Study: Israel's Secret Prisons: Terrorism at Large
- Published on Wednesday, 17 April 2013 11:30
- Source
PNN
The successive Israeli occupation
governments adopted arbitrary policies after the occupation of theWest Bank and
the Gaza Strip in 1967. Prisons and detention centers are used
to crush Palestinians spiritually and psychologically. Those prisons werecrowded
with tens of thousands of Palestinians including children, elders and women.
Some estimate the number of Palestinians arrested by Israel since 67 is around 750,000, including 12,000 women and tens of thousands of
children.
Prisons, built first by the British
Mandate of Palestine, are used by Israel to crush Palestinians. Moshe Dayan,
Israel's former Minister of Defense wanted to use these prisons to destroy
Palestinians and separate them from the rest of the world. Detention centers
were equipped with all needed equipments and facilities to achieve this inhumane
goal.
Transferring detained people from the
occupied territory to the land of the occupying power is illegal under
international law. The Israeli occupation is accused of running secret prisons
away from the eyes of the world in which certain people are held. The occupation
is also accused of conducting medical tests on prisoners.
The execution or the suicide of Ben
Zygier, also know as Prisoner X, raised the issue of Arab and Palestinian
prisoners in Israel's secret prisons. For decades, Palestinians and human rights
organizations have been talking about Israel's secret prisons. Some of these
prisons belonged to the British Mandate of Palestine and others were later
built.
Secret prisoners are considered a
violation of international law which asks for certain standards to be met in
regard to prisons' conditions. This requires exposing these prisons and making
them face worldwide public opinion, so the international community can
understand why they are considered war crimes.
Israel's secret
prisons
Israel built 28 detention and
interrogation centers. In addition, it built secret prisons to serve as
"graveyards for the livings" in which all international norms and rules are
broken, and all forms of torture are practiced with no attempt whatsoever to
follow international law.
Prisoners held in these secret prisons
are called "Prisoner X". Prisoner X is defined as the person who was kidnapped
or disappeared from his/her residency area without informing his/her families or
human rights organizations of the places they are being held or the charges that
they are facing.
Some prisoners released from these secret
prisons spoke of brutality and torture. They were held in 2-square-meter cells
run by 504 Unit, which is assigned to practice all forms of torture. Israel's
Supreme Court’s decision declined the closure of the 1391 secret prison.
Missing prisoners
"May God let me see my son Majed soon,"
these were the words of Ahmed Alzuboun, moments before his death. Ahmed Alzuboun
is the father of Majed Alzuboun, who has been missing for 21 years now after he
tried to cross the Jordan-Palestine borders. It's not known whether he is alive
or dead.
The death of the Alzuboun, the father,
re-opened thecases of the 20 missing Jordanians, whose names
are recorded in the National Jordanian Committee to support prisoners and the
missing in the occupation jails.
Hundreds of Arab prisoners went missing.
They are either imprisoned in Israel's secret prisons or were shot dead, then
buried in Israel's "Numbers Graveyards".
Israeli and international media
sources revealed four numbers graveyards:
1- Banat Jacob (daughters of Jacob)
graveyard next to the Israel-Lebanon-Syria borders. Some estimate the number of
people buried there around is 500. Most of them were killed in the 1982 war and
afterward.
2- The numbers graveyard which is
located in the military zone between Jericho and Damiah bridge. It's surrounded
by a wall that has an iron gate with a banner which reads "Graveyard for the
Enemies' Victims". 100 graveyards are there which carry numbers from
5003-5107.
3- Refeem Graveyard in the Jordan
Valley.
4- Shiheta Graveyard next to the Sea of
Galilee. The people buried there were killed between 1965 and 1975. What is most
provocative is that these graves are not dug deeply enough to protect the bodies
of the dead from animals looking for something to eat.
According to the above mentioned facts,
there is a relation between numbers graveyards and missing prisoners. They might
have been killed and their organs have been stolen.
No one can tell the number of these
secret prisons. A number of people were kidnapped and Israel claimed it killed
them without handing their bodies to their families or providing an evidence of
their death. Examples of these are Adel and Imad awadallah (Palestine), Mohammed
Atiah, Majed Alzuboun, and Laith Alkilani (Jordan) and Yehia Skaf (Lebanon).
Some freed prisoners mentioned names of
these secret prisons such as "Barack", "Sarafand", "1901" and "Itileet".
Jonthan Cook of the Counterpunch says
"Facility 1391, close to the Green Line, the pre-1967 border between Israel and
the West Bank, is different. It is not marked on maps, it has been erased from
aerial photographs and recently its numbered signpost was removed. Censors have
excised all mention of its location from the Israeli media, with the government
saying that secrecy is essential to "prevent harm to the country’s security".
According to lawyers, foreign journalists divulging information risk being
expelled from Israel. But, despite government attempts to impose a news
blackout, information about more than a decade of horrific events at Facility
1391 are beginning to leak out. As a newspaper described it, Facility 1391 is
"Israel’s Guantanamo".
In 2003 interview, Ariel Sharon, Israel's
former Prime Minister said "Israel is committed to release all Jewish captives.
I have been handling this profile for the last 50 years. When I was in the
paratrooper units, we used to kidnap Jordanian soldiers for future swap deals".
It's known that Jordan never reached a prisoners swap deal with Israel. The
question is, where are these Jordanian prisoners?
In the same year, the debate about the
killing of Nachshon Waxman, an Israeli soldier killed as IOF tried to release
him from his Hamas captors who wanted to exchange him for Palestinian prisoners.
An Israeli officer said in an interview "My unit was assigned to release Waxman.
We would have managed to get him the same as we did with Imad and Adel
Awadallah". This means Imad and Adel Awadallah were not killed as Israel
claimed.
Torture in secret
prisons
Torture varies in Israel's secret prisons
from psychological and physical torture, chaining prisoners and banning them
from going to the rest room and tying them to chairs for a long time. Banning
prisoners from sleeping and pouring cold water on them, threatening them of
rape, stripping them kicking them, and asking them to stand for a long time.
Prisoners are told that they are held "on the moon" so that they have no option
but to confess.
Military courts
X prisoners are put to
trail in military courts where the whereabouts of their trials are kept secret.
They are brought to the house of the judge when possible; otherwise, the judge
comes to the court himself. The proceedings and hearings are kept secret. An
officer writes them down on a laptop that is connected to the court's
network.
1391 secret prison
According to prisoners released from this
prison, the 1391 secret prison was built during the British Mandate of Palestine
in the center of Palestine. It was used later by Israel as a secret prison.
Conditions in this prison are not like any other prison. Prisoners are kept
individually in very small cells. The prison is surrounded by watch towers,
wires and trees.
The international community needs to take
action, otherwise those forgotten prisoners will die and be given new numbers in
Israel's notorious numbers graveyards.
Read Richard Falk's review of CPDS's the prisoners'
diaries on Alahram Weekly here.
The
study was originally published in Arabic by Alzaytouna
Center for Studies and Consultations, Lebanon.
Translated by Center for
Political and Development Studies, Palestine
No comments:
Post a Comment