Palestinian Prisoners in Israel’s Military Justice System (Part 1): A Society in Detention

Jun 3 2020

Wednesday
– EST

Online only

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Part 1

A Travesty of Justice: Palestinian Prisoners and Israeli Military Justice

June 3, 2020

11:00am EST/6:00pm Jerusalem 

Featuring

Nadia Daqqa (HaMoked)

Dr. Samah Jabr (Director of the Mental Health Unit – Palestinian Ministry of Health)

Rachel Stroumsa (Public Committee Against Torture – Israel)

Moderated by
Sarah Anne Minkin, PhD (FMEP)
RSVP

Israel’s military justice system, including arrests, detention, interrogation, trials, and punishments, has served as a significant tool of the Israeli occupation since it began in 1967. Over the past 50+ years, Israel has prosecuted more than 760,000 Palestinians, or about one-fifth of the Palestinian population in the Occupied Palestinian Territories, including thousands of children. Charges range from security offenses to traffic violations, with reports indicating a conviction rate greater than 90%. Being arrested, as thousands of Palestinians are each year, may result in administrative detention, remand until the end of proceedings and lengthy prison sentences, debilitating fines, and interrogations in inhuman conditions that include torture.

FMEP is proud to offer this webinar series to look at the role and impact of military justice on Palestinians and its function in Israel’s occupation. Part 1 will explore the procedures of military justice as day-to-day processes and part of the broader system of occupation, and how arrests, interrogations, and punishment impact Palestinians as individuals and as a society. Part 2 will focus on Palestinian children in the miltiary justice system and will include discussion of the legal frameworks of child detention, the experiences of Palestinian children and their families, and efforts by international and Israeli advocates to end abusive practices and protect children’s rights.

Panelist Bios

Nadia Daqqa has been working as an in-house attorney at HaMoked since 2015, advocating for the rights of Palestinian detainees in the Israeli prison system. Her work includes advocating for adequate conditions of detention for Palestinian detainees; seeking relief and redress for victims of abuse, ill-treatment and torture; facilitating prison-visits for detainees’ relatives; and submitting Habeas Corpus petitions demanding that the Israeli authorities disclose the location of Palestinian detainees. In addition to her work at HaMoked, Nadia has recently completed an LL.M in Human Rights Law and International Law, and participated in the Summer Program on Human Rights Law at the European University Institute, Firenze.
Dr. Samah Jabr is a psychiatrist who practices in East Jerusalem and the West Bank. Currently the head of the Mental Health Unit within the Palestinian Ministry of Health, she has taught at local and international universities. Dr. Jabr frequently serves as a consultant to international organizations regarding mental health development. She is also a prolific writer and author of the book Beyond the Frontlines, Derrière les fronts: Chroniques d’unepsychiatre psychothérapeute palestinienne sous occupation, which appeared in both French and Italian.
Dr. Rachel Stroumsa is the Executive Director of the Public Committee Against Torture in Israel (PCATI). Previously, she set up and directed PCATI’s Medical-Legal Documentation project, leading a group of physicians and psychologists in conducting assessments in and out of detention centers.
Sarah Anne Minkin, PhD is a Bay Area-based expert on the intersection between Israeli civil society and Palestinian civil rights and human rights advocacy as well as the ways that American Jews approach the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. As a consultant with the Foundation for Middle East Peace, she works to deepen FMEP’s relationships with existing and potential grantees and build relationships with new partners in the philanthropic community. She is a lecturer at the University of San Francisco and an affiliated faculty member at University of California, Berkeley’s Center for Right-Wing Studies.