Israel and the OPTs

Although we welcomed the steps that Israel and the Palestinian Authority took to protect human rights during 2011, the situation in Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territories (OPTs) continued to be of concern to the UK. Our particular concerns included Israeli demolitions and evictions of Palestinians in East Jerusalem and the West Bank; the human rights effects of restrictions on Gaza; the increase in the number of attacks by extremist Israeli settlers; the treatment of Palestinian suspects within the Israel justice system; the high proportion of civilian casualties and fatalities resulting from Israeli airstrikes on Gaza; an increase in indiscriminate rocket fire from Gaza; reports of human rights abuse under the de facto Hamas rule in Gaza, including the imposition of the death penalty; and the allegations of abuse of detainees in Palestinian Authority prisons.

Many of our concerns about the human rights situation stem from Israel’s occupation of Palestinian territories. The Minister for the Middle East Alistair Burt raised our worries during his visits to Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territories in January and July. He made clear the need to make urgent progress on a two-state solution to the Israeli–Palestinian conflict before the window to such a solution closes. We will take every opportunity to help promote peace. Our goal is a secure, universally recognised Israel living alongside a sovereign and viable Palestinian state, based on the 1967 borders, with Jerusalem the future capital of both states, and a fair settlement for refugees. The specifics of these should be agreed by both sides through negotiations.

Compared to Israel, East Jerusalem or the West Bank, it is comparatively more difficult to acquire reliable information on human rights in Gaza; however, we remain deeply concerned about reports of human rights abuses under the de facto Hamas rule in Gaza, including arbitrary detention, restrictions on religious freedoms for non-Muslims and the use of the death penalty. Palestinian human rights NGOs reported that senior judicial positions in Gazan courts were filled by political appointment by the de facto Hamas government, calling into question the independence of the judiciary in Gaza. In addition, there were reports of the mistreatment of detainees during interrogation, leading to doubts about reliability of evidence. Civil society organisations have difficulty operating due to the requirement for prior approval of all marches, demonstrations and private meetings by the de facto Hamas authorities. We are concerned at the ongoing threat to Israel’s civilian population of indiscriminate rocket fire from Gaza.

Whilst the overall human rights situation in Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territories has not improved, and has in some cases worsened, there have been some limited positive developments. The UK welcomed the government of Israel’s decision to raise the age of legal majority for Palestinian children in the Israeli military justice system. The UK welcomed the release on 18 October, as part of a deal between Israel and Hamas, of Gilad Shalit, who had been held by Hamas without access to the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) or contact with his family for over five years.

We welcomed Prime Minister Netanyahu’s decision to suspend discussion of proposed legislation to limit foreign funding of NGOs. This legislation would have a serious impact on projects funded from the UK and elsewhere to support universal human rights and values and would be seen as undermining the democratic principles upon which the Israeli state is founded.

In 2012, we will continue to focus on the treatment of Palestinian prisoners in Israeli prisons, including human rights defenders; the increase in internal oppression in Gaza under Hamas rule; settlement expansion and violence; demolitions and evictions; the status of Israel’s Arab minority; as well as the integration of human rights training into the “professionalisation” of the Palestinian security forces.

Freedom of expression and assembly
We remain concerned about the policing of peaceful demonstrations in the West Bank, which often involves using tear gas and rubber-coated bullets. Palestinian protester Mustafa Tamimi was killed on 9 December during a non-violent protest in the West Bank village of Nabi Saleh. A number of injuries have also been reported recently through the firing of high-velocity tear gas canisters directly at demonstrators. Following a visit by Foreign Office Minister Alistair Burt to Nabi Saleh in June, we raised our concerns with the Israeli Ministry of Defence and have subsequently called for a full investigation into the death of Mr Tamimi.

A cousin of Mustafa Tamimi, Basem, is still in prison while his trial continues for allegedly inciting protests in the same village. The EU, including the UK, is concerned that Basem’s arrest was intended to put pressure on the non-violent protest movement, and has designated him a human rights defender. We have concerns about the way the evidence was gathered, including the testimony of two children who did not have a lawyer or parent present during a long interrogation. On 28 November, the British consul-general attended Basem’s trial with his German, French and Spanish counterparts.

Access to justice and the rule of law
We remain concerned over the subjection of all Palestinians (except East Jerusalem residents) to the Israeli military court system, irrespective of the charge. In contrast, Israeli settlers who commit violence against Palestinians and their land have been dealt with by Israel’s civil justice system. In December, the Israeli government announced that it would try in military courts extremist settlers responsible for violence. We welcome this development, which will provide a more even-handed approach.

Concerns persist about the widespread use of administrative detention by the Israeli authorities, which, according to international law, should be used only when security makes this absolutely necessary, and as a preventive rather than a punitive measure. According to the NGO B’Tselem, 2011 saw an increase in the number of Palestinians in Israeli administrative detention, with 283 detained without charge by the end of November.

Cases heard before the military court system are frequently based on secret evidence not made available to detainees and their lawyers. Many convictions are based on confessions – either from the defendants themselves seeking a shorter sentence under plea bargaining or from the evidence of minors also facing detention. The Israeli NGO Yesh Din reported that more than 95% of convictions in military courts are plea bargains based on confession through interrogation. Access to lawyers is often restricted, with many lawyers not being able to meet their clients until they see them in the courtroom. Our officials continued to attend military court hearings in 2011 as part of an EU rotating team monitoring cases of Palestinians identified as human rights defenders.

To improve access to justice within the Israeli judicial system, the UK has contributed to the translation of military laws into Arabic, training of Palestinian lawyers on Israeli military law, and access to Palestinian lawyers for prisoners.

We continue to be concerned by instances where Palestinians have been killed or wounded by Israeli security forces. For example, in 2011, a 67-year-old Palestinian man was shot by the Israeli Defence Force (IDF) during an operation in the West Bank to arrest members of Hamas. While the IDF held an internal operational inquiry into this and similar incidents, no independent investigations have been opened into any of these deaths. We urged Israel to ensure that all cases where Palestinians are killed by Israeli security forces are investigated openly and transparently.

Since the formation of the Palestinian Authority, we have had concerns that Palestinian civilians were being brought before Palestinian military courts rather than the civilian criminal justice system. Progress occurred in January, when the General Intelligence Agency announced that it would stop bringing civilians before the military courts. This was followed by a transfer of several hundred cases from the military prosecution to its civilian counterpart. While it is difficult to get a clear overview of the current situation, it appears that the change in practice is holding and civilians are no longer ending up in the military courts. We will continue to monitor the implementation of this decision and make direct representations to the Palestinian Authority if necessary.

Death penalty
Israel does not practise the death penalty. While the Palestinian Authority penal code permits its use, a moratorium has been in place since the end of 2009 after President Abbas undertook not to ratify any death penalty sentences. The Palestinian Ministry of Justice, working closely with Palestinian legal and human rights NGOs, is working on a new penal code. The current draft abolishes the death penalty. The new penal code would need to be ratified by presidential decree to become law.

In 2011, three people were executed by the de facto Hamas government in Gaza and others remain on death row. We made clear our opposition to the imposition of the death penalty in Gaza through an EU local missions statement issued on 27 July.

Torture
There are continued allegations of mistreatment of Palestinian detainees during arrest and in Israeli prisons and detention centres. A joint report produced by Israeli NGOs Hamoked and B’Tselem detailed testimonies from 121 prisoners held in Petah Tikva prison who reported being held in poor conditions, denied basic hygiene and in some cases deprived of sleep for long periods. Some 56% reported being threatened by interrogators, including with violence. Since 2001, Hamoked have submitted 645 complaints to the Israeli Ministry of Justice, but none has led to a criminal investigation. In 2011, Palestinians from the West Bank were routinely detained in prisons inside Israel or on the Israeli side of the separation barrier, in contravention of the Fourth Geneva Convention. Wives of security prisoners are not entitled to apply for a permit to enter Israel, so are unable to make prison visits. In addition, security prisoners are not allowed to receive letters or phone calls from home. We have raised our concerns about the treatment of Palestinian detainees with the Israel authorities, including the minister of justice.

Palestinian and international NGOs, including Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International, have made detailed allegations of mistreatment of detainees by the Palestinian Authority security forces. Most allegations refer to physical abuse and the use of stress positions and other coercive interrogation techniques. We take such allegations extremely seriously. In all cases of detention, we called on the authorities to take immediate action to ensure that due process was adhered to, that all cases were reviewed by a court in accordance with fair procedures and that detainees’ rights were upheld.

In 2011, the UK funded training for Palestinian security forces to improve their professionalism and adherence to international human rights standards. We helped to deliver leadership courses, including International Committee of the Red Cross human rights training, to senior and intermediate Palestinian Authority security forces. We provided funding to the Independent Commission for Human Rights Palestine section to monitor Palestinian places of detention and provide guidance on improving standards to internationally recognised levels.

Conflict and protection of civilians
The ongoing Israeli–Palestinian conflict and the occupation of Palestinian territory remained the chief source of human rights violations and abuses. This included violence by extremist Israeli settlers; demolitions and evictions by the Israeli authorities; movement and access restrictions, including those associated with the Israeli separation barrier; rocket and missile fire; and hostage-taking.

We were concerned at violent attacks by extremists among the Israeli settler population in the West Bank and East Jerusalem against Palestinians and their property in 2011. We saw an increase in the number of so-called “price tag” attacks – a reaction by some extremist settlers to Israeli government policies that they see as against their interests – including vandalism of Muslim and Christian cemeteries in Jaffa, hate graffiti on the homes and offices of Peace Now activists, and arson attacks on mosques. We have condemned these incidents; Mr Burt described the “intentionally provocative attack” on a mosque in Tuba Zangria, northern Israel as “appalling”. We have welcomed the Israeli government’s statements that it is determined to deal with the perpetrators of these attacks and bring them to justice. By the end of 2011, several arrests had been made, with some recent cases resulting in convictions. Investigations are ongoing for other cases.

We condemned the murder, in March, of five members of the Fogel family, including three children – one a baby – after they were stabbed to death in their home in the Israeli settlement of Itamar in the West Bank. The Foreign Secretary called this “an act of incomprehensible cruelty and brutality”.

Also concerning were what appeared to be a sharp increase in the level of demolitions of and evictions from Palestinian homes and public buildings, including schools, in Area C – the Palestinian territory under Israeli military and civilian control. House demolitions and evictions in the Occupied Palestinian Territories are, in all but the most limited circumstances, in breach of Article 53 of the Fourth Geneva Convention.

According to UN statistics, 515 structures were demolished in 2011. Between 700 and 1,000 people were displaced in the West Bank, surpassing the number displaced during 2010 (594 people). The UN estimated that by the end of the year there were more than 3,000 demolition orders outstanding in Area C, including 18 issued to schools. On average, only 4% of building permits requested by Palestinians for Area C were approved. All of these were given for construction in heavily built-up Arab areas, encouraging the movement of Palestinians from open areas to small urban enclaves. In contrast, since 2001 (according to Israeli NGO Peace Now), over 18,000 housing units were built in Israeli settlements. In 2011, we provided £1.3 million to the Norwegian Refugee Council legal aid programme to support Palestinians facing demolition/eviction to challenge those decisions in the Israeli legal system. Our support will continue next year at the same level.

We are concerned by plans to forcibly relocate 2,300 Bedouins in Area C. We encourage the Israeli authorities to meet their commitment to consult fully, and to ensure that any decision reached on the movement of Bedouin communities is made with their full consent.

We remained deeply worried about restrictions on freedom of movement between the West Bank and East Jerusalem. It remained difficult for Palestinians from the West Bank to enter East Jerusalem for work, education, medical treatment or religious worship. They must apply for a permit, which often takes a long time to obtain and can be refused without explanation. They must enter the city only through certain limited checkpoints, at which there are often lengthy queues. The opening times and operating procedures for the checkpoints can change suddenly and unexpectedly.

Within the West Bank, according to UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, there are now 519 obstacles which restrict Palestinian access, compared with 505 at the end of 2010. This negative trend is worrying, particularly in the Jordan Valley and Palestinian lands on the Israeli side of the separation barrier, where access is becoming increasingly restricted.

The Israeli-constructed separation barrier contributes to the isolation of East Jerusalem from the West Bank. By separating families and denying farmers access to their land, it has caused great distress and understandable anger amongst the Palestinian population. We recognise Israel’s right to defend itself but the Israeli separation barrier, where it is constructed on the Palestinian side of the UN-recognised 1949 armistice line delineating Israel’s borders (known as the Green Line after 1967), is illegal under international law. The Israeli courts have held that parts of the barrier constructed outside green-line Israel should be re-routed. We look to the government of Israel to comply fully with the courts’ decisions.

Palestinians from East Jerusalem risk losing their permanent right to live in East Jerusalem if they cannot prove residency for the previous seven years. According to Israeli NGO Hamoked, many of those whose residency rights have been revoked are students who have been studying abroad and who will now not be able to rejoin their families in East Jerusalem. Records show that more than 14,000 Palestinians have lost their Jerusalem residency status since the Israeli annexation of East Jerusalem in 1967. There has been a freeze on family reunification permits allowing West Bankers to move to Jerusalem since 2000. In addition, Jerusalemites who move to the West Bank risk losing their Jerusalem residency status. We note that Israel applies no similar restrictions to Israeli residents of Jerusalem.

Many of these human rights concerns are rooted in the continued expansion of Israeli settlements in the Occupied Palestinian Territories. Settlements are illegal under international law and in direct contravention of Israel’s commitments under the 2003 Quartet Roadmap for Peace. Settlements are a major obstacle to peace. The Israeli government’s policy of connecting settlements to already scarce water supplies and restricting Palestinian movement and access in occupied territory, including establishing a secondary road system to separate Palestinian and Israeli traffic, make matters worse. As the Foreign Secretary has made clear, we call for a complete cessation of all settlement activity in both the West Bank and East Jerusalem.

The human rights consequences of the Israeli restrictions on movement of people and goods to and from Gaza, including on access to agricultural and fishing areas, continued to cause concern. Gaza has the highest aid dependency per capita in the world – the UN’s Office for the Co-ordination of Humanitarian Affairs reported in September that 75% are dependent to some extent on aid for some of the basics of life – food, water, shelter or medical treatment. Over 90% of mains water is unfit for drinking. Unemployment is among the highest in the world at 37.4%. Restrictions on building materials mean only a small minority of the 40,000 homes needed in Gaza have been built. Agricultural exports in 2010, although ten times greater than in 2009, were still less than one tenth of what they were in 2006.

Following changes announced by the Israelis in June 2010 to the access regime to allow goods into Gaza, the package of measures agreed by Quartet Representative Blair and Prime Minister Netanyahu in February was another step in the right direction. However, while unemployment has come down and the economy has continued to grow, the UN reports that this has brought no fundamental change to Gaza. We are working closely with the UN, the Office of the Quartet Representative and the EU to coordinate the international community’s continued involvement in seeking to relieve the situation in Gaza. But movement and access restrictions continue to hamper efforts. By late 2011, contrary to Israeli assurances, approvals for UN national staff were worse than before June 2010, and some international NGOs still wait two to three months for approval to enter Gaza.

We believe that the restrictions do not serve their avowed objective of weakening Hamas and other extremist groups in Gaza. According to the Israeli Defence Force, during 2011, 758 rockets and mortars were fired at Israel. This is an increase from 2010. Rocket attacks are indiscriminate and target civilian populations. The Foreign Secretary reiterated his “utter abhorrence of the cowardly attack” which caused the death of Daniel Viflic, a 16-year-old dual British/Israeli national, whose school bus was hit by a missile from Gaza on 7 April. We have condemned all such attacks, urged Israel to exercise restraint in its response, and called on all parties to respect the ceasefire.

Children’s rights
We are concerned about the treatment of Palestinian children under the Israeli military court system. At the end of 2011, 106 Palestinian children were being held in Israeli prisons under administrative detention with adult administrative detainees. Palestinian child detainees are often transferred to prisons located within Israel, in breach of the Fourth Geneva Convention.

We welcomed Israel’s decision on 4 October to raise the age of legal majority for Palestinian children in the Israeli military justice system from 16 years of age to 18, a move we had advocated. When fully implemented, this will be an important step towards protecting children’s rights in the West Bank. We continue to lobby the Israeli government for further improvements, including a reduction in the number of arrests that occur at night, an end to shackling and the introduction of audio-visual recording of interrogations.

In 2011, we funded a project run by the NGO Defence for Children International to monitor, defend and promote the rights of Palestinian children, and to reduce the number directly and indirectly affected by the Israeli–Palestinian conflict. We funded a delegation of UK lawyers to Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territories, led by Baroness Scotland, which focused on sharing best practice on child-detention issues with the Israeli authorities.

Palestinian children are indiscriminately affected by movement and access restrictions, demolitions and evictions in the Occupied Palestinian Territories. During 2011, more than half of the 1,000 newly displaced Palestinians were children.

Minority rights
Israel’s Declaration of Independence calls for the establishment of a Jewish state with equal social and political rights for all citizens, irrespective of religion, race or sex. We welcome the efforts, including by the Israeli government, to tackle discrimination and inequality between Jews and Arabs in Israel. But we are concerned by a growing climate of intolerance. A series of proposed laws before the Israeli Knesset, and measures already passed, could discriminate against individuals belonging to minorities within Israel. This includes draft legislation to ban mosques from using loudspeakers during the call to prayer, a law on family unification, and the anti-boycott law. We have raised these issues with the Israeli government.

We are further concerned that the government of Israel has not sought to implement the recommendations from the 2003 Or Commission to tackle discrimination against Israel’s Arab community, or the 2008 Goldberg Commission, which recommends recognition of most of the remaining unrecognised Bedouin villages. On the latter issue, during 2011, we followed closely the consideration by the government of Israel of the Praver Plan which could lead to relocation of a large number of Bedouin in the Negev. We have discussed this question with the Israeli government and the speaker and deputy speaker of the Knesset. We have encouraged and welcomed government efforts to engage Bedouin leaders in consultations on this issue, which we hope will lead to an agreed and satisfactory solution to the long-standing issue of the unrecognised Bedouin villages.

We worked with a range of partners in Israel to address the issue of inequality and promote coexistence between Jews and Arabs in Israel, including through education, sport and technology. The UK–Israel Technologies Hub was launched in October 2011. Hi-tech is Israel’s biggest growth sector, but one in which Arab Israeli citizens are under-represented. As part of the British Embassy in Tel Aviv’s continued commitment to, and support of, the Arab Israeli community, the Hub’s purview will include Israeli Arab entrepreneurs, start-ups, operating companies and technologies. We allocated £225,000 to Arab Israeli projects designed to help Arab Israelis be part of Israel’s society and economy. The Israeli government has launched a series of initiatives to achieve the same goal, particularly in the hi-tech sector. The UK has welcomed these initiatives and is keen to support and work with them.