade's activity in Israel and Palestine and to generate an additional source of income for PCATI. All of the Fair Trade products come from small collectives of producers and growers in Israel and Palestine.
The Fair Trade label assures that the farmers and producers receive a fair price for their products and that they work under appropriate conditions. It also assures community support and new opportunities for farmers and their families. Products available include olive oil, spices and coffee.
Additional information is available on www.fairtrade.org.il/pcati
For orders or further details please contact us at PCATI@fairtrade.org.il |
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