ARREST

You receive a letter from the Israeli military commander in the Nablus area, summoning you for interrogation. You’re asked to appear at Petah Tikva interrogation centre, near Tel Aviv, which is run by the Israeli secret service (Shin Bet).

You cross a busy checkpoint into Israel and catch a bus to Petah Tikva.

IMAGES

TWO IN FIVE PALESTINIAN MEN HAVE BEEN ARRESTED SINCE 1967

SOURCE: AGENCIES

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INTERROGATION

The Israeli interrogators accuse you of plotting to blow up a bus that serves Israeli settlers living in the Nablus-area settlement of Itamar. You vehemently deny the claim.

You are kept in a tiny cell for the duration of your interrogation. The blanket and thin mattress you sleep on are dirty, and a squat toilet in the room smells terrible.

The walls of the cell are bumpy, so you can’t lean your back against them. Artificial light is kept on for 24 hours, causing your eyes to hurt, and making it difficult for you to sleep.

After three days, you are brought before a judge at Salem military court, where your interrogation period is extended to 30 days. You are returned to Petah Tikva, and the interrogation continues.

Some days, you are kept awake for more than 24 hours. Other days, you are kept in isolation.

After 20 days of intense interrogation, you admit to no wrongdoing and refuse to sign a confession.

ADMINISTRATIVE

DETAINEE NUMBERS

SOURCE: ADDAMEER

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RELATED

Treatment in Petah Tikva

Interrogation Centre

PDF - SOURCE: HAMOKED & B'TSELEM

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ON TORTURE

HEARING

Your wife, mother, and lawyer are in the courtroom. The Palestinian Authority pays for your legal fees.

The Israeli military prosecutor requests that a six-month administrative detention order be issued against you.

“Secret evidence” is being used, and neither you, nor your lawyer, have access to any of it.

As is most often the case, the judge grants the prosecution’s request and issues the order. He is not forced to give a justification for his decision.

Your attorney does not call any witnesses, since he cannot mount a proper defence against the “secret evidence”.

He asks the military prosecutor – the only source of information in your case – a handful of questions. Each time, the prosecutor responds that he cannot answer because it is part of the classified dossier.

ISRAEL SAYS...

“I’ve stood in court with Israeli settlers who had administrative orders against them and argued they are terrorists. The intent to cause harm to others and influence the public in a negative way [is] not connected to colour of skin, colour of eyes, nationality…

There are Jewish terrorists, settler terrorists, Arab terrorists. A terrorist is a terrorist is a terrorist.”

SENIOR ISRAELI MILITARY OFFICIAL,

AS TOLD TO AL JAZEERA IN JULY 2013

(on condition of anonimity)

QUESTIONING

LAWYER MAHMOUD AL-HALABI, QUESTIONING THE ISRAELI PROSECUTOR:

DETENTION

You are brought to Megiddo prison, under the authority of the Israel Prison Service (IPS).

You are kept in a cell without proper ventilation. A small, sealed window lets in a thin stream of light.

Only first-blood relatives can visit you in prison. As a so-called “security prisoner”, you are allowed prison visits once every two weeks for 45-minute periods.

Since Megiddo is located inside Israel, the Israeli civil administration must grant your family members a permit to enter Israel to visit you.

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LISTEN

SAHAR FRANCIS, DIRECTOR OF ADDAMEER PRISONER RIGHTS’ GROUP, DESCRIBING FAMILY VISIT RESTRICTIONS

RELEASE

The excitement of seeing your family again keeps you up for most of the night.

Just as you are waking up from only a few hours sleep, an Israeli prison guard comes to your cell. He hands you a sheet of paper and tells you that another administrative detention order has been issued against you.

Without any warning, you now face another six months in prison. Your family, which had been preparing to welcome you back home, gets a phone call from your lawyer informing them that you won’t be coming home as planned.

Your administrative detention order is renewed four more times, and you spend two-and-a-half years behind bars until you are finally released.

You never find out what evidence was used against you.

LONG TIME BEHIND BARS

In July 2009, nearly 80 percent of administrative detainees had their detention orders extended at least once, and been held for more than six months.

IMAGES

FAMILIES AWAIT THE RELEASE
OF PRISONERS

SOURCE: AGENCIES

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LISTEN