UMITED NATIONS A Gene,al A888mbly Oiate. G\::NERAL · A/42/650 15 October 1987 ENGLISH ORIGINALz ENGLISH/FRENCH Forty-sooond seasion Agenda item 7S REPORT OF THE SPECIAL COMMITTEE 'l'O INVESTIGATE ISRAELI PRACTICES J\l!'FEC'lING THE HUMAN RIGHTS OF THE POPULATION OF T}~ OCCUPIED TERRITORIES !2!:' rt the Secretarx-Genera1 The Secretary-Gp-naral has the honour to transmit to the members of the General Assembly the attaohed raport, which was Bubmitted to him, in accordance with paragraph 17 of resolution 41/63 1> of 3 Decombol 1986, by the Special Committeo to Invcstiqate Israeli Practicoo Affecting the lIuman Rights of the' Populat.ion of the Occupied Terrlt.orieo. 87-25164 556~o (E) / ... A/42/650 BngU.h Pa'le 2 CONTENTS Paragraphs Page LETTER 01' TRANSMl'l"l'AL ··················· r I ·································· 4 I. 11. INTRODUCTION ············································· ORGANIZATION OF 1 6 7 8 woruc · ···································· 7 18 23 I II · IV. MANDA'l'B ·················································· 19 24 30 30 10 1~ INFORMATION AND EVIDENCE RECEIVED BY THE SPECIAL COMMI'M'EE 199 46 37 A. General situation ···································· 1. 2. 13 13 15 General polioy developments ····················· Inorease of tension and inoidel'.ta ················ polioy of returning munioipalitios to 10001 leaders .·........ 38 46 45 3. 8. 0 ······························· 111 Information ooncerning arrests, dotentiona, trialo and sentenoes ················· · ····················· 1. 47 47 51 50 19 Palestiniano · ···································· (a) (b) (0) 19 19 19 Arrests and administrative detention orders · Sentences 47 - 48 49 50 ................................ ... Releases .......~ . · ········································ 19 19 126 2. Israelis Sl 52 C. Troatment of aivilians, inoluding fundamental f rfJedomB ································ . . 20 20 20 1. General developments ············.················ (a) (b) (a) 52 Sol - 80 62 65 Harassment of civilians ··················.·· Collectivo punishment, including demolition of tlouses ·················.····.·.·...··.·.· 63 66 22 22 25 Expulsion and deportation ··················· Economic aspects ···························· 72 (d) 73 - 80 / ... 1'./42/650 English 'aCl. 3 CONTENTS (continued) Paragraehs !age 2. Informatio~ aoncerni~g fundamental freedoms ······ 81 81 84 92 99 112 83 91 98 112 126 161 184 167 184 1" 217 218 27 27 27 28 30 ( a) Freedom of movoment: ························· p. r eed0lIl ()f ( b) (0) eKproa~iDn ······················· Freedom of aOGociation ······················ ~lreodom (d) J. D. of education ························ Information on settlers' activities affecting the oivilian population ······························ 0 ···· 113 127 162 162 168 185 200 33 Troatment of detaineos ·························· 36 43 E. Annexation and Bot.tlement ···························· 1. Policy ··········································· Measuros ········· ~ ····················.·········· 43 44 ~6 2. It'. Information concerning tho Golan Iteights ············· · · · · · · · · · · · · · · ." · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · ft · · · · · · · · · V. VI. CONCLUSIONS 50 53 AD(W'l'ION OP 'rilE NEPORT ··································· A/42/6S0 English Page 4 LETTER or TRANSMITTAL 4 September 1987 Sir, The Special Committee to Investigate Israeli Praotioes Affeoting the Human Rights of the Population of the OCcupied Territories has the honour to transmit to you herewith its nineteenth report, prepared in accordanoe with General Assembly resolutions oonoerning the Speoial Committee and, in partioular, resolution 2443 (XXIII) of 19 Deoember 1968, by whioh the Special Committee was established, and resolution 41/63 D of 3 Deoember 1986, the latest resolution by whioh the General Assembly renewed itD mandate. This report oovers the period from 10 September 1986, the date of the adoption of the preceding report, to 31 Abgust 1967. The report is based on oral information reoeived by the Speoi~l Committee through testimonies of persons haVing first-hand experienoe of the human rights situation in the ocoupied territories, as well as written information gathered ~rom various souroes. The speoial Committee has seleoted, from among these oral and written souroes of information, relevant excerpts and summaries, which are refleoted in the report. 'Ol the purpose of oolleoting oral testimonies the Speoial Committee ocganized hearings that were held at Geneva, Cairo, Amman and Damasous. The Special Committee oontinued to monitor statements by members of the GoveLnment of Israel refleoting the polioy of that Government in the ocoupied territories and reports on measures taken to implement that polioy. The speoial Committee noted the letters addressed to you and to the President of the Seourity Counoil during the period of this report relating to the mandate of the Special Committee, oiroulated as documents of the General Assembly and the Security Counoil. The Special Committee reoeived information from organizations and individuals on various aspoots of the situation in the ocoupied tor ritor ies. The Government of Israel h&s not changed its position with regard to the Special Committee in spite of the efforts made in that direotion. The Speoial Committee benefited from the co-operation of the Governments of the Arab Republic of Egypt, the Hashemlte Kingdom of Jordan and the syrian Arab Republio, and of the Palestine Liberation Orgonizatiop in carrying out its mandate. In preparing its report the Special Committee has attempted to put before you a composite picture of the reality in the occupied territories as it affects the human rights of the oivilian population. By this letter the Special Committee wishes to draw your attention to a number of aspects that deserve a particular mention. His Excellency Mr. Javier Perez de Cuellar Secretary-General of the United Nations New York - - ----- ----- A/42/650 r:ncaUsh Plig" 5 Tho information contained in the present report reflocte tho pura~it, by the Government ot Israel, of t~o annexation policy implemented in the territories occupied in June 1967. The period covered by this report colncidQd with the twentieth year ot oucupation, and was earmarked by a recrudoscence of tension and violerce in tho torritories. According to eviuenc~ observed by the Speoial Committoe, it soomo that, atter 20 yonrs of occupation, the tragedy of the Palestinian people peraisto. The young generation of civilians in the territ~rieal which has been born an~ brought up undor the occupation rule, in constant oontact with various measu.es of harassment, humiliation and reatrictions upon its basic rights and freedoms, seems determined to OppOAO the occupant's rule ~nd react against it. Such an attitude is met by an equivalent determlnation, both on the pap:t of the IDraoli author itieo implementing the so-ca.Lled "iroH fist" policy and settlers imposing their authority whenever posoible, to counter and repreos any manifestation of hostility and protost against the present situation. One particular illustration of this determination was the violent rioting, 1n Jl1oe, of armed settlers from Kiryat-Arba and Hebron in tho Oheisheh =efuc;eo camp. 'l'he detar iorat iun of the situation has ~eon marked by a noticeable incroaso in the frequency and intensity of daily inc idents. 'l'he stabbug to death of Eliyahu Amedi, a Jerusalem rabbinical seminar student, was followed by two weeks of wid~sproad unrest and rioting in the Jerusalem areal the entire period oovered by the present report witnessed a particularly preoccupying situation in the Palestinian univorsities and educational institutionSI the frequent identity scrutinies uxerted by military authorities on students and teachers 'osulted 1n incidents that provoked the doath of students, the repeated closure of soveral universition and various measures of harassment aqainot teachers and students suoh as arrests, udministra~ive detention, restrictions to froedom of ~ovement or deportation. The burden of the civilian popUlation is further manifested i~ the ~:eatment inflicted upon thousands of detainees, Gomo of them minors. The denial by t~9 authoriti~b of adequate prison conditions and the hardships endured by detainees have reBult~d in widespread hunger strikes in almost all the prisons and detention camps in tho occupied territories. In spite ot optimistic statements by Israeli ot'ficials concerning the economic situation in the occupied territories, such as the affirmation, by the head of the civil administration of the West Bank, that the year 1986 marked "a real Qconomic recovery" in the region, wh~ch should continue in the future, contradictions wer~ easily noticeable, in reality, in comparison with the proclaimed achievements. Various obstacles continue to impede positive economic results, and pressures are persistently exerted on workers and farmers. One obvious illusttatl0n of the problems faced in the agr1cultuu field is the plannod project to pump massive quantities of water to Jerusalem bnd the Jewiah settlements in the a'eas, which could eventually deplete the water pupply in wells used by Arab towns and villages in the drill area. Another illustration of the economic problems is the situation of fisheries alonq the Gaza Strip coast, which are subjected to various I . .. A/4~/650 Bnglinh Pqe6 r~8trictionB in spite of t~e faat that many families in the region depend on fi8hing for their livelihood. The Special Committee has within the constraints impQsed by the financial situation of the United Nations endeavoured, in the attached report, to provide a faithful picture of the situation of human rights in the occupied territories. It reiterates its hope that in view of the plight of the ~1v1l1an population, the interllational community will be more determined than ever in its efforts to improve the conditions prevailing 1n the occupied territorieo. Please accept, Sir, on behalf of my colleagues and on my own behalf, the aS8urance8 of our highest consideration. N. WIJEWARDANE of the sp~cial Committee to Investigate Israeli Practices Affecting the Human Rights of the PopUlation of the Occupied Territories (8i9n09) C~airman I ... A/42/6SQ EnCjllish Pa(1e 7 I. INTRODUCTION 1. The Special Committee to Investigate Israeli Practices Affecting the 811man Rights of tho Population of the OCcupied Territori~g was established by the General Assembly in roDolutlon 2443 (XXIII) of 19 December 1968. By that resolution, the Asoembly decided to establish the Special Committee, composed of three Member stateG' requested the President ~f the Assembly to appoint the members of the Special Committee, requested the Government of Israel to receive the Speci61 Committee, to oo-operate wit~ it al\d to faoilitate its work, requested the Special Committee to report to the Secretary-General aa soon as possible and whenever the need ar.oso theroafter, and requested the Secretary-General to provide the Special Committee with all the necessary facilities for the performance of its task. 2. The Special Committee is composed as follows: Mr. Nis8ank~ WiJewardane, Permanent Representative of Sri Lanka to the Unitad Nations, Chairman, Mr. Alioune Sene, Ambassador of Senegal at Bern and Permanent Representativo of Senogal to the United Nations Off ice at Geneva, and Mr. DraCjlan Jovanlc, Professor of L~w, President of the Management Board, Faculty of Law, U~iversity of Rijeka, Yugoslavia. 3. On 30 May 1987, the Government of Sri Lanka informed the Secretariat that Mr. Daya R. Perera, President's Counsel of Sri Lanka, would attend the meetinCjls the Special Committee from 1 to 14 June 1987. 4. At the meetings of the Special Committee held from 31 August to 4 Soptember 1987, Mr. Samba Cor Konale, Counsellor at thr Permanent Misslon of Senegal to the United NationB Office at Geneva attended on hehalf of Mr. Alioune Serae. 5. Since October 1970, the Special Committee has submitted 18 reports. 1/ These reports were discussed in the Speoial Political Committee, which then reported to the General Assembly. ~/ On the recommendation of the Special Political Committee, the Ass '~:,b1~' adopted resolutions 272'1 (XXV) of ),5 December 19'70, 285l (XXVI) of 20 December 1971, 3005 (XXVII) of 15 Oecember 1972, 3092 A bnd B (XXVIII) of 7 December 1973, 3240 A to C (XXIX) of 29 November 1974, 3525 A to D (XXX) nf 15 December 1975, 31/106 A to D of 16 December 1976, 32/91 A to C of 13 Decembec 1977, 33/113 A to C of 18 December 1978, 34/90 A to C of 12 December 1979, 35/122 A to F of 11 December 1980, 36/147 A to G of 16 December 1981, 37/88 A to G of la December 1982, 38/79 A to H of 15 December 1983, 39/95 A to H of 14 December 1984, 40/161 A to G of 16 December 1985 and 41/63 A to G of 3 December 1986. 6. The present report has been prepared in accordance with General Assembly resolutions 2443 (XXIII), 2546 (XXIV), 'J.127 (XXV), 2851 (XXVI), 3005 (XXVII), 3092 B (XXVIlI), 3240 A and C (XXIX), 3525 A and C (XXX), 31/106 C and D, 32/91 Band C, 33/113 C, 34/90 A t? C, 35/122 C, 36/147 C, 37/88 C, 38/79 D, 39/95 D, 40/161 D and 41/63 D. ~f I ... A/42/6S0 English Pacae 8 11. ORGANIZATION OF WORK 7. The Speoial Committee continued its work umler the rules of procedure oontained in its first report to the Secretary-General. 3/ ~r. Wijewardane (Sri Lanka) continued to be Chairman, except for the socond series of meetings dur ing whioi. he was replaced by Hr. Daya ~. Perera. 8. The Speoial Committee held the first of ita aerioB of meetings from 1 to 3 Deoember 1986 in New York, after the General Assembly allowed its application in the speci11 oircumstancos advanoed for holding the meetings pending the renowal of its mandate by the ~ssembly. The Special Committeo decided to oontinue its system of monitoring information on the occupied territories and, in re~erence to paragraph 18 of resolution 41/63 0, to pay special attention to inf.ormation on treatment of ciVilians in detentJ.on. The Special Commi.ttee examined information on the situation in the OCCUpi0d territor ies for the per iad commencing ,dth the date of the adoption of its report to the General Assembly (A/41/680) on 10 September 1986. It examined a number of communications referred to it concerning individual cases of alleged human rights .olations in th~ occupied territories. It decided upon the organization of its work for the year. The Special Committee agreed to address itself to the Government of Israel and to the Governments of Egypt, Jordan and the Syrian Arab Republic with a view to seeking their co-operation in the implementation of its mandate. The Special Committee also agreed to address itself to the Palestine Liberation Organization. Finally, the Special Committee decided that at its next neries of meetings it would undertake hearings in the area for the purpose uf recording relevant information or evidence. On 3 December 1986, the General Aoaembly adopted resolution 41/63 D. By this resolution, the General Assembly; 1117. Requests the Special Committee, pending the early termillation of Israeli occupation, to continue to investigate Israeli policies and practices in the Arab territories occupied by Israel since 1967, to consult, aa appropriate, with the International Committee of the Red Cross in order to ensure the safeguarding of the welfare and human rights of the population of the occupied terdtories and to report to the secretary-General as soon as possible and whenever the need arises thereafter". 9. On 4 December 1986, the Special Committee '.lddressed a letter to the Secretary-General seeking his intervention in an effort to secure the co-operation of the Government of Israel. 10. On 4 December 1986, the Special Committee addressed a letter to the Permanent Representatives of Egypt, Jordan and the Syrian Arab Republic to the United Nations in which it requested their co-operation and informed them of the intertion of the Special Committee to conduct hearings in their respective countries. 11. A similar letter was addressed to the Palestine Liberation Organization on the same day. / ... A/42/650 EnlllU8h PaCJQ 9 12. The Governments of Egypt, Jordan and the Syrian Arab Republic uubaequently resl-onded to the Special Committoe, reaonficminq thoir readineso to oontinue co-operatinq with the Spooi"l Committeu. 13. On 16 March 1987, tho Permanent Oboerver of the Pa11!Dtine Liberation Organization to the Unitod Niltiono at Geneva addresoed a letter to the Secretary of the Spocial Committee conl irming tho co-operation of his organization with the Special Committoo and informing the Spocial Committee of the [tHI'Hnoos uf tho Palestine Liboration Organizlltion to flh.,iUtato hoaringo by the speoial Committee. 14. The Special Committo~ ~old a uori~o of meetings at Geneva (1-2 June 1987), Cairo (4-7 June 19ij7), Amman (8-10 June 1987) and Damascus (11-l4 June 1987). At these meotinqs, the Speoial Committeo examined information on developments occurr!ug in the occupied turHoriOD betwoen Deoember 1986 and May 1987. It had before it a num~~r of communioationo addreBoed to it by Governmonts, organizationa and individuals in connection with ita mandate. The special Committoe took note of several lotters addrooaed to it by tho Pormanent Observer of the Palestino Liberation or9anization ut Geneva and of a number of letters addressed to the Seoretary-Genoral b~ the Permanent Reprooent6th'eo of Jordan and the Syrian Arab Reptlbl~c on mattcro rolatod to ita repu't. At Geneva, Amman and Domasous the Speoial Committee hoard testimonioa of peruona l1vin9 in the Weot Bank, the Gaza Strip and the Galan lie iqhtu concorninq the oituation in those teu itor ieD. 15. At Amman the Special Conunitt(fo waD received by H.R.H. Crown Prinoo 1189aan ibn 'ralal, tho Miniotor tor Foroi9n Atfairo, Mr. Tahor Al-Maary, the Minister for OCcupied 'l'er ritoriea AUuira, Mr. Marwon DudJ.n, the Mlnlotor for Higher Education, Mr. Naoer Eddin Al Aaoad, and the Under-Seoretary, Ministry of Labour of tho Haahemite Kin~dom ,,:; Jo[,ian, Mr. Boleh Al Khasawneh, as well as the President ot the Royal Committoe:: for Jt,\ru801em Affairs. Mr. Akram Zueitor. The Speoial Committee was proocntod with ro~')ortD on the situation in tho ocoupied territories propared by the variouo ministries and organizations and it diocusBed var iOUD aapccta of itn mandate in tho oourao of it£; meetingo with the reopuotive officials. Durlnq ita ut.ay at Anunon the Speciol Committee mot with Shoikh Soyuqh, President of the Palootinian National Counoil, and with Mr. Zuhdi So'id, l>irootor General in the Deportmont of Occupied Territorios Affaira of the Polcotine Liberation orqanization, who prouentou the Spacial Committee wi th a numbor of reports and otatiatics on the situation in tho occupied teu Hor i09. 'l'ho Special Committee olso reco ivod ho", tho Department of Education and IHqher Studies of tho Palestine Liberation organization U Gutieo ot roporto and atatiuticD on that sit"ation. 16. At Damascus the Spocial l:oll\lIIitteo WIlS reoeived by the Miniater fat Foreign Atfairs of the Syriar. Arab Republic, Mr. Farouk Al-Shara. It also conducted consultations with Mr. Dia ~l-Fattal, Deputy Minister for Foreign Affairs. Durin9 ita stay at Damascus tho Special Committee received from the Departments of Education and Higher Stud iOIJ und 1-;conon' 'Le Aftairo at the PaleGtino Liberat ion Organization it Ger ilclll of rO[Jorto /lnd utl1tiutica on the situation in tho occupiod territories. A/42/6S0 English Page 10 17. During its stay in the Syrian Arab Republic. the Special Committee visited the town of Quneitra, where it met with the Governor of Quneitra Province. Mr. Haasan Al-Sakka. It also visited the village of Hadar where it observed the occupied village of Majdal Shams. 18. The Special Committee met again at Geneva from 31 August to 4 September 1987, when it ex~mined and ad~pted the present report. HI. MANDATE 19. The General Assembly, in its resolution 2443 (XXIII) entitled "Respect for and implementation of human rights in occupied territories", decided to establish a Special Committee to Investigate Israeli Practices Affecting the Human Rights of the Population of the Occupied Territories, composed of three Member States. 20. The mandate of the Special Committee, as set out in the above resolution and subsequent resolutions, was "to investigate Israeli practices affecting the human rights of the population of the occupied territories". In interpreting its mandate, the Special Committee determined that: 21. (a) The territories to be considered as occupied territories referred to the areas under Israeli occupation, namely, the Golan Heights, the West Bank (inclUding East Jerusalem), the Gaza Strip and the sinai Peninsula. Following the implementation of the Egyptian-Israeli Agreement on Disengagement of Forces of 18 January 1974 &nd the Agreement on Disengagement between Israeli and syrian Forces of 31 May 1974, the demarcation of the areas under occupation was altered as indicated in the maps attached to those agreements. The areas of Egyptian territory under Israeli military occupation were further modified in accordance with the Treaty of Peace between the Arab Republic of Egypt and the State of I~"'ae i. that was signed on 26 March 1979 and came into force on 25 April 1979. On 25 April 1982, the Egyptian territory remaining under Israeli military occupatior, was restituted to the Government of Egypt in accordance with the provisions of the aforementioned agreement. Thus, for the purposes of the present report, the territories to be considered as occupied territories are those remaining under Israeli occupation, namely, the Golan Heights, the West Bank (including East Jerusalem) and the Gaza Strip; (b) The persons covered by resolution 2443 (XXIII) and therefore the subject of the investigation of the Special Committee were the civilian popUlation residing in the areas occupied as a result of the hostilities of June 1967 and those persons normally resident in the areas that were under occupation but who had left those areas because of the hostilities. However, the Committee noted that resolution 2443 (XXIII) ref~rred to the "population" without any qualification as to any segment of the inhabitants of tne occupied territories; (c) The "human rights" of the population of the occupied territories consisted of two elements, namely, those rights which the Security Council referred to as "essential and inalienable human rights" in its resolution 237 (1907) of / ... A/42/6S0 English Page 11 14 June 1967 and, secondly, those rights which found their basis in the protection afforded by international law in particular circumstances such as military occupation and, in the case of prisoners of war, capture. In accordance with resolution 3005 (XXVII), the Special Committee was also required to investigate allegations concerning the exploitation and the looting of the resourceS of th~ occupied territories; the pillaging of the archaeological and cultural heritage of the occupied territories; and interference in the freedom of worship in the Holy Places of the occupied territories; (d) The ·policies" and ·practices· affecting human rights that came within the scope of investigation by the Special Committee referred, in the case of ·policies·, to any course of action consciously adopted and pursued by the Government of Israel as part of its declared or undeclared intent; while ·practices· referred to those actions which, irrespective of whether or not they were in implementation of a policy, reflected a pattern of behaviour on the part of the Israeli authorities towards the civilian population in the occupied areas. 22. Since its inception the Special Committee has relied on the following international instruments in interpreting and carrying out its mandate: (a) (b) The Charter of the united Nationsl The universal Declaration of Human Rights; (c) The Geneva Convention Time of War, of 12 August 1949; !/ Ielativ~ to the Protection of Civilian Persons 1n (d) The Geneva Convention relative to the Treatment of Prisoners of War, of 12 August 1949; ~ (e) The Hague Convention for the Protection of Cultural Property in the Bvent of Armed Conflict, of 14 May 1954; y (f) The Hague Conventions of 1899 and 1907 respecting the Laws and Customs of War on Land; 1/ (g) The International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, and the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights. !I 23. The Special Committee has also relied on those resolutions relevant to the situation of civilians in the occupied territories adopted by United Nations organs, the General Assembly, the Security Council, the Economic and Social Council and the Commission on Human Rights, as well as the relevant resolutions of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization, the World Health Organization and the International Labour Organisation. I ... r-"-'" I C. A/42/6S0 Encaliah Pacae 12 IV. IN~'ORMArl'ION AND EVID&NCl!: RECEIVE!) UY 'l'IIE SPECIAL COMMI'l"l'll:ll: 24. In the course of carryinq out ita mandate, the Spooial Committee haa roUod on the followil\9 eourceo: (a) The testimony of persona with first-hand knowlodgo of tho oituation of the population in the occupied territorios, (b) Reports in the Israoli proae of pronouncomonto by rOl3potloible porsotls in the Government of Israol, (c) Reports appearing in other nows media, including tho Arab languago pross published in the occupiod tor ritor ioa, in Israol and the int.ernational prouu. The Special Committoe received written statements from the Govornments of Jordan and the Syrian Arab Republic, and from the Palestine Liberation Organization. Tho Government of the Syrian Arab Republic haG provided the Special Committoe with information on the situation in the Galan Heiqhtp,. The Government of Jordan and the Palestine Liberation Orqanhation have provided the Special Committee with monthly reports on the situation in tho occupied territorioa covering roapoctively the periods from December ,1986 to May 1987 and from November 1986 to May 19tn. In a~dition, the Special Committee reoeived writton inforlnation f[om non-governmontal organizations and individuals on the situation in the occupied territories. 25. The Special Committee undertook a sories of hearings at Goneva, Amman and Damascus during its meetings t:rom 1 to 14 June 1987. At these meetings, the Speoial Committee heard the tOGtimony of persons having a first-hund knowlodgo of the human rights situation existing in the occupied ten itor ies. 'l'heDo teGtimonios are oontained in documents A/AC.14S/RT.4S8 and RT.462 to 461, and are reflected below. 26. The Special Committee has taken partiCUlar care to rely on infurmation appear ing in the Israeli pross that has not been contradicted by the Govornment ot Israel or that is commonly considered as reliable by the? Government. 27. In the course of carrying out ito m.undate, the Special COllllnittoo hal:i taken note of: information reaching it through Cl varit'ty of sources, such as individuals, organizations and Governmento. At its meetings, the Committee pad bofure it several communications addressod to it, directly or roferred to it by the Secretary-General, from sources inside the occupied torritories, J well as from several parts of the world. Where necessary, the Committee has (ollow<.'d up information contained in these communications. 28. The following paragraphs contain a summary of the information Special Committee divided as follows: (a) (b) General situation; Information concerning arrests, detentions, trialn and Bont.ences; (,~xl.lInined by the / ... A/42/650 EnCjUsh fage 13 (c) (d) (e) (f) Treatment of civilians, including fundamental freedomsl Treatment of detainees, Annexation Golan ~nd Bettlements, Heig~td. 29. This information has ~een divided i~to oral evidence and written information. In order to comply with restrictions on the volume of documentation now enjoined upon United Nations reports, the Special Committee has endeavourod to present this information in the most compact and concise form possible. Oral. evidence, for which a full record of testimonies is available in documents A/AC.l45/RT.4S8 and RT.462 to 467, has been condensed to a general indicdtion of the contents of such records. The raport also atte~pts to summarize ~ritten information, on matters suoh as arrests, administrative detentiol ~ and sentences, collective punishment and measures affecting the freedom of movement. A. 1. Written i~formation General situation General policy developments 30. On S November 1986, the head of the West Bank civil administration, A/M (Col.) Efraim Sneh, held a press conference at Nablus an the occasion of the public~~ion of the civil administration's annual report. A/M Sneh said that local west Bank leaders were free to work through Jordanian and Israeli channels simultaneously~ receiving funds from Amman and approval from the civil administration for programmes or services. Other points made by A/M Sneh included the following: during the fiscal year 1985/86, ending on 1 April, the West Bank Buffered a 4 per oent decline in its gross national product and an 8 per cent deoline in agr icultural tncome. Unemployment remained at 3 or 4 per cent. 'rotal cultivated land increased by 4.4 per cent. Inoome from industry increased by 9 per cent. A/M 9neh said that tho number of people under administ:ative detention was 20-30 per cent lower than a year earlier, despite a recent rash of six-month detentions. There was a 250 per cent increase in the number of complaints brought before the crimir.al court system on the West Bank. The annual report noted that 90 cases had been submitted to the High Court of Justice over the past year, on primarily security-related issues, as comparod to 59 the previous year. (~rusalem Po~, 6 November 1986) 31. On 25 Marcn 1987, Knesset members Abba Eban and Ora Namir (Labour Alignment) met with Al-Fajr editor Hanna 9iniora, Bethlehem mayor Elias Freij and Nablus businellsmen Basil and Said Kanaan. At the end of the meeting, held at West Jerusalem, a joint statement was signed calling for peace talks al an international conference. On 26 March 1987, Foreign Minister Shlmon Peres met with three pro-Palestinian Liberation Organization notables: Hanna 8iniora, Gaza lawyer Fayez Abu Rahme and Bir Zeit University professor Sari Nusseibeh. (Ha'aretz, Jerusalem Post, 26 and 27 March 1987) / ... A/42/6S0 English Paqe 14 32. On 14 May 1987, tl'lA outgoing Centrill !~oq ion Commandor, Aluf (Maj .-Gon.) Ehud Barak, hold a preua conferonce in which he commentod on variouf: aspects of the situation in the West Bank. He oaid that the Isri.'oli Defenoe Foroes (IDF) had reoently developed imp:,ovod, nOIl-lethal dot-eontro 1 teohniques for use against Arab demonstrators. Barak said that tho 1Dlo' waD investigating cases in which Arab demonstrators had beon kUlod or wounded, ami that it would not hositate to puni~h soldiers found guilty of Violating otandinq orders. Referring to vigilante activities by settlers in the territoriou hluf Barak warned that Jewish rioters would be treated like common criminals. (Ha'aretz, JerUl'\ftlem post, 15 May 1987) 33. On 26 May 1~87, heads of councils of Jewish settlements in the West Bdnk met with the chief of staff, R/A Dan Shomron, to discuss the punishmont policy towardu perpetrators of terrori~t acts. The settle~a' representatives demanded heavi~r penalties for persons found guilty of breaking the peace or of carryinq out terrorist acta. They also demanded a stricter control of Arab movoment around and betweon the Jewish settlements, and the (Jetting up of Jowish civil dof~nce units to patrol the settlements and their neighbourhood. (~~, Ma'ariv, 27 May 19U1) 34. On 14 June 198-, the Conunittee Confronting the Iron to'ist, .(1 group of 10['Io1eliu and Palestinians co-ordinating joint action againot the occupation, Or9i.lIlhe,l Cl protest march in East JerusalelOl, attended by some 30D-400 Palestinians and flome ,'Ill Israolis. (Jerusalem Poat, 15 June 1987) 35. On 26 June 1987, it was reported that the Water Commission and the Mekorot company were planning a project of drilling near Heradion, south-east of Uothlohom, in order to pump massive quantities of water to Jerusalem and to Jewish settlements in the area. According to sources associated with the project, tho pumping could eventually deplete the water supply in wells used by Arab towns and villages in th(! drill area, including Bethlehem, Beit Jala and BeAt Sahur. According to the report, official estimates had it that 42 per cent of the 100 million cubic metros of water pumped annually in the west Bank already went to Jewish settlements, and while existing wells owned by Arabs and the civil administration served Arab co~nunities, virtually no new permits were given to West Bank Arabu to drill new wells. It was reported on 3 July 1987 that Defence Minister Robin had approved in principle the water-drilling project near Bethlehem. On 7 July 1987, the Co-ordinator of Activities in the Territoritts, Shmuel Goren, told reporters that the civil administration would enter negotiations on the project on condition that Arab rights were not infringed on in any way. (Ha'aretz, 29 June and 7 July 1987; Jerusalem Post, 26, 28 and 30 June 1987 and 2, 3 and 7 July 1987) 36. On 8 July 1987, the Inner Cabinet approved a plan calling for th(!l transfer from the East Jerusalem Electric Corporation to the Israel Electric Corporation of a concession to supply pow~r to Jewish settlements and some areas in East Jerusalem, at present supplied by the East Jerusalem Electricity Company. The latter would continue to supply current only to Arab quarters of Jerusalem and to Arab neighbourhoods outside the city. On 9 August 1987, the Government voted, with a majority of 15 to 4, to reduce the concession of the East Jerusalem Electricity Company by more than one half, restrict it to Arab localities in the West Bank and to Arab neighbourhoods in East Jerusalem, and extend it until the year 2000. The decision was welcomed by settler leaders but was rejected by officials of the / ... A/42/650 English Page lS company and its head, Hannah Na~eer. On 11 August 1987, the Arab company's workers held a sit-in otrike at the company's offices. The head of the company workers' union, Nabil Azza, expressed particular conoern over plans to fire 200 of the 450 workers. On 17 August 1987, a partial business strike was observed in East Jerusalem and the company workers staged a second sit-in strike. (Ha'aretz, 10, 16 and 18 August 1987, Jerusalem Post, 9-13 July 1987 and 10, 11, 17 and 18 August 1987) 37. On 24 July 1987, it was re~orted thtlt the National Insuranoe Institute had recently started to implement a decision designed to encourage Arab residents of Jerusalem's Old City to move to the West Bank. Some 30,000 Arabs, holders of Jerusalem identity cards, but who no longer lived in the oity, dtarted to rec~ive old age pensions, maternity grants and other allowances that were not normally granted to the Arab residents of the territories, unless they were employed in Israel. Most of the Arabs concernea reportedly lived in areas close to the Jerusalem municipal boundaries, and in particular at ~izariya, and A-Ram and Dahiyat al-Barid, north of Jerusalem. (Ha'aretz, 24 July 1987) 2. Oral evidence 38. In the courso of his testimony one of the witnesses, Mr. Akram Haniyeh, the deported editor of the Ar~bic language daily Al-Sha'ab referred to the increasing ~limate of tension in the occupied territories, and to the fa~t that he believed that after 20 years of occupation, the tragedy of the Palestinian Qeople had rea,hed its climax. (A/AC.l45/RT.458) written information 39. The following paragraphs give a brief account of some of the main incidents recorded during this period. The period under con~ideration was marked by & noticeable increase in the frequency and gravity of incidents and by a general aggravation of the already t.ense climate prevailing in the occupied territories. 40. On 7 October 1986, Defence Minist~r Yitzhak Rabin reportedly ordered that a regUlar paratroo~ unit be sent t.o Gaza for an unlimited period. It was also decided to step up military presen~~ in that town. The decisions followed the stabbing to death of an Israeli civilian on 7 October 1986, the second Israeli to be murdered in Gaza over the preceding fortnight. (lIa'arecz, ~ October 1986) The incidents at Jerusalem following the killing of Eliyahu Amedi 41. On 15 November 1986, three residents of Jenin stabbed to death a student of a yeshiva (rabbinical seminar) situated inside the Muslim quarter of Jerusalem's Old City. The student was named as Bliyahu Amedi, aged 22. On 16 November 1986, the three suspects reportedly confessed to the killing. During the funeral procession of Amedi, there were serious disturbances. Later in the day violent demonst~ations spread to the Jewish neighbourhoods of Sanhedria and Shemuel Hanavi, in west Jerusalem, where the family of the slain student lives. Lat~r in the night Increase of tension and incidents I ... A/42/650 En9lish Pago 16 t.hree pet.rol bombs were t.hrown from the yeshiva at Arab houses adjoining it. On 17 November 1986, it was reported that 30 Ara~s had so far filed complaints with the police over personal attaoks or material damage caused to them. On 18 November 1986, Arab shopkeepers observed a total business strike in the Old City and in most of East Jerusalem, in protest against the continuing anti-Arab attacks following t.he murder of Eliyahu Amedi. On 19 and 20 Novomber 1986, sporadic incidents were reported in the Old ~ity and in the Shemuel Hanavi neighbourhood. On 23 November 1986, a memorial ga~hering was held in the Old City for EliyLl.IU Amedi. It was attended by hundreds of Jews, inclUding yeshiva students and Kach activists. The memorial procession was accompaniod by anti-Arab attacks and shouts. The police chief ravealed that a dozen Arab families had moved out of flats in the vicinity of the yeshiva, but they could be expected to return shortly. He also revealed that two Arabs had been arrested the previous week after they tried to stab a Jew in the Old City. He reported that the violence at Jerusalem had foroed the po1tce to ask for a detachment of IDF troops to help maintain law and order. He said that 37 Jews and 8 Arabs had been arrested during the week. On 25 NovembQr 1986, the chairman of the Supreme Muslim Council at Jerusalem, Sheikh sa'ad a-Din al-Alami, appealed for int~rnational action to protect the Arab popu:ation of Jerusalem. On 26 November 1986, sporadic anti-Arab violence continued in Jerusalem. On 27 Novenlber 1986, an incident occurred opposite the spot where Eliyahu Amedi was stabbGd, involving members of his family and local Arab residents. On 29 November 1~86, a special team was set up at Jerusalem police headquarters to investigate the ~hain of events following the murder of Eliyahu Amedi. (Jerusalem Post, M~'ariv, 16, 20, 21 and 24 November 1986, Ha'aretz, Jerusalem Post,-Ma'ariv, 17, 18 and 19 NovembR~ 1986, Jerusalem Post, Yediot Aharonot, 26 November 1986, Jerusalem Post, 27, 28 and 30 November 1986) Incidents following the killing of two Palestinian youths at Bir zeit University 42. On 4 December 1986, the IDF set up road-blocks on the road leading from Ramallah to Bir Zeit. Troopo sorutiniled identity cards of all students and teachers entering the campus. Studento staged a Bit~~.n strike in protest. Tronps acrived at the scene and, immediately afi:.er warning the demonstrators to disperse, fired tear-gas grenades at them from close range. An Arab professor, Saleh Abdel Jawad, who according to Israeli military sources incited students to block the road, waR allegedly kicked, beaten, dragged to an army jeep and detained. This incident sparked off r5.ots. Aa a result 2 students were shot dead and 11 others were injured, including 1 seriously. The 2 dead were identified as Jawad Abu-Salmieh, from Khan Yunis, a physics and chemistry student, and Saeb Mahmoud A-Dhahab from the Jebalyw refugee camp near Gaza, a social science student, both aged 22. On 5 December 1986, several dozen youths rioted in the Balata refugee camp and stoned an IDr patrol. Troops ordered them to stop, then fired warning shots in the air and, when the ~one-throwers still failed to obey orders to stop, shot in the direction of their legs. A 14-year-old boy, Majed Khalil Abu-Dar'a was critically wounded in the chest. He was taken to Rafidi~a hospital at Nablus, where he later died. The camp of Balata was p'.aced under curfew. The killing of the two Bir Zeit students and the Balata boy triggerea off ~ wave of disturbances, demonstrations, clashes with security forces and business and school strikes throughout the West Bank and the Gaza Strip. On A/42/650 EnCJUElh PaCJe 17 8 December 1986, following a demonstration at the Balate refugee camp near NabluB, a 12-year-old boy, Ramadan Mohammed Abu-Zeitun, was reportedly killed in unclear circumstances. Four other residents were injured from lOP shots. At Abu nia, near Jerusalem, a local resident, Ahmed Said, aged 25, was killed when troopa fired shots to disperse a crowd blocking a road. Ston~-throwin9 incidents and other serious disturbances continued in many areas in the territories. Dozens were arrested. Several people, I~raeli oivilians and troo~~ as well as Paleat1nians, were reportedly injured in the incidents. The old campus of Bir Zeit university wos ordered closed for three weeks and Al-Najah University for one week. Disturbances were also re~orted in the Gaza Strip. Curfow was imposed f~t several hours in the contre of Ramallah and El-Bireh and at Bslate. On 11 Oecem~ar 1986, it was ~eported that, ~ccording to investigators examining the death of the l2-yoar-old boy at the Belata refugee cbmp, the shots that killed the boy were fired from a car carrying settlers and soldiers that passed by the camp at the time the boy was killed. On 30 and 31 March 1987, reports were published on the preparation for, and the celebration of the eleventh "Land Day" in tho tetritoriee, in solidarity with Israel'8 Arab population. In order to prevent organiz~d violent disturbances the security forces catried out a wave of preventive arrests and administrative detentions. Bir Zeit, A-Najah and Bethlehem Universities we,e ordered closed for one week. Incidents occurred at Jenin, in the Askar and Balata refutjoe camps, and at El-Blreh. There were business strikes ~t Nablus, Ram!.llah and El-Bireh. Police br 10f ly detained armed settlers from Riryat-Arba and lIebron who had escorted Israeli buses on the Jerusalem-Hebron road. A dozen Ara~s were detained on suspicion of disturbing the peace and incitement. On 6 April 1981, it was reported that the families of two Bir Zeit students k11led by IDF trQops during violent demon15trations in December 1986 had der..anded in a letto.er to Defence Minister Rabin and Attorney-General Yosef Harish, submitted throuyh Adv. relicia Langer~ that those responsible for the deaths be tried for murder. (Ha'aretz, Jerusalem Post, 5, 7 and 8 December 1986 and 31 March 1987, Ha'aretz, Yediot Aharonot, 9 December 1986, Ha'~retz, Jerusalem Post, Yediot Aharonot, 11 December 1986, Jerusalem Po~, 6 April 1 9 8 7 ) ' 43. On 15 April 1987, some 50 Jewish worshippers wore allowed by police, 7 at ~ time, to enter the Temple Mount and walk around the Dome of the Rock. The ope;ation was carried out in a tonse atmosphere. In a letter to Minister of Police Haim Bar-Lev, the mayor of Jerusalem, Teddy Koll~k, wrote that the visit by the Temple Mount faithful was in defiance of a 1967 government decision to ban such visits. (Ha'aretz, 16 April 1987, Jerusalem Post, 16 April 1987) 44. On 4 August 1987, it was reported that following the murder in Gaza of an Israeli officer a tight curfew was imposed i~ the Gaza Strip. Somb 4,500 workers from the region were reportedly denied entry to Israel and could not collect their wages on the eve of the four-day Muslim feast of the Id al-Adha. Some 1,500 refugee camp households were reportedly particularly haa:-d hit by ~he curfew, as their livelihood depended on fishing. Several shopowllers near the scene of the murder were being detained. The curfew in Gaza, except for the street where the murder was committed, was reportedly lifted in the evening of 4 August 1987. Families inside the curfew zone said their homes had been searched r$paatedly by IDF troops and that young men had been arrested. They said they were running short of food Asupplies. (Ha'aretz, Jerusalem Po~, 4 and 5 August 1987, ~-rpjf, i6 August 1987) / ... A/42/650 English Page 18 45. On 9 Auguut 1987, it was reported that the IDF had sot up an encampment along the road to Alfoi-MenaBhe settlement and begun gloundbreaking work for an outpost on a hill from which a petrol bomb had boen thrown earlicr. Military sou':ces said that the round-the-clock presonoQ of troops facilitated more frequent patrols and a quicker response in the event of an attack. I")tbor seourity meaourea envisaged by the IDP inoluded the outtin9 of paths to fivo J.ooationa on neighbouring hills overlooking the road, the levelling of the areas una their use as day and night look-out points by mutorized patrols along the road. (Ha'aretz, Jeruaa13m Post, 9 August 1987) 3. Policy of returning municipali~i~~ to local leaders Written information 46. The following table shows a sample of reports cuntaining information on the appointment of local leaders to various municipal functions by the occupation authorities, The follOWing abbreviations of the na~~9 of the newspapers are ~sed in the table: H JP Ha'aretz Jerusalem Post Date of appointmont Name Yusuf Ghanem Place _.- Title Head of looal council Mayor Mayor Mayor. Mayor H.:lad of local counr.il Source Deir-Dibwan, nt:!ar Ramallah Ramallah El-Birch i1ebron Anabta Eir Zeit H, 21.09.86 H, JP, 29.09.86 JP, 01.10.86 H, 21.10.96 H, 29.02.87 28.09.86 28.09.86 28.09.86 22.10.86 23.02.87 Kha1il Musa Khalil lIossan A-Taw!l Dr. Abdel Majid A-Zir '1'aher Hijazi ManRour Daout Shah!n / ... A/42/650 Enql1ah Pago 19 B. Information ooncerning arrests, detentions, trials and sentence! 1. Palefltinians (a) Arrests and administrative detention orders Oral evidence 47. Some witnesses desoribed their pereon~l experience of administrative detention. (A/AC.145/RT.4S8, Mr. AKram HaniyehJ A/AC.14S/RT.462, Mr. Khalil Ashour) Written information 48. During the periad un~er consideration, the Special Committee received a considerable number of reports from various newspaper& providing information on arrests and the issuing of administrative detention orders conoern~ng Palestinians in the occupied territories. Such information included, in most oases, relevant details such as the date, the Bubject(s), the place, the duration (in the case of administrative detention) and the motive invoked. According to this information there wea, during the period covered by the present report, a noticeable increase in the number of arrests and, in particular, administrative detention orders. Tho number of ~rrests recorded by the Special r.ommittee was in the order of 500. As to administrative detention orders, the Special Committee noted approximately 80 cases during the period un~er consideration. (b) Sentences information writt~n 49. During the period under consideration, information was reoeived on sentences passed against Palestinians in the occupied territories. Such information included relevant details suoh as the date, subject(s), place, duration and motive of the sentence. Aocording to this information, a number of heavy sentences, including life sentences, were passed against Palestinians. Persons sentenced included minors, Bome aged 13 to 15. On the basis of the information it reoeived, the Speoial Co~nittee recorded some 60 senten~es during this period~ (c) Releases Written information 50. During the period under consideration, a few releases were also reported in the press published in the occupied territories. 2. Written information 51. During the period under consideration, it was reported that a few Israelis charged. with murder or mistreatment of Arab civilians had been sentenced to various I . .. Israelis A/42/6S0 English Page 20 terms. In oontrast to the harsh sentences passed on Palestinian civiliano, tho sentenoes passed on those Israelis denoted the relative leniency of the authoritiee. C. Treatment of civilians, inoluding fundamental fraedoma 1. (~) General developments Harassment of civilians Oral evidenoe 52. A number of witnesses testifi~d on various problems enoountered by civiliana in thei. 1aily life ae a result of ocoupation. References were made to humiliatin9 pr&otices against the Palestinian popUlation, partioularly form~r detainees: "1 remained in detention until 24 April 1982, and when I was allowed to lea"e 1 received an idelltity card that carried 11 stamps. Each of thl)se waD a triangle inside which there was a circle, and each of those Btampa meant to the occupation authorities that the bearer of that identity card was an ex-prisoner. Suoh an identity card then becomes a licence to the occupation authoritiea to harass the hearer of that card, preventing him from travelling, from coquiring a job, and requiring him every week or every 10 days to report to one of the intelligence personnel. He would then be told to wait from ~ o'clock in the morning till 10 o'olock in the evening. Then his identity card would be taken from him, and then he would be told to come back the following day, and DO on." ,Khalil Ashour, A/AC.145/RT.462) 53. Problems encountered by foreigners married to Palestinians, as well aD problems regarding the health situation in the occupied territories, wore aloo referred to by witnesses: "Even people who carry foreign passports, who are not Palestinians themselves but have some relation by marriaqo or as in-laws, that kind of thing, are selected by the Israelis on the bridge and given a very difficult time over their entry, and I am experiencing that right now." (AnonymoulJ witness, A/AC.145/RT.462/Add.l) 54. The same witness referred to the problems regarding the health situation in the occupied territories: "To me, there are !l0 health services in the West Bank. You have the qovernment hospitalb that were there before 1967. They are very dirty, thoy are underequipped. Tho basic public health laboratories do not have the equipment, they are not allowed to purchase, they are given no budget. lIow health care is being done is by local Arab private ch6ritablc societies that usually set up village clinics to try to serve their people, but they aro onli a very small area. But even in order to do that, as I said, just aB you have a veto over the water committees, so too the charitable societies have to apply to the Minj stry of llealth in order to get a licence to open a clinic or a laboratory." (A/AC.145/RT.462/Add.l) / ... 1\/42/6!iO EnCilUuh l)aCle 21 SS. 'l'ootimonios relating varioua aDpocts of tho haraoament at civUhng may bQ found in documents A/AC.14S/RT.462 (Mr. Khali1 Aahour, Mr. Ahmad Naaer), A/AC.14S/RT.462/Add.l (an anonymouD witnoss). A/AC.145/RT.463 (Mt. Yusaof Zahloul) , and A/AC.14S/RT.464/Add.l (an anonymoua witnooa). written information 56. On 11 September 1986, it was ali~~ed that Israoli patrols had boon harassinCil rosidents of the Kalandiya refugoe oamp ovor tho previous fow days. Aoooroing to the report, local youths were oubjeoted to searohoo day and night at the oamp entrance and thorough searohes were oarried out on oars. Similar alleClations woro made with regard to the Ja1azun refugeo oamp, noar Rama1lah. (Al-Fajr, 19 September 1986) 57. On 16 october 1986, a general atr iku was held in Gaza to protoot allo(Jocl harassment and humiliation by the seour ity for, ...,!; in the wake of tho murder, on 7 Ootober 1986, of an Israeli taxi dr iVOL in the centre of Gaza. (lie' arotz, Jerusalem Post, Al-Fajr, 17 Ootober 1986) 58. On 11. Maroh 1987, the family of Rashad al-Koraki waD ropurtcdly COL'olbly evicted from its home in the Muslim quartor of Jorusaloln's Old City. 'I'ho @viotion operation was reportedly oarried out by Israeli Doldiers who refuBed to Dhow an eviotion order. Identity oards of Rashad al-Karoki and his wile, aD well as lU901 papers ooncerning the house, were oonfisoated. (Al-Fajr, 13 Matoh 1981) 59. On 15 Maroh 1987, it was reported that the High Court. of Juotioe had rejooted an applioation by three Hebron shopkeopora against tho construotion of Cl seourity ~onoe in front of their stores on the 9round fluor of the lIadalil8Qh building. (Jerusalom post., 15 Maroh 1987) ~emonstration On 5 April 1987, the Paloatini~n Family Reunificat.ion CommittoQ hold Q in front of the Prime Minister's offioo at JorusalQm. The Committoo, established three months earlier, had some 1,000 familioo \~ho hod boon refusod rounL: ioation requesta. Aocording to tho orgonizers, some 5,000 unification re~~eots have beon oubmitted in reoent years. lorooli offioials oaid that pooitiVG ~espunaos had been restricted in order to prevent a mass influx of new rosidents, ~~~ich would strain the already taxed resouroes of the territories". On 5 August 1987, it was reported that the oivil adminiot.ration in the West Bank had granted requests by 350 Palestinians to join relativos and boooll'~ pormanont reaidenta in the Wost Bank under family unifioation arrangomonto. (Joruoalom PORt, 6 April 1981; Ha'arotz, 5 Auguot 1987) 60. 61. On 10 June 1987, the Jerusalem district polioo conVicted a bordeL' guard, Yona Zuchov, 24, of oausing injury in aggravated oircumstanooB to a 7-year-uld Arab boy. The border guard admitted that he had apprehended the boy thUHI W Ui ellrliol as the latter walked out of the Temple Mount towards the Wailing Wall al:".... 110 dragged the boy to tho Wall and beat his head against it, oousing woundo that required several stitches. (Ha'aretz, Jerusalem Post, 11 June 1987) A/42/650 English Page 22 62. On 26 July 1987, it was reported that thousands of Palestinians were waiting on the Jordanian side of the Jordan bridge to be able to enter the West Bank as visitors, following a decision by the civil administration of the West Bank to reduce the number of summer visitors. (Haearetz, 26 July 1987) (b) Collective punishment, including demolition of houses Oral evidence 63. Various accounts were made of the repression suffered by a group of people or whole community as a form of collective punishment, by way of imposing curfews or demolishing or sealing houses or rooms on the pretext that the owners did not have a building licence, or under the allegation that owners were carrying out activities against the occupying authorities. 64. Such accounts may be found in documents A/AC.145/RT.462 (Mr. Khalil Ashour); A/AC.l45/RT.462/Add.l (an anonymous witness); and A/AC.l45/RT.463 (Mr. Yussef Zahloul). written information 65. During the pe~iod under considetatiQn, the Special Committee received reports from various newspapers providing information on different forms of collective punishment appli~d against the civilian population. Such information included relevant details such as the type of punishment (house or room sealing; house demolition; preventing of the reopening of shops); the subject(s) of punishment; the place and motive invoked. Acco~ding to this information, the period considered witnessed several cases illustrating the condemned practice of house demolition used as a form of collective punishment. (c) Oral Expulsion and deportation eVide~ 6~. The Special Committee heard several statements on the practice of expulsion and deportation of Palestinians from the occupied territories. A number of witnesses stressed the political reasons behind this practice. Mr. Akram Haniyeh, the deported editor of the East Jerusalem daily Al-Sha'ab, stated in that connection: " ··· I would say that I was chosen to be deported, first, because my voice was louder than others in saying that we, the Palestinians of the occupied territories, are for self-determination, for freedom; secondly, my work as a journalist, as a writer also, m~d~ my voice louder than others; so I was chosen because of that." (A/AC.l45/RT.458) The illegal nature of the deportation procedure ~as outlined in some testimonieS. The Special Committee also heard accounts of the actual difficult physical conditions of the deportation proc~ss: / ... A/42/650 English Page 23 "On the fiftieth day of my detention, they took me, and Marwan Barghouti, who was a fourth-year student at Bir Zeit University, to Beersheba prison, which is in the Negev, in the south. We spent 24 hours in a darkened cell with two beds but no blankets; we ~ere given no food. The sanitary facilities were not operating. In the morning a number of Israeli soldiers took us to wadi Araba. We were blindfolded, handcuffed and our feet were bound. They made us lie down in the vehicle and they put their feet on us. Throughout the trip they kicked and punched us. We came to a building where they took off the blindfolds, the handcuffS and the ropes that had bound our feet. They re-read the deportation order to us and asked us to sign it, but we refused because we were nationals and had the right to remain in our country, and because that deportation was in contravention of the Fourth Geneva Convention on the rights of civilian populations under occupation. They made us strip, they took photographs from every angle, and a military doctor came who gave us a medical examination. Then once again we were blindfolded and handcuffed and they took us 30 km and handed us over to the Jordanian military authorities after giving us back the money that had previously been taken from us. But they did not give back my passport, my university identity card or my birth certificate, although I do not really know why. So today I have no identity card, living here in Jordan." (Khalil Ashour, AiAC.l45/RT.462) 67. Testimonies referring to the problem of expulsions and deportations may be found in documents A/AC.l45/RT.458 (Mr. Akram Haniyeh), A/AC.l45/RT.462 (Mr. Khalil Ashour, Mr. Marwan Barghouti), A/AC.145/RT.463 (Mr. Jihad Karashou1i, Mr. Bader sumsain, Mr. Yussef Zahloul). Written information 68. On 3 November 1986, the security authorities issued an expulsion order against Akram Haniyeh, the editor of the East Jerusalem daily Al-Sha'ab, whom they accused of hostile activity on behalf of the Palestine Liberation Organization. Haniyeh denied the charges and said the reasons for the order were political. Haniyeh was reportedly detained in the Central West Bank prison, at Jneid, Nablus. On 6 November 1986, late at night, a military advisory committee unanimously decided to r.eject Haniyeh's appeal against his expulsion and recommended that the decision be upheld. On 11 November 1986, the High Court of Justice issued an order nisi pr-eventing the expulsion of Akram Haniyeh until it ruled on the legality of the matter. The court ordered the military authorities to show cause within 14 days why the expulsion should not be cancelled. According to the petition to the High Court filed by Adv. Felicia Langer, the military advisory committee that recommended the expulsion acknowledged that there was no evidence Haniyeh was involved in terrorist actions, but concluded that his "subversive activities cause far more damage than specific terrorist actions would have·. On 16 December 1986, the office of the State Attorney presented to the High Court of Justice 311 classified documents purporting to prove that Akram Haniyeh, editor of the East Jerusalem daily Al-Sha"ab was a ·senior Fatah activist". The documents were submitted in support of the Statels position that the order to deport Haniyeh should not be cancelled. On 26 December 1986, Akram Haniyeh withdrew his application to the High Court against the expulsion order. In a statement dictated to his lawyer Felicia Langer, Haniyeh said he had decided to withdraw his I ... A/42/650 English PAge 24 application "aftet the oourt session in which the judges refused to give me or my lawyers An opportul ity to seo the secret material brought against me in order to rebut it and defend myself". On 28 Deoember 1986, Haniyeh was expelled from Iarael to Algeria, via Zurioh. Red Cross representatives supervised the operation. ICRC later condemned the Iaraeli deoision and said it ran oounter to ~he Genova Convention. whioh prohibited an ocoupying Power from deporting Q petson from an ocoupied territory. (Ha'aretz, gerusalem Post, Ma'ariv, 4 November 1966, Ha'arotz, 7 November 1986 and 15 and 29 Deoember 1986, Jerusalem Post, 6, 11 and 25 November 1986, and 11 and 28 December 1986, Ha'aretz, Jeruaa1em Post, 9 ~nd 12 November 1986) · 69. On 12 Maroh 1987, Raja Arbi' a, a 19-year-old woman suffering from a heaL't ailment, and mother of a one-month-old baby, was deported from the Gaza Strip to Egypt following the e~piry of hor visitor's permit. The deportation was oarried out despite a written statement by her Israeli doctOl that she was too ill. to travel. Raja Arbi'a, daughter of a Palestinian family reBiding at Duba!, married 0 Gaza resident, Mohammed Arbi'a, in 1~85, bUl had been unable to reside permanently w~th her husband in the area beoause their request for family unification was rejected. III a rolated development, i. t was reported 011 16 March 1987 that Amal Abd el-Karim, an Egyptian woman who married in 1993 a Gaza resident, hBd appealed to the High Court of Justioe against a decision to deport hot to Egypt. Sinoe their marriage the couple applied twice for a resident's permit for the woman, in the framework of family unifioation, but were turned down. (Ha'aretz, 12, 15, 16 and 17 Maroh 1987, Jerusalem P09~, 15 March 1981) On 24 Maroh 1987, the Central Region Conunander, Aluf (Maj.-Gen.) Ehud Barak, issued an expUlsion order agairlot I\hali1 Aahour, 45, from the Aakar refugee oamp near Nablua. Ashour, a former seourity prisoner, had twioe served administrativo detention terms in the past. On 27 April 1987, the ~~ntral Region Commander, Maj .-Gen. Ehud Barak, issued a deportation order against the ohdrman of the Bir Zeit University student council, Marwon Barghouti. On 9 Moy 1987, the lawyer of Marwan Barghouti announoed that hie client had withdrawn his appeal against an expulsion order issued against him the pr~,vious month. On 14 May 1987, Barghouti was oxpelled to Jordan. Together with him, Khalil Aohour, was also expelled. The operation was oarried out under the supervision of ICRC. (Ho'arctz, 26 March 1987 and 15 May 1987, Ha'arotz, Jorusalem Poat, 28 April 1987, Jerusalem Post, 10 and lS May 1987) 70. 71. On 31 May 1987, the oommander of the Southern Region, Alu£ (Maj.-Gen.) Yit~hak Mordeohai, ordered the expUlsion of Ahmad Fath Abdel Nasaor, 36, of Khan Yunis, Q former scour ity pr ieonor released in the prisoner exchange with Ahmad Jibri1'o organization in 1985. In a related development it was reported that Jihad Masaaimi, 36, of the Balata refugee camlr' wos ordered expelled, for organizing disturbanoes at A1-Najah University and in colleges in the rogion. (Ha'aretz, Jerusalem Post, 1 June 1987) 72. On 15 July 1981, it was reported that the seourity authorities had deoided to expel Zakar:1a a··Nahas, from El-Bireh, on ohargee of infiltration and recruitment. Nahas was arrested on 20 Deoember 1985 and sentenoed to 3 1/2 years' imprisonment and 2 1/2 years' suspended term. The decision to expel him reportedly followed.his release from jail. (A1-1'aj r., 19 ,JUly 1987) j / .... A/42/6S0 English Page 2S (d) !gonomio aspects Oral eVidenoe 73. A number of witnesses referred to the deteriorating living oonditions of the oivilian population and desoribed tho situation of workers and farmers and the various interferences they were subjected to on the part of the ocoupying authorities. Speoifio referenoes wore made to the oontrol exerted by the ocoupying authoritieo over water supplies. Problems faoed in the agrioultural seotor were atresllod, in partioular tho situation of farmers in the Gaza Strip, inoluding problems related to the citrus fruit ~roduction in that area. 74. Referring to the general situation of workers in the occupied territorios, one witness, Mr. Ibrahim Mohanna, stated, "Half of the Arab work-force work in that part of 'Palestine ocoupied sinoe 1948 and are given the most difficult jobs, such as construction and farming. From their wages are deduoted all the usual insuranoe oontributions, but they do not reoeive that insuranoe. And there is another speoial characteristic that unites all these workers, they have no medioal insurance for their ohildren, they reoeive no unemployment pay, they are deprived of unionist liberties and other human rights." (A/AC.14S/RT.463) 7S. Mr. Ahmad Nasor referrod to the situation of farmers in the Gaza Strip, "water is rationed and expensive. Also the supply of tomatoes, ououmbers and potatoes in the market ··· That of course reduoed the prioe, so we used only to oover our expenses, sometimes we even used to sell at a loss, even though there was a surplus to feed ourselves. They, on the other hand, did not try to take that surplus back into Israel beoause the prioe of a tomato, f.or example, in Israel is quite hi9h, but the prioe of a tomato in the Gaza Strip is very cheap. Therefore they always usod to try to flood the market with any oommodity. So 1, as a simple farmer and a now one in the profession, would lose a lot ··· "I remember that I attended a meeting with the official responsible for agrioulture in the Gaza Strip. He told us that we should have 'model agricUlture', but I told that official that they were not trying to give us the minimum of marketing facilitios for our goods. I said, 'You want uo to produce, but you are not giving us facilitieo'." (A/AC.14S/RT.462) 76. Such accounts may be found in documents A/AC.14S/RT.462 (Mr. Ahlllad Naser) , A/AC.145/RT.462/Add.l (an anonymous witness), A/AC.14S/RT.463 (Mr. Ibrahim Mohanna, Mr. Abde1 Kader Mohammad "atab), A/AC.14S/RT.464/Add.1 (an anonymous witness), A/AC.14S/RT.467 (Mr. Mohammed Zahdi Nashashibi). Written information 77. On 3 November 1986, the Cairo-Amman Bank opsned its Nablus branoh after several postponements. It was described as the first West Bank institution to resume business following the June 1967 war. On 7 and 8 JUly 1987, it was reported / ... A/42/6S0 En9Uah P490 26 that the head of the oivil adl.linistration in the Weot Bank, ff/A (Bri9.-Gen.) Efraim Sneh, had oi9ned an agreement with the direotur-general of the Cair.o-Amrnan Bank providing for the opening of branches of tile bank at Ramallah. liebron and Jenin. (Jerusalom Poot, 4 November 1986 and 7 July 1987, Ha'aretz, 8 July 1987) 78. On 1 June 1987, the head of the civil administration of the Weot Bank, T/A (Bri9.-Gen.) Efraim Sneh, told reporters that the year 1986 marked a "real eoonomic recovery" in the region, and that this should oontinue in the present budget year. Proceeds from agriculture grew by 63 per cent in 1986 and export grew by 23 per cent. Unemployment in the region remained lOW, but T/A Sneh said he was aware of the (,toblem of Arab university graduates in the West Bank who did not find suitable jobs. The head of the civil administration of the Gaza Strip, T/A Yesha'yahu Eruz, said at the same meeting that the most serious problem faoing the Gaza strip was the "ever-inoreasinq disorepancy between geography and demography", with some 650,000 inhabitants living in an area of 362,000 sq m, and with the natural birth rate standing at 4.6 per cent (compared with 1.9 per cent in Iarael). T/A Brez said that development projects in the region would be concentrated in refugee rehabilitation projects and the improvement of water Dupply in the southern Gaza Strip. In a related development it was reported on 7 June 1987 that unemployment in the territo,ies fell from 4.2 per oent in 1905 to 2.8 per cent in 1986, while real wages rose by 30 per cent for Arabs working in Israel and by S por cent for those working in the territoriea. (Ha'aretz, 8 June 1987, Jerusalem Post, 7 June 1987) , 79. On 8 June 1987, the Southern Region Commander, Aluf (Maj.-Gen.) Yitzhak Mordechai, rescinded an order, etfective since mid-May 1937, that had strictly restricted commercial fishing along the Gaza Strip ooast. Botween 1,500 and 2,000 families in the region, mainly in the Shati refugee oamp, roportedly depended on fishing for their livelihood. (Jerusalem Post, 9 June 1987) RO. On 2 JUly 1987, a report W8b published on findings of the State Comptroller's ,eport on t41e aotivities of the West Bank and Ga2:a Strip's oivil administration during the 1985/86 fiDca~ year. Some of the report's major findings wero the following: (a) During the pariod under consideration, the Jordan Valley Jewish settlements overate9ped their water quotas by 35.6 per cent, settlements in the Judea aroa (southern West Bank) oversteppod theirs by 44.8 per cont, (b) West Bank Arabs paid significantly more fat their water than did Jewish settlers, whose water bills were subsidized by the World Zionist organizationl (c) Mekorot seized several dunamo of land in Samaria in 1986, drilled for water in the Judean Uilla and laid water pipes for a 3ewish settlement without receiving proper approval or compensating local Arab landowners. The Comptroller noted, however, that compensation had since been offered. (Ha'aretz, 29 June 1987 and 7 July 1987, JeruG~lem Post, 26, 28 and 30 June 1987 and 2, 3 and 7 July 1987) / ... A/42/650 English Page 21 2. (a) Information oonoerning fundamental freedomo Freedom of movement Oral evidenoe 81. A number of witnessea referred to various limitations restricting the right to froedom of movement, such as the practioe of houae or town arrest, or travel bans. 82. 'l'estimonies relat ing to restr ictions to the right to freedom of movement me.y be found in documents A/AC.145/RT.458 (Mr. Akrarn Haniyeh)J A/AC.145/RT.462/Add.l (an anonymous witness) J A/AC.145/R~.463 (Mr. Ibrahim Mohanna, Mr. Yussef Zahloul) , and A/AC.14S/RT.464/Add.l (two anonymous witnesses). Written information 83. During the period under consideration, the Speoial Committee reoeived reports from various newopapers providing information on measures affeoting the freedom of movement of the civilian population. Suoh information included relevant details such as the date, the Bubject(B) of restriction, the plaoe and tYQe of restriction applied and, when available, the motive of the restriotion. Acoording to the information provided, restriotions such as travel bans or town rest~ictions had been implementeJ both individually, against specific persons, or collectively, against all the residents of a given town or Village. (b) Freedom of exprossion Oral evidence 64. In the course of his testimony, Mr. Akram Haniyeh, ~he deported editor of Al-Sha'ab, testified on the several ways in which the right to freedom of expression was ourtailed by the occur',ing authorities. He evoked the restrictions imposed on any cultural manifestation that could be related to nationalist Palegtinian aspirations. He gave a detailed account of the difficulties faced by the Arab press in the occupied terr itories, such as th,g implementation of 1.1ws and regulat ions Umitin.;, the freedom of the prese, the censorship, banning or delaying in the distribution of newspapers, the interference in the daily work and different types of harassment of journalista, such as kidnapping, killing, deportation, arrests and town arrests (A/A~.145/RT.458). Written information 85. On 1 October 1986, it wus reported that Mahmoud Abu Zuluf, owner of the East Jerusalem daily AI-Quds had alleged that the civil administration had been withholding a distribution permit for a new Palestinian evening newspaper, AI-Massa, for over three months. (Jerusalem Post, 1 October 1986) 86. On 1 October 1986, t~e military government ordered that the distribution of the East Jerusalem daily Al-Fajr be suspended for seven days, for failure to submit material to the military cenAOr. (lta'aretz, 3 October 1986, Jerusalem Post, 2 October- 1986) / ... 'A/42/6S0 EnqUah Page 28 81. On 22 October 1986, military authorities at Nablus reportedly summoned three local bookshop owners ~nd the correspondent of the East Jerusala~ based woman's magazine Abeer, and reprimanded them for diatributing the magazine without a permit. Hundreds of copies of the magazine were oonfisoated. The editor and pUblisher of the magaaine had applied for a permit to distribute his magazin~ in the West Bank and Gaza seven months earlier but had not beon granted ono. (Al-Fajr, 24 October 1986) 88. On 22 December 1986, the distribution in the territories of tho East Jarusalem daily A1-Fajr was banned for twu weeks because of 11 alleged censorship violations in recent weeks. (Jerusalem Post, 23 December 1986) 89. On 3 March 1981, the East Jerusalem Al-Hakawati theatre was ordered closod for 12 hours to prevent a meeting marking the first anniversary of the assassjuation of the late NabluD mayor Zafer al-Masri. On 24 April 1981, the Central Region Commander issued a closure order following information that a meeting was to be held in the theatre to mark Prisoners' Day. On 8 July 1981, the Central Region Commander, Amram Mitzna, issued an administrative order closing the theatre, in order to prevent the holding of a ceremony commemorating the fifteenth anniversary of the death of Ghassan Kanafani, an author alld playwriter who was affiliated with the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine. (Ha'arotz, Jerusalem Post, 4 March 1981, Ma'ariv, 26 April 1987, Ha'aretz, 9 July 1987) 90. On 27 April 1987, the securi: authorities banned the distribution of the East Jerusalem newspaper Al-Sha'aLJ in t.ho territories, for alleged accumulation of several censorship violations. (Ha'aret~, 28 April 19a7) 91. On 17 August 1987, the civil administration in the Gaza strip dismissed from his work Dr. Zakaria al-Ara, head of the Internal Department of the Naoser hospital at Kilan Yunis, I1nd chairman of the doctors' union in tho Strip. The roason for th!'3 dismissal was given as Dr. al-Ara's hostile articles in East Jerusalem newspapers, including an obituary for a Rafah studont killou at Bir Zeit by Ior soldiers' shots. On 19 August 1987, all the hospitals in the Gaza Strip held a two-hour strike in protest over Dr. al-Ara's dismissal. (Ha'aretz, .1.a, 20 and 21 August 1987) (c) Freedom of association Oral evidence 92. Probleme encountered by trade unions were also evoked by some witnesses. Mr. Ibrahim Mohanna referred to the constant harassment of trade unionists: "Out uf 13 members of the Executive Committee of the Federation, only 2 have been allowed to leave the occupied territories. Those unionists have also been summoned by the intelligence services of the enemy and they have been threatened that they will not be allowed to return to their work. The authorities have also t(ied to impose some of their agents upon the labour movement, in order to destroy that movement ···· / ... A/42/650 English Page 29 "In Gaza, the General Federation of Palestinian Worker.. was closed down by the Israeli authorities. They are not allowe~ to carry out any activities. They have not been allowed to elect an Executive Board or have new members attached to the Federation. For ~O years now the Federation has been inoperative, and many generations of workers have been prohibited from carrying out any activity in Gaza. In the West Bank it is a formality only and there is no substance." (A/AC.14S/RT.463) 93. Another witness, Mr. Ali Abu Hilal, descriued various restrictione and pressures exerted by the Israeli authorities on trade unions and their leaders. Referring to trade, unions in the Gaza Strip, he stated' "Since 1965 and up to this year, the Israeli occupation authorities have not allowed the holding of elections for those unions. The authorities have systematically refused any attempt to cQMordinate the activities of the workers, or to allow the unions to defend the rights of the workers, especially thoAe working in Israeli enterpr:lsee;,." (A/AC .145/RT. 464) 94. Ho then mentioned the situation of trade unions 1n the West Bank, "The occupation authorities last October issued an order to close down the headquart.ers of a union at Nablus, and arrested Mahmoud Ziada, who i.s the General Secret.ary of t.he union. He was kept for four months under administ.rative det.ention. Also the general institution union in Ya'bad in Jenin was closed down, as were a number of 'other unions in Bet.hlehem and in Nablus. Those who are under forced residence ~ong t.he un10nists are increasing in number from day to day." (A/AC.145/RT.464) 95. Such accounts may be found 1n documents A/AC.145/RT.463 (Mr. Ibrahim Mohanna), and A/AC.145/RT.464 (Mr. Ali Abu Hilal). written information 96. On 17 October 1986, securit.y forces placed road-blocks at en'aances t.o the Nablus headquart.ers of the General Confederation of Trade Unions in the West Bank, preventing trade union activists from attending a regular meet.ing. (Al-Fajr, 24 October 1986) 97. On 19 October 1986, security f.orces raided two branches of the General Confederation of Trade Unions, at Rebron and at Abu-Ois, near Jerusalem. Files and document.s were confiscated. At. Hebron four part.icipants were detained. Mahmud Ahmed Ziadeh, the head of the Trade Union Confederation, was placed under administrative detention for six months. On 21 October 1986, an IDF spokesman announced t.hat a Nablus trade union office had been closed for one year, aft.or allegedly serving as a Palest.ine Liberation urganizat.ion f~ont. The Cent.ral Region Commander, Aluf (Maj.-Gen.) Ehud Borak, extended for a further six months t.he order closing another Nab1us trade union Qtfice. (Ha'aretz, 22 October 1986, Jerusalem ~, 22 and 29 October 1986) / ... A/42/6S0 English PaCil8 30 98. On 4 April 1987, public service and co"mercial wurkera in Ga~a held union eleotions for the first time sinee labour aotivity was banned in the tegiotl in 1967. The elections took plaoe despite efforts by the military authorities to prevent them. Soldiera reportedly prevented people from entering the union offico and removed printed ballots and ballot boxes tram the offioe. A union activist, Talaat Laffi, was arrested on the eve of the elections and was ohlllrged with incitement. He was nono the lean olocted. (J~[uaulem Post, S April 198') (d) Freedom of eduoation Oral evidence 99. Several witnesses appearinCil before the Special Committee described the difficult problems faced by Palestinians in the occupied territories in the field of education. Reference was made to problems deriving from the implementation of Military Order. No. 854, Mr. Munthir Salah, the deported President of Al-Najah University, stated in that connection: "In 1981, they issued Military Ord9r 854, treating univorsities as they treat primary and secondary schools: th~ objective was to control ~he universities and to oanoel out all the henefits and privileges aoquired by the students and young Palestinian people on their own territory. That Order 854 was to dominate the students, to control thoir entrance to and acceptance by the universities, and also to restrict the expansion of the universities, both vertically and horizontally." (A/AC.145/R'f.464) 100. Mr. Badir Sumsain, from the Higher Education DepartmGlIt, Pales"ine Liberation organization, stated t~e following: "Iarael ··· illsued Military Order 854 stipulating that no teacher or professor may work in public educational institutions, whet.her kinderqarten, primary, secondary or higher education, \':1thout written permission 1J.om the authoritieo. 'llhia is direct interference with academic freed?m." 101. The particular climate of tension and aggravation of the situation in universities during the current academic year, which had led to the killing of students, the repeated closure of several univer~ities and the detention or house or town arrest of students and teachers, was referred to. Mr. Jihad Karashouli, Head of the Department of Education and Higher.' Studios ot: the Palestin(~ IJiberation Organization, said in the course of his testimony: liThe practicea against our people nre increasing ever:y day and worsening every day, particularly during this academic year, 1986/87. All the universities in the occupied territories have been raided, and a large number of students have been detained or impr J,soned, especially at Bi r zeit university. It waG invaded, shots wele firf!d at the ~.tudellts, 2 of whom were killed, while 13 others were wounded. Also one of the professors was detained. 'l'he ban icades that they place on the road leading to the University impede tlw ~tudents and professot:ti and prevent thp.m f!':om reaching their classeu. .·· I.Hr Zeit has been clos~d 13 times, for a total of 550 days, and has been raidf~d by troops 30 times, uflually aiming [or HH~ I A/42/6S0 English Page 31 laboratories, Dcientifio equipment and instrumenta, which were destroyed or put out of order. The library is also a target. Al-Najah University has been olosed 6 times, for a total of 527 days, and raided 39 times. Bethlehem has been closed 8 times, for a total of 180 days, and raiued 24 times. Hebron University has been closed 6 times, for a total of 81 days, and raided 16 times. Gaza University has been closed 8 times, for a total of 311 days, and raided 20 times. Higher edu~ation institutes have also been subjected to the same kind of treatment, with the detention of students and professors, administrative detention or house arrest or city arrest." (A/AC.14S/RT.463) 102. Several witnesses referred to various restriotions faced by educational institutions, such as the denial of adequate buildings, faoilities, equipment and books. Mr. Munthir Salah said in this connection: "The authorities also prevented Al-Najah from building on old university land. Construction was halted on one building for three years ···· It was a political deoision, with no academic or technical reason. "The 8uthorit~es also refused to allow the university to set up a faculty of agrioulture, beoause they know that such training ties the national more firmly to his land. We were also forbidden to set up a faculty of arts, so we set up sections in other faculties instead, giving them all the prerogatives of a eeparate faCUlty. But we were determined that agriCUltural training should be given, and faced with this the occupation authorities agreed that Al-Khalil (Hebron) University might set up a faoulty of agriCUlture. Their refusal was not for academic reasons, it was a political reason. "As far as books, laboratories and instruments are oonoerned, we pay customs duty as if we were a share-holding society. Hundreds of books and instruments are banned and oannot be used by the students, while the same books and instruments can be found in the Israeli universities. If one of those banned books is found in the possession of a student or a professor, it is a seourity accusation, and the person conoerned is imprisoned or detaine~ and a sentence passed against him." (A/AC.145/RT.464) 103. Mention was also made of measures employed by the occupying authorities in order to hinder the normal functioning of the educational institutions, such as olosures and the setting of road-bl~ks, or the transfer of primary school children from one area to another. 104. Efforts to modify the curricula in accordance with the interests of the Israeli authorities were outlined in some testimonies. 105. Various forms of harassment that teachers and students were confronted with were evoked in a number of testimonies. Suoh problems included administrative detention, house or town arrest, the raiding of students' houses, the revocation of teachers' permits, interference in the appointment of teachers, deportation or expulsion of university teachers or students, confiscation of books. / ... A/42/650 English Page 32 106. Such accounts may be found in documents A/AC.145/RT.462 (Mr. Khal!l Ashour, Mr. Marwan Barghouti) , A/AC.145/RT.463 (Mr. Jihad Karashouli, Mr. Bader Surneain), A/AC.145/RT.464 (Mr. Munthir 8alah), A/AC.145/RT.461 (Mr. Adnan Abdul Rahim). Written information Al-Najah University 107. On 21 September 1986, it was reported that the security authorities had not extended the work permit of the President of the Al-Najah University in Nabluo, Dr. Munzer Salah. On 18 October 1986, security forces reportedly broke into the University and carried out searches. On 10 November 1986, the military authorities reportedly set up road-blocks at the entrances of the University. On 20 December 1986, IDF erected road-blocks at the entrance to the University at Nablus, preventing students, faculty members and other em~loyees from entering the campus. On 9 March 1987, security foroes raided the University at Nablua and searched the university offioes. On 26 March 1987, the Central Region Commander ordered the closure of the University until 11 April 1987. On 17 April 1987, the Central Region Commander ordered the closure of the University for one week. On 3 JUly 1987, the Central Region Commander, Amram Mitzna, ordered the olosure of the University for 24 hours, following information that students there intended to hoJ.d a demonstration to mark Palestine Week. On 17 August 1987, seourity forces raided the oampus of the University at Nab1us and oonfisoated printed material described as "inciting material". (Ha'aretz, 21 September 1986, 22 Deoember 1986, 27 Maroh 1987, 19 April 1987 and 19 August 1987, Al-rajr, 24 Ootober 1986, 14 November 1986 an~ 13 and 27 Maroh 1987, Ma'ariv, 5 July 1987) Bethlehem Universitx 108. On 18 September 1986, road-blocks were reportedly place~ on aCless roads to Bethlehem University. On 6 November 1986, it was reported that the military authorities had extended the closure order on Bethlehem's Frbres University for another week, the University had been olosed for 8 wee~ on 30 October 1986 following student disturbanoes. On 14 November 1986, the Central Region Commander, Aluf (Maj.-Gen.) Ehud Barak, issued an order allowing Bethlehem University to reopen. On 26 Maroh 1987, the Central Region Commander ordered the closure of the University until 1 April 1987. (Ha'aretz, 19 September 1986 and 27 March 1987; Jerusal~~, 6 November 1986, Al-rajr, 21 November 1986 and 27 March 1987) air ~eit University 109. On 18 September 1986, the IDF placud road-blocks on acceSB roads to Bir Zeit University, banning aocess to students and staff. On 19 February 1987, the military authorities issued an order extending the closure of the University until 21 February 1987 "in anticipation of demonstrations". On 19 Maroh 1987, security forces raided and searohed the ~ew campus of the University. No search warrant or written order was presented. The soldiers oonfisoated Bir Zeit newsletters and publications from the public relations office, some 200 textbooks and other material from the Student Council office and other material from faculty offices. Private files and records were reportedly opened by the soldiers. On 13 August 1987, the University reopened after a four-month closure. The reopening / ... A/42/6S0 EncaUah Pago 33 was accompanied by a warning from the West Bank military oommander that the oampuli could be closed permanently if it beoame the scene of further unrest. (Ha'areta, 19 September 1986, Jerusalem Post, 23 FebL'Uluy 1987 and 14 Au~uut 1901, Al-l"a1!, 20 and 27 February 1987 and 6 and 27 March 1981) Hebron University 110. On 23 February 1987, it wae reported that Hebron unive[sity wao closed until 15 March 1987. (Jerusalom Post, 23 February 19ij7) Islamic University of Gaza 111. On 16 February 1987, the military authorities ordered the Islamio university of Gaza closed for three days following demonstrations. On 22 February 1987, the University was reportedly ordered closed until 4 March 1987 after a clash betwQen students and troops. (Jerusalem Post, 23 February 1987, Al-Fajr, 20 und 27 February 1987 and 6 March 1987) Other educational institutions 112. On 24 October 1986, it was reported that the militar.y commander of tho Rafah region had issued an administrative order closing the "Beeraheba" school at Rafah for seven days. The Al-r~hra seoondarv school for girls in Gaza waD C10DOd for 10 uays, starting 22 February 1987, following the students' participation in demonstrations. On 26 February 1987 th~ Al-Faloujoh secondary sohool 1n Jabalya refugee camp, in the Gaza Strip, was closed down for an indefinite period. Tho Al-Manfaloti' secondary school for girls, at Doh 41-001011, wau reportodly raided on 26 February 1987 by troops, and several arrests were made and the school waD closed indefinitely. On 26 February 1987, the Israeli authoritioe reportedly refused to allow five students reoently released from tho Far'a dotontion centre near NabluG to return to school in Al-Khader seoondary sohool, noor Bethlohem. On 22 March 1987, the Central Region Commander ordered the closure for on indofinite period of an elementary school in the Jalazun refugee oamp. The oloBure ordor followed stone-throwing incidental On lS June 1987, it was roport.ed that some 200 youths would take their matriculation examinationD this year in prison. This waD reportedly due to the effervescence prevailing in schools in the territurieo over the past academic year, leading to numerous arrcsts among studonto. (Ha1arotz, 24 October 1986, 27 March 1987 and 15 June 1967, Joruoa1om Poat, 23 ~'Qbruary 1967, A1-rajr, 20, 27 February 1987, and 6 March 1987) --3. Oral evidence 113. In the course of his testimony, Mr. Yussef Zah1ou1 referred to the noticoob10 escalation, in 1986-1987, in the number of attacks by armed settlors on unarmeu Palestinian citizens. (AlAe .l4S/RT. 463) Information on aett1ets' activities attecting the civilian population ~/42/650 English Page 34 written informati~ 114. On 6 September 1986, IDF forces dispersed dozens of settlers from the Gaza Strip who held a praye( meeting and a demonstration at the ancient synagogue in Gaza. On 27 September 1986, some 150 settlers from the Gaza Strip and a group of settlers from Heb:on held prayers at the ancient synagogue in Gaza. On 2 November 1986, the Gaza District Regional Council Secretariat and the Religious Council of the district decided that settlers would hold prayers at the ancient synagogue in Gaza at the beginning of each month of the Jewish calendar. CHa'aretz, 7 and 28 September 1986, and 3 November 1986) 115. On 2 October 1986, the Council of Jewish Settlers in the Gaza Strip decided to set up "civil defence patrols", following the recent wavs of incidents in the region. (Ha'aretz, 3-6 October 1986) 116. On 4 October 1986, the military government lodged complaints against 5 settlers, members of the MShechem" nucleus~ and evacuated 15 others, who arrived at Joseph's Tomb in Nablus and wanted to spend the night at the site, in violation of army orders. On 14 October 1986, it was reported that some 70 West Bank settlers who attempted unsuccessfully to break through a military cordon surrounding Joseph's Tomb in Nablus, spent Yom Kippur fasting and praying outside the fenced-off area. They were protected by some 100 soldiers. On 19 OCtober 1986, the "Shechemft nucleus members, together with yeshiva students, set up a "sukkah" (a booth erected for the Feast of Tabernacles for seven days, following Yom Kippur) at Joseph's Tomb, and prayed there. (Ha'aretz, 6 and 20 October 1986; Ha'aretz, Ma'ariv, 14 October 1986; Jerusalem Post, 14 October 1986) 117. On 14 December 1986, a group of reservist paratroopers who had just finished a month's service at Hebron, reported to Mk Ran Conen about settlers' attitude towards the lOcal population. The paratroopers alleged that the Hebron settlers were gradually - and with the knowledge of all the military echelons - occupying and taking control of the entire surface of the Patriachs' Cave, including the Yussufiya Hall, where Jewish prayers were prohibited. The paratroopers also complained that, for each Jewish settler at Hebron there were two soldiers to protect him. (Yediot Aharonot, 15 December 1986) 118. On 13 February 1987, it was reported that villagers from Azzun Atma and Beit Amin, near Qalqilyah, were fired on by settlers when they tried to return to their lands. The two villages were at present surrounded by settlements. (Al-Fajr, 13 February 1987) 119. On 5 March 1987, settlers from Kiryat-Arba and Hebron reportedly smashed windows of 20 cars in Ha1hul, in retaliation for the stoning of 2 Egged buses earlier. On two occasions in the previous week an "Action Committee for Safe Driving on Judea and Samaria Roads R , headed by Kiryat-Arba council member Ben-Yishai, reportedly vandalized Arab property in the AI-Arroub refugee camp, north of Hebron, following stone-throwing incidents. (Ha'aretz, Jerusalem Post, Ma'ariv, 6 March 1987) / ... A/42/650 English Page 35 120. On 6 April 1987, settlers from Kiryat-Arba blocked the Jerusalem-Bebron road after an Egged bus was stoned as it passed through Halhul. Committee members threw stones and smashed car windows in Halhul before they were dispersed by troops. (Jerusalem Post, 8 April 1987) 121. On 12 April 1987, following the petrol bomb attack on a civilian car in which a Jewish settler from Alfei-Menashe, Ofra Moses, was burnt to death, several hundred settlers from nearby settlements drove through the town of Qalqilyah shouting slogans and smashed car and shop windows. Settlers also set fire to an orchard and fields in the village of Habla. (Ha'aretz, Jerusalem Post, 13 April 1987) 122. On 19 April 1987, after midnight, three set~lers from the Gaza strip allegedly kidnapped a 9-year-old child from the village of Bani-Suheileh, Riad Izzat al-Moughrabi, whom they suspected of stone throwing, beat him and drove him in their car in the direction of the Erez check-point. At the check-point the child managed to escape and reported about his kidnapping to one of the soldiers. On 25 April 1987, a police officer reported that the three would be charged with illegal imprisonment, trespassing, assault and breaking the public peace. On 12 June 1987, the head of the investigation department in the Gaza district police reportedly recommended that the three be tried on charges of illegal detention, trespassing and assa~llt. (Ha'aretz, 21, 23 and 26 April 1987 and 12 June 1987; Jerusalem Post, 23 April 1987) 123. On 24 April 1987, six Kiryat-Arba settlers rioted at the Patriachs' Cave at Hebron. The settlers forced their way into Isaac's Hall, where they distributed to the Muslim worshippers leaflets in favour of settlement in the territories. Troop reinforcements arrived and evacuated the settlers. The lOP filed complaints with the police against the six. (Ha'aretz, 26 April 1987) 124. On 5 May 1987, during the night dozens of settlers from Alfei-Menashe, Karnei Shomron and Kedumim, led by the Gush-Emunim secretary general, Oaniella Weiss, broke through an IDF road-block at the entrance to Qalqilyah - which was placed under curfew - smashed empty bottles against store fronts, set tyres on fire and overturn~d garbage bins and vegetable carts. The ope~ation was reportedly in reaction to the throwing of a petrol bomb at an Israeli settler's car. On 19 May 1987, a charge sheet was filed with a magistrate's court in Kfar Saba against Mrs. Daniella Weiss, who was reportedly facing charges of unruly conduct in a public place and of intentionally causing damage. (Ba'aretz, 7, 8 and 10 May 1987; Jerusalem Post, 7 May 1987; Ma'ariv, 8 May 1987) 125. On 9 May 1987, groups of settlers broke into Joseph's Tomb, near Nablus, and refused soldiers' orders to leave. They were evicted and taken to the military government headquarters where complaints were filed against them. On 17 May 1987 th~ newly appointed Central Region Commander, Aluf (Maj.-Gen.) Amram Mitzna issued a r~striction order against Romem Aldubi, an Ellon-Moreh settler, banning him from ent~ring Joseph's Tomb at Nablus for a period of three months. The settler was reportedly served with the ban after he had repeatedly tried to break into Joseph's Tomb, assaulted soldiers, set up road-blO(~ks and blocked traffic in Nablus. According to a report, this was one of the very rare occasions in which a Jewish / ... A/42/650 English Page 36 settler's presence was restricted in the West Bank. Earlior, Rabbi Meir Kahane"s presencc at Uebron was banned for: thrce weeks. (lIa'areta., iJeruaalem Poet, 10, 18, and 19 Me.y 1987) 126. On 6 Juno 1987, some 70 armed settlers from Kiryat-Arba and flebron, believed to be supporters of the Kach movement., rioted in the Oheisheh refugee campI they fir~d in the air and sot fire to two cars. Local residents threw stonoe at thorn and a violent scuffle broke out. IOP troops stepped in and dioporood the riotera. six Gcttlo,s were arr.ooted and the camp was plaoed under curfew. ~ivo more r.iryat-Arba cattlerQ were arrosted on 7 June 1987, bcinging the numbor of suspects to 11. On 12 June 1987, a charge sheet was filed against 12 of the suspects. S1x of them were Qharged with aggravated assault and rioting. The othor Deven, oharged with leaser offences, were released on ball. On 15 June 1987, it was reported that tho six suSpectd held in oustody had gone on hunger strike and that other Ki~yat·Arba settlers were to join them in the strike in sympathy. On 11 June 1981, the six settlers oharged wittl rioting at Dheisheh wore released on bail on oondition that they romain in thair homes every day from 9 p.m. to 6 a.,". and stay away from Dheisheh and Al-Aroub refugoe oar.lo. On 18 August 1987, the Sta~e Attorney's Offioe added two membera of the Kiryat-Arba vounoil to the list of PO'9~'\S oharged with rioting in the Oheisheh refugee oamp in June 1987. (lta'arotz, Joruoaltml Poat, Ma'sriv, 7-1:&., 14, 16 and 18 June 1987, Hu'aretz, 19 Auguat 1987) O. Oral evidenoe Troatmont of detainoes 127. 'rho Speoial Conunittee hoard several witneaseG who doBer ibod condit iona in detention. MOAt ",itnosse8 rolated thair perRoOl.d experience, covering poriodo of! detention sometimes exoeeding 10 years, and relating to harsh oonditione faood in ' several dotention oontres and prisons ouch as Nablus, Aahkolon, Beit Lid, Al-Fara'l1, Jnoid, Gaza, Kfar Yona, Nafha, RamaUah, 'rulkarem, Sarafanu, Akha, Jalamoh and Boorsheba. Particular montion was mado ofl the harah conditione in the recontly roopened Ansar 2 detention oamp. 128. Most witnessea refer rod to var ious forma of ill-treatment such as phyf.li,oal torturo and violonco, [iAychol09icnl humiliaU,on and 1so1atitm in solitary confinoment, thu lack of sanitary faoilities, of adequate nutrition and clothing, the donial of rolevant medical treatment, the overcrowdin9 of cello, the denial of the right to receive visita and cultural material and infor.mation, and tho prc(~cupyin9 situation of oetained minors. 129. The following are a few calev~nt exoerpts from the tastimonioa: "Of course, the food was terrible, and when we got the moal, we nad onl~' sesame oil in water and bread, that was all we had. They said, 'That is yOIH. food, and these are your blankets'. Each ono w~s iaoued two blankets. 1 WdD the first in Uno, and when 1 asked the officer, 'Is this our food?' he said, 'Como here, come out, you are not allowed to speak'. 1 told him, 'I asked a question, I did not talk. It is my right to receive an anawcl". The officer i ...... A/42/650 English Pago 3'1 told me, 'You are not allowed to object o;~ to protest'. 1 said, 'I did not protest, 1 just asked a qu~stion'. Of course, on the baais of this quootion 1 wae puniehed. 1 wae beatQn, I wae tied up. I W8S beaten up all night ··· "I ".'80 taken and tortured, I wao put in solitary conUnement. I was tiod hand and foot ,nd my hands were tied to my logs, and ~ was thrown on the floor, on the tiles. This laoted from 5 o'clock till 12.15 i ao far as I remember. There w~s a l~t of kicking and beating by th~ Israeli soldiers. When I tried to move, one of my hands was oompletely immobilized be~auoe the rope that was tying me wae very tight. All I did, therefore, was to be patient and resist oollapsing." (Ahmad Naser, A/AC.14S/RT.462) J.30. Another aspeot outlined by a number of witnessQs was the problem of compulsory work imposed on detainees and the harsh oondicions of such work. 131. One witness referred to the specific problems faoed by women prisoners. Most testimonies menticned the several hunger strikes aimed at ameliorating the treatment of detainees and that had sometimos led ~o the death of hunger: ~triker:o. 132. These test imonies may be found in documents A/AC .145/RT. 462 (Mr. Khalil Ashour, Mr. Ahmad Naser and Mr. Marwan Barghouti), A/AC.145/RT.463 (M~. Kamal Yaain), A/AC.14S/RT.464/Add.l (an anonymouo witness), and A/AC.145/RT.466 (Mr. Ali Younis). w~itten information hunger strike by seourity prisoners ~he 133. On 3 Octobar 1986, it was roported that so~e 2~0 security prisoners held in the Hebron prison were holding a hunger strike for over one week and that 180 seout ity prisoners hold in Kfar Yona prison had also gone on hunger str ike in protest against alleged deterior~tion in their detention conditions. The strikers were reportedly complaining of bad overcrowding. On 8 October 1)86, it was rer?rteu that the hunger strike held by seourity prisoners had spread to tho Nablu<\ prison and was now affecting 1,580 prisoners. A prisoner who had been released from Kfar Yona prison a few daV8 earlier alleged that guards had ~ecently started to beat inmates frequently, to use tear gas without any justifioation and tu humiliate the prisoners. He said guards reoently started kicking the ptiHoners even when they were prostrate for prayers, and that the prisoners wore not allowed to pray as often as they would like. lie alleged that the food was inadequate and that rooms meant for 5 inmates wore packed with 10. It was also alleged that at }Iebron young prisoners oonvicted of seo~rity offences were lodged with oommon criminals. Many inmates had skin diseases due to mildewed rooms and lack of sunlight. ThQ ~eleased prisoner also alleged that the authorities had started to oonfiscate Arabic books and magazines formerly allowed into the prison. On 10 October 1986, it was reported that the hunger strike in Kfar Yona had come to an end following a meeting between the prisoners' represantatives anu the prison authorities. The latter reportedly granted several of the inmates' request9. (Ha'aretz, 3, 9 and 10 October 1986, Jerusalem Post, 9 October 1986, Ma'ariv, 6 OotoBer 1986, Yediot Aharonot, 8 october 1986) J I ...... A/42/650 EnfJIlish rae,Je' 30 134. On 26 Maroh 1987, some 1,000 seourit.y priaonero in soveral prisons went on hunger: ~tr:lke to protest. t.heir detent.ion oonditione. The strike was observed in the Kfor Yona, Nablus and "ebren prisons. The Commissioner, David Maimon, said he would "not allow to oonvert the seourity prioona into schools for terrorists", and he was determined not to give in to preasure by the soourity prisoners. Maimon refusod to meet with a oommittee of lawyera repreoenting the aecurity prisonors. Ho added that he was willing to consider the problems of specific prisoners. (na'ar:et~, Jurusalem Post, 27 Maroh \987) 135. On 1 April 1987, it was report.ed that. some 3,000 Arab security prisoners had gone on hunqer strike since thn previous week, in a demand to be given the same oonditiona as those given to criminal prisonera in Israel. According to the strikers' lawyecs their numbel: reaohed almost 4,000. Mohammad al-nourani, who was releasod from Jnoi~ prison ono week previously, said that tear-gas canisters had boen thrown into oells, and t.hat pr isclnero had been beaten and put in solitary oonfinemont for periodo exceeding tho 14-day 10ga1 limit. The recently appoirated Prisono Commissioner David Maimon reacted to the demands by pledginq that he woU'd make no conoesoiona to the otr1kort~. (Ha' arotz, Jerusalem Post., 1 Apr il 1987) 136. On 3 April 1987 .i.t wao reported that. 2,000 secur ity priaonors were still on hungor strike, but that they drank water and that none needed medical treatment. Souroes in the Prisons Servloe acknowledged that measures had been taken recently to stop seourity prisoners from getting organized in t.he prison. In the framework of those measures oertain reatriotiona were impesed on the priaonera, includin~ denial of free movement between oells and priuon wardo. The Prisono Commissioner announoed that he would no longor reuognize tho aeouiity prisoners' loadership institutions and their col1ootiv9 opokoamanohip. Three prioonera from the Jnoid prison appliod to the High Court of Justloe against the Prisons Commissioner on 2 Apr 11 1987. III th(l'ir petition they said that. no doctots had seon them since thoy began their hunger strike on 2S Maroh 1987, and that without medical treatment thoy might suffor irremediablo harm. (~l'Hetz, Jorusalom Post, 3 Apr i l 1987) 137. On 8 April 1987, it was reportod that eight hunger-striking security prisoners had boen hospitalized the proviuuEl day. According to Red Cross reports, aomo 1,700 prisoners were still on strike. According to prisoners' relatives they had been told by Red CraGs officials that 20 had been hospitalized in recent days. (Jerusalem Post, 8 April 1987) 138. On 13 April 1987, the hunger Dtriko by socurity prisoners was reportedly endod, without any contacts being made botwoen the Prisons Service and the strikera' represontatives. It was reported from the Prisons Service that Commissioner Maimon would persist in his policy uf not recognizing any body (J~ aiming to represent the pr isoners, be it an elected council on behalf of the prisoners or committees of lawyers ropresenting the security prisoners. (Ha'aretz, 15 Apr 11 1987) Other developments 139. On 5 September 1986, it was reported that Arab detainees at the Russian Compound in Jerusalem had told their relatives that hygiene in the prison was / ... A/42/650 English Page 39 deteriorating and that ao a result of the use of dirty blankets skin diseaseu were frequent among the detainees. The teenage prisoners in Hebron Prison reportedly sent a letter of complaint to ICRC and to lawyer walid al-Fahoum of Nazareth in which they protested over th~lr separation from other Palestinian prisoners. (A1-Fajr, S September 1986) 140. On 14 September 1986, two security prisoners in NabluB prison were choked to death in their slet:lp by a cell mate, Ibrahim A-Ray, 19. (Ha'aretl, Jerusalem Poat, 15 september 1986) 141. On 15 September 1986, Amnesty lnternational published allegations of torture and ill-tr~atment of prisoners in the territories. Detailed allegations of torture were made by Adnan Mansour Ghanem, who was deported to Jordan in February 1986 after being held for three months in Gaza ~ri8on. Sources at the Justice Minlstry said on 15 September 1986 that the Ministry was making an effort to complete, within a short till'e, an ir.veatigation into allegations that Ghanem' B lawyer, Lea Tsemel, had submitted in February 1986. (Ha'aretz, Jerusalem Post, 16 September 1986) 142. On 15 Ootober 1986, the Co-ordinator of Aotivities in the Territories, A1uf (Maj.-Gen.) Shmuel Goren, during a prese tour of Far'a detention oentre, denied allegations made by Amnesty Internati~nal in its 1986 report that Palestinian seour ity prisoners were tortured and beaten in Israeli prisons. He admitted that there might be "dsviations· in whioh abuses of Palestinian prisoners did ocour, but declared that officers guilty of such inoidents were brought beforo a military court and punishod. (Ha'eretz, Jeruaalem Post, 16 Ootober 1986) 14J. On 17 Ootober 1986, seourity foroes reportedly beat and brutally dispersed a or"wd of aome 250 women outside the Hebron pr i.Bon protesting against detention conditions. According to an eye-witness four person~ were arrestedl two women i an as-year-old man and a 14-year-old boy. On 10 ootober 1986, seourity forces in Jerusalem used clubs to disperse a peaoeful demonstration of women protesting against their sons' detention conditions. (AI-rajr., 24 October 1986) 144. On 28 October 1986, Bassam Ali-Sarim, 18, from Qalqilyeh, a convioted prisoner sentenced to four years' imprisonment and held in the Ayalon prison, was strangled by two inmates. (Jerusalem Post, 30 October 1986, Ma'ariv, 19 october 1986) 145. On 21 November 1986, a security prisoner, Amer Mahmoud Abd el-Salim Qarusna, 22, from Beit-Hanun, was stranglf'd to death in his cell in the Gaza priseln. (!!!..' areu, 23 November 1986) 146. On 14 December 1986, it was reported that a detention facility similar to the Ansar camp in Lebanon, but smaller, had been set up in the Gaza Strip the previous week, to detain looal residents acoused of disturbing the peace. Ninety such persons, including children, had reportedly been detained in that camp over the previous week. On 17 December 1986, at a press conference organized by the head of the Palestinian Red Crescent. Society in the Gaza Str ip, flH:lI,er prisoners held at tile new detention facility near Sheikh Aj10un, in the Gaza Strip, referred to the severe oonditions they had allegedly been submitted to such als humiliating A/42/6S0 English Page 40 practicee, physical violenoe and danial of auequate legal counsel. On 1Y Deoembe~ 1986, it was reported that the new detention oentre in the Gaza Strip had beon olosed down the pr~vious day by deoision of the Southern Region Commander, Aluf (Maj.-Gen.) Yitzhak Mordekhai. '1'he "fow dozen" detainees left in the oamp were reportedly released. However, Palestinian sources in Gaza said more than lS had boon tranuferreu to the Gaza prison. On 24 February 1987, the IDF organized a proas tour of the Gaza dotc~tion oamp, known as Ansar 2, whioh was reopened recently. Some 142 looal residenta, aged 14 to 33, were being detained in the facility. No family visits were allowed but lawyers and Red Cross officials were permitted to see the inmates. On 13 March 1987, a group of prisoners held at the Ansar 2 detention camp, complained to lawyer Pelicia Langer, at the Gaza military court, of detention conditions in the camp. Adv. Langer transmitted the complaints to Defenoe M1niste~ Y1tzhak Rabin and to the Attorney General Yoaeph Harish. It was later reported that 90 detatnees hold at the Ansar 2 oamp began a hunger strike to protest the conditions in the oamp. On 6 May 1987, it was reported that Ansar 2 would shortly beoome an ordinary prison for seourity prisoners. (Ha'aretz, 14, 18 and 19 Deoember 1986, 2S February 1987, lS March 1987 and 6 May 1987, Jerusalem Post, 18 and 21 December 1986, 2S February 1987 and 15 March 1987, Maladv, ~ebruary 1987, Al-Fajr, 20 March 1987) 147. On 6 Fobruary 1987, two KnOs8et members, Tawfiq Toubi and Tawfiq Ziad of the Democratio Front for Peaoe and Equality, visited the Jneid prison at Nablus. The pcieoners alloged that they had been subjected to frequent and violent sear~hes by the guards. Thoy doscribed an inoident on 27 January 1987, when guards sprayed the prisoners with teor gas to quell olashes, after the guarda allegedly insisted on oonducting a foroed search of the colla. Aa a result: of the inoident several inmates wore reportedly injured or lost consoiousness and at least one of them had to be hospitalizod. Other demands made by the prisoners during the visit inoluded the improvemont of medioal oare and the quality and quantity of food, a solution to the problem of overcrowding, ending the isolation of young political prisoner.s from the rest of the political prisoners and the right to form a committee to represent' the prisoners with the prison administration. (Al-Fajr, 20 Februaty 1987) 148. On 1 March 19lrl, a oecurity pr ir:oner in the Gaza pr iaon, Abd al-Rahim Mansour, 38, was murdered by another secur ity prisoner who suspected him of collaborating with the pr ioon author iHes. 'rhe Pr ieons Servioe Commissioner appointed a commission of inquiry to invostigate the case. (Mo'ariv, 2 March 1987) 149. On 19 March 1987, it woo reportod that a Pa1Gstinian woman, Naila Ibrahim, 26, arrestod on suspicion of belonging to the Democratic Front, had miscarried as a result of beating and other maltreatment during interrogations at the Russian Compound at Jerusalem. In an affidavit to her lawyer, Folic1a Langer, Mrs. Ibrahim said she was arrosted on 19 ~'obruary 1987, on suspicion of membership of a hostile organization in 1983. When arrested she told her interrogators that she was pregnant, but they told her: "we donlt care, you are like a man", and beat her. When she beqan haemorrhaging and vomiting she was acoused of feigning sickness. Mrs. lbrahirn had a pre~lnancy test at the Gaza Blood a.ank on 15 February 1987 and the test was positive, but Adv. Langer was told by th~ district polioe doctor on 18 rebruary 1987 that her client had never been prc9nant. On 1 Maroh 1987, a judge at the military court in Ramal1ah ordered that she be given a medical examination / ... A/42/650 English Page 41 urgently, but only Ofl 14 Maroh 1987 was she taken to a Jerusalem clinic for an examination. No one 9a~e her the results of that examination. On 23 March 1987, Hrs. Ibrahim was released on bail of IS 1,000 ($650) by the Ramal1ah military court. A ~etitior. was earlier published by 140 Israeli women expressing shock over Mre. Ibrahim's treatment and demanding that those responsible be brought to justice. (Ua'aretz, 20 and 24 M~roh 1981, Jeruaalem P09t, 19 and 24 March 1987) 150. On 8 April 1987, it was reported that Izzu al-Awawdeh, 35, a resident of the village of Kharasa, neat Hebron, who became blind while in detention in Hebron two weeks earlier, alleged that his blindness was caused by electric shocks applied to him during the interrogation. On 25 March 1987, ha was hospitalized in the Hadassah hospital at Jerusalem, for neurologioal and psyohiatric tests. His lawyer, Ali Gazlan, filed complaints with the Minister of Police, the Prisons Commission and the Attorney-General. (Ha'aretz, 8 April 1987) 151. On 9 April 1987, it was reported that the Judge Advocate General's office decided to put on trial four reservists who were involved in beating detainees in the Ansar 2 detention camp in Gaza. Two were already tried, convicted and fined. (Ha'aretz, 9 April 1987) 152. On 1 May 1987, a security prisoner held in the detention wing of Deersheba gaol, Fawzi Dasaam Abu Mutalek, 19, was r~portedly murdered by another security prisoner, Fuad Abu-Kuah, 18, from Rafah, who oonfessed to the murder. (Ha'a~etz, 3 May 1987) 153. On 21 May 1987, Lt was reported th&t according to an IDr commander in the Weat Bonk, there were at present 350 detainees in the detention facility at rar'a, which was designed for a mftximum of 150 detainees. Furthermore, owing to the overcrowding in other gaols in Israel, convicted prisoners who were sentenced to prison terms were sent to serve their sentences in Far'a, even though it was designed as a pre-trial facility. (Ha'aretz, 21 May 1987) 154. On 29 May 1987, it was reported that the State Attorney's office had decided to grant the request of a detainee, Abed Fatah Said, to be transferred from the Tulkarem gaol to another prison, due to torture and ill-treatment during his interrogation. (Ma'ariv, 29 May 1987) 155. On 19 June 1907, the trial began, at the southern region military court, of an IDF li,eutonant and five military polioemen and soldiers on charges of repeated cases of physical assault, verbal humiliation and other abuses committed during their service at the Gaza detention camp, Ans~r 2, in the Gaza Strip. (Ha'aret~, Jerusalem Post, 21 June 1987) 156. On 12 July 1987, a trial was opened at the military court of the southern command of six soldiers charged with ill-treatment of detainees at the Ansar 2 detention camp in the Gaza Strip. Sergeant Da"id Nasainian confessed t~ having beaten and ill-treated detainees. Reserve soldiers appeared in the court as witnesses for the prosecution and detcribed a long series of abuses inflicted by the defendants on detainees. On 27 July 1987, S/A (Lt.-Col.) Yehiel Moran tastified in tho trial of the si~ uoldiera charged with ill-treatment of detainees I ... A/42/6S0 English Page 42 at Ansar 2. 8/A Moran told the court that during the first days following the oponing of the camp all the Arab detainees taken there, including 12-year-old children, were left in the cells with their hands and feet tied. In the course of the reception procedure detainees ~oIere left t\> stand in the open aiL', in cold and rainy weather, with Bome of them almost naked, he said. (Ha'aretz, 13 and 28 JUly 1987) 157. On 15 July 1987, Prisons Commissioner David Maimon held a press tour of the Hebron gaol. During the tour inmates complained of regular beatings by warders, inadequate medical treatment, poor food, lack of hot water and humiliating strip searches. They said tear gas had been used in the cells in March when prisoners refused to allow new prisoners into already overcrowded cells. Maimon conceded that overcrowding was a "ter r ible problem". Refer r lng to changes he introduced in prison policies, which had sparked off \arge-scale hunger strikes earli~r in the year, Maimon said chat" all rules and regUlations (that had been abolished by his predecessor Rafi &uissa) have been reinstituted". (Ha'aretz, Jerusalem Post, Ma'ariv, 16 July 1987) 158. On 21 July 1987, a detainee held in Jenin prison died in unclear circumstances as he was taken to be interrogated. Awad Hamdan, ~3, from Aramin, near Tulkarem, was arrested on 17 July 1987 on suspicion of membership in a hostile organization. The detainee's family aaid he died as a result of torture. On 29 July 1987, it was reported that Adv. Felicia Langer, the Hamdan family's lawyer, had sent a letter to tho Ministers of Defence and of Police, to the Attorney-General and to the committee looking into the interrogation methods ~f the General Security Services. Adv. Langer accused the latter's interrogators of causing Hamdan's death and demanded that the inquiry of the case be thorough and that those responsible be punished for their deod. (Ha'arotz, 24 and 29 July 1987, Jerusalem Post, Ma'ariv, 24 July 1987, Al-Fajr, 2 August 1987) 159. On 27 July 1987, the military court in Ramallah acquitted Naaser Nimr Iyad, 22, an Al-Fajr employee from Ka1andiya refugee camp, of charges of membership of the Fatah and recruiting others. Iyad was held in prison for 60 days. He alleged that during that time he had boen subjected to all kinds of torture, including brutal beating on all parts of hi9 body and psychological torture. (AI-Fajr, 2 August 1987) 160. On 7 August 1987, the Prisoners Friends Association (a Nazareth-based association defending the rights of Arab prisoners) sent a letter to Arab Knesset members and ICRC, in which it complained of an alleged deterioration in the prisoners' situation, following the designation of David Maimon as head of the Prisons Authority. (~l-Fajr, 16 August 1987) 161. On 13 August 1987, charge sheets were filed with the military court of the southern region against three IDF soldiers on charges of severely ill-treating a Khan Yunis resident. According to the charge sheets the soldiers arrested Sarhian Abu Sa'lik on 12 April 1987 after he had refused an officer's order to extinguish a burning tyre. The military prosecutor accused the three of ill-treatment, damaging the IDF by overstepping authority and illegal assault. (Ha'aret~, 14 August 1987) / ... A/42/650 English page 43 JJ:. Annexation and settlement 1. Policy written information 162. On 1 September 1986, it was reported that tho management of the Investment Centre had approved the creation and expansion of industrial plants in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip at a cost of $6.256 million. On 14 September 1986, the same body earmarked 811 additional $1.1 million for the creation of industrial plants in five West Bank settlements: Kedumim, of ra, Shilo, Hadar Beitar and Nevo-Tzuf. (Ha'aretz, 1 and 15 September 1986) 163. On 20 September 1986, Foreign Minister Yitzhak Shamir said in a radio interview that he intended, after becoming Prime Minister, to increase the number of settlements in the territories "within the framework of our economic limitations and the coalition agreement", which called for the establishment of up to 27 new settlements in the territories. In the same context, it was reportod that over 20,000 Jews had settled in the West Bank since the establishment of the "national unity" Government in october 1984, 13,000 of them over the past year. According to a domographic survey carried out by the IDF, the Jewish population of the West Bank and Gaza strip at present stood at some 60,000. (Ha'aretz, 24 September 1986, Jerusalem Post, 21-24 September 1986, Yediot Aharonot, 23-24 ~eptember 1986) 164. On 13 November 1986, Prime Minister Shamir met, for the first time since he took offlce, with a Gush Emunim delegation. Shamir said he suppurted the idea of setlling "in all parts of the Land of Israel" and asked that plana in writing be submitted to him, but he explained that, given budgetary and coalition-linked constraints, he preferred, for the time being, to expand existing settlements, and create new ones only at a later stage. (Yediot Aharonot, 12 November 1986, Jerusalem Post, 13 November 1986; HQ'ar~tz, 14 November 1986) 165. On 9 December 1986, a Housing Ministry official being completed by Minister David Levy comprised six territories. Mr. Levy also announced at the meeting begun of a new houaili':J project in the Jewish quarter 10 and 17 December 1986) reported that a plan that was Ilew Jewish settlements in the that construction had just of Hebron. (Jerusalem P.2!!, 166. On 25 June 1987, an agreement was reached between Prime Minister Shamir, Finance Minister Moshe Missim and Housing Minister David Levy on finding the funds necessary for the establishment of two new settlements in the territories, whose creation had been a~proved by the Cabinet. The Ministers also decided to expand existing settlements and to build bypass roads near Qalqilyah and Dheisheh. (Jerusalem Post, 28 Jun~ 1987) 167. On 15 July 1987, the Chairman of the Tehiya party, Yuval Ne'eman, told his party's central committee that Prime Minister Shami, had promised that "thousands of new housing s\".arts" would be can It'd out in the West Bank in the next 18 months - inclUding 3,000 in 1987 and a further 3,000 in 1988. According to Ne'eman, the Likud also gccepted a plan formulated jointly by Tehiya and the / ... A/42/GSO English Page 44 "Counoil of Settlements of Judea and Samar ia" for oonstruction of new l'oade on the West Bank. The Likud further undertook to speed up tho oonstruction of Avenei-Hefetz and Hadar Beitar, two of the six aettlemoh:s whose establishment was provided for in the Government's gUidelines. (Jerusalem Pos~, 16 and 20 July 1987) 2. Oral evidenoe 168. In the course of his testimony, a witness referred to the arbitrary seizure of land by the Israeli au~horities: "Any land in the West Bank is threatened with expropriation or oonfisoation tor 'security reas~na' or for reasons that are allegedly legal. There is no law that gives the Government the right to expropriate my land, but in most oases they allege that it belong~ to the State, or it is olose to the property of the State, or it must become the property of the State for seourity reasons. Than it is used for a settlement, whose settlers pfactise violence and expansion, thus forcing farmers to emigrate." (A/AC.145/RT.464/Add.1) Written information 169. On 1 September 1986, a oeremony was held at the Nahal outpost of Beit-Ha'arava, in the northern D~ad Seo area. The ceremony marked the turning of the outpost into a civilian settlement. (~m, 2 Septembf;lr 1986) 170. On S September 1986, it was reported that landowners in the West Bunk villages of Salfit and Iskaka, south of Nab1us, hbd recently been notified of a decision to declare 4,000 dunarns of their lands as State owned. A week earlier 3,000 dunams of, land belonging to Bidya Villagers, in the same area, had also been declared state owned. (Al-Fajr, 5 September 1986) 171. On 8 October 1986, the i.nauguration ceremony was reported of two new settlements in the Gaza Str ip, "Bedolah" and "Bney-Atzmona". Deputy Prime Minister and Housing Minister David Levy promised at the ceremony that the Gove,nment would expand set~lement in the rogion. (Ha'aretz, 9 October 1986) 172. On 21 uctober 1986, a ceremony was held at the settlement ot: "Kokhav-Yair", in "Western Sarnar ia", to mar k the beg inning of the settlement's population. (Ha'aretz, 22 October 1986). 173. On 18 NoVeJuber 1986, the High Court of Justice rejected a petition by Arab residents of the Sur Dahir suburb of Jerusalem demanding the return of some 500 dunams of land expropriated in 1970. (Jerusalem Post, 19 November 1986) 174. On 2 Decemb~r 1986, the military authorities reportedly informed the mukhtars of the villages of Urif, Burin and Asira al-Qibliya, all in the Nablus district, of a decision to coniiscate 700 duname of their land. On 9 December. 1986, the Measures / ... 1\/42/650 l!:ngliah Pago 45 mukhtara of tho villagou of Kafr Qaddum, Beit Lid and Quein, alao in thQ NalJ,tuu district, wore informed of the oon£isotltlon of 10,000 dunamG of their land. (Al-Fajr, ~ and 12 DocQmber 19ijG) 175. On 2 Decembor 1986, Houoing Minister David Lovy told a oorroopondont that 11'101:0 than 2, 700 hom~a had bogun being built in Jewioh settlements in the toa.'r itul' ieo oinco the turmation of the national unity Government. (JQ~uaalom ~out, 3 DocQmoor 1966) 176. On 23 Deoember 1986, the authorities rQPortod1y uprooted aOllle 1,000 oU VG soedlings noar tho villago of ~awiya, i~ the Nablus area. (Al-Fajr, 25 Uecember 1986) 1"/7. On 8 JletJruary 1987, the flouaing Minister, David Levy, inau9uratod tho construction in the "Jowiah courtyard" section in the oontre of 1I0U,..(1). ("u'aret~, 8 February 1987) 170. On la ~ebruary 1981, hundreds of residents of the Wout Jerusalom noighbourhoods 01' 'l'alpiot and Arnona, and tho Eaot Jerusalem Jewish neighbourhoou of East 'l'ulpiot, joinod Mabs from the neighbouring village at Sur Uuhh' ill U protoot uCJllinat the planting of a pine forest on ilgr ioultuE'ul lund oultivutod by the villQgoro. Mayor 'l'eddy Kollek r-!'tiolputod in the deR\onstration. (,To I: UIJulolll ~, 11 ~ouruary 1~81) 179. On 25 March 191Hi, Minlstor Dovid [levy laid a cornorotonQ to tho 1I0W town u1 Dei tar, in a coremony that wao dioturbod by Jowiuh demonatratoru fn\:u OQVU1UPlllollt towns, protosting ugoinDt "wQoting money on oottloRlenta", ruther than Ul)olldiny it on reul oocial problomo. (Ha'aretz, 18, 19 and 26 Ml.u:oh 1987, Joruuulolll POGt, 26 Maroh 1907) 180. On 25 May 191f1, Housing Minister David Levy took part in U our:omony in lUlon Moreh to lay tho foundation stone for a new residential aroa, oollod "Uivut Hum!", ano nWllod aftor HUlf,i Hubu, the 8-yoor-old boy murderod noar tho Dottlolllont uovol:ul daya curlier. When completed Givat Rami would house SO fomiUuo. (Joruoalem l'uut, 26 May 198'/) -lln. 011 29 May 198"1, it waD reported that acoording to a report lJy tho WOL"ltl Zionist l"odorution' 0 Settlement Department, the Jowioh popUlation in tho WOBt UlJllk stood at 60,500 ,ll the end of 1986. 'rhCl: largest Bettlements wer:c Ar:iol (U,!)OO inhabitants), Maaleh-1\dumim (12,400), 1nlanuol (4,000), Givat-Z<;I'OV (:1,900) alld Kiryat-At'lJa (4,440). Thero were 118 settlements and 21 outpouto. 80mo 1.3,500 housing unitu wore occupiod and aome 1,040 were otill empty) 2,821 construction. (Ha' cuetz, 29 May 1997) WOl:('J unue\ 182. On 24 ,Junu 198'1, the mi l1tary court in Nablus sentenced Ahrnod Odeh, a prominent West Bank land-dealor to 4 1/2 years' impris\lnmant and fined h1111 IS 750,000 (npproxilllutely $470,000) for fraud and bribery. Odoh waD (Jollvit~l(}d on eight counts of ["dud J.nvolving Wost Bank land that waD Gold to Juwo hotwuulI 19UO Colnd 1986 ft)[ 9tlttlomont. Among other things, he fOl:ged Oooumenle of Arub land-ownurs who did Ilot want to sell their land to JewG. (Jeluuulem PauL, 25 June 1987) - A/42/650 English Page 46 183. On 29 July 1987, absentee property officials reportedly ordered the expropriation of 700 dunams in Yasuf and Jamian villages, in the Nablus district. The villagers filed objections against the expropriation. On 11 August 1987, it was reported that over 500 dunams were declared a closed military area in the two villages. Local villagers claimed that the land affected amounted to over 1,500 dunams. (Al-Fajr, 2 and 16 August 1987) 184. On 23 August 1987, a group of pupils of the "Ateret Kohanim" yeshiva, in the Muslem Quarter of Jerusalem's Old City, moved into a building in the Muslim Quarter. The move was reportedly co-ordinated with the army and police forces. Under an arrangement reached on the initiative of the "Ateret Kohanim" association, the yeshiva pupils moved into 6 of the 13 rooms that made up the building. The remaining seven rooms would continue to be occupied by Arab families. (Ha'aretz, 24 August 1987) F. Oral evidence 185. In a statement delivered before the Special Committee at Damascus on 11 June 1987, Mr. El-Fattal, Deputy Minister for Foreign Affairs of the Syrian Arab Republic, referred to the situation in the Golan Heights: "First of all, there are the questions of settlement and annexation and judaization, which can be seen through the decisions of the Israeli Government to annex the Golan Heights in 1981 and to apply legal jurisdiction and legal administrative authority over the Golan Heights and its inhabitants, and also its decision in 1982 to impose Israeli citizenship or identity cards on the Arabs in the Go1an Heights ··· · Secondly, since the occupation of the Arab Golan Heights in 1967, the Israeli occupation authorities, on the basis of orders by the military rulers, have started a series of confiscations and cases of exploitation of the Arab territory, all under arbitrary laws that have been promulgated by that Government especially for that purpose ··· To date Israel has built more than 40 settlements in the occupied Golan Heights, "Thirdly, Israel is taking over water resources and diverting them to cater for the new Israeli settlements, thereby trying to forc~ the Arab inhabitants to abandon their property. In addition, the Israeli occupation authorities have a monopoly of the right to dig new wells and do not give any permits to the Syrian citizens to dig their own wells. As a matter of fact, the Syrians do not have, and cannot have, access to drinking water for domestic purposes and for household purposes. "Fourthly, a~ong the most serious of these exploitative practices has been not only the deterioration of agriCUltural life in all its forms and shapes in the Golan Heights, but also a deterioration in the situation of industry and other related economic fields of activity ··· Information concerning the Golan Heights I ... A/42/650 English Page 47 -Fifthly, and a more important element, are those criminal acts which Israel perpetrates and which can be categorized as arrests, murders, assassinations, oppression, repression, expulsions, forced residence and the suppression of freedom of expression ··· -Sixthly, these practices we have referred to have necessarily led to the deterioration of health conditions in general for the occupants of the Golan Heights. In addition, there are obstacles placed by the occupation authorities in the way of Arab citizens needing services and health care. They cannot utilize those services because of the expense involved. Therefore it was no surprise that the World Health Organization, in a resolution it adopted last month, condemned Israel for the deterioration of the health of the inhabitants of the occupied Arab territories as a result of the occupation itself. -Seventhly, we speak of of the Arabs in the occupied of inhuman circumstances and in the absence ~~ ~ny humane -Arab workers in the occupied have freedom of association, labour rights and union freedom. The situation territories cannot de divorced from the totality inhuman conditions experienced by the inhabitants treatment or the application of any laws ··· The territories, including the Golan Heights, do not do not have the freedom of union rights ··· -Then eighthly, I speak of educational institutions ··· In the occupied Syrian Golan Heights our citizens are suffering a grave deterioration in their standard of education, either in terms of the quality of the curriculum or in terms of the school bUildings themselves which do not comply with specifications for educational institutions, and therefore cannot offer the right atmosphere for the children to study. Also, the institutions cannot absorb the great number of Arab children studying ifi this area. Schools in the villages of M~jdal Shams, Bin Al Tina and Mas'ada are completely unsatisfactory, and it is the citizens, in spite of their very difficult l i ving conditions, who contribute to the building of schools ··· 186. Mr. Shakib Abu Jalal, a witness who formerly lived in Majdal Shams, gave an account of the problems faced by the civilian population in the Golan Heights. He referred to the series of arrests that had ta~en place in the area since the beginning of 1987; he drew attention to the fact that about 6S per cent of the area of the occupied Golan had been closed under security pretexts. He stressed the very grave economic situation, and the harassment of civilians. (A/AC.14~;KT.466) Written information 187. On 7 September 1986, the Nazareth District Court sentenced Mahmoud Abu Zaid, a resident of the Go1an Heights village of Majdal Shams, to six months' imprisonment. He was convicted of incitement during a demonstration held in February 1986 against the Israeli authorities. (Al-Fajr, 12 September 1986) 188. On 3 November 1986, it was reported that the security forces had dismantled a group whose three members, all from Majdal Shams, had allegedly broken into an armoury in a moshav in the area and stolen a variety of weapons. In another / l'J · · 1\/42/650 English Page 48 deve1opmel't. it. waG report.ed t.hat. aeour ity foroes hud aUE\sted two YOII~ha, including Fahed SafaeU, 18, from MaR' ada village on the Golan lIeight8, on Buopicion of planning terf-oriat Attaoks againot lOP troops in the area. (Ha'aret3, Jerusalem ~, l Nove. ~r 1986) 189. On 12 February 1987, the head of the Qolan I:egional oounoU (of Jewish oettlementa) reportod that Borne 500 Gottlors had loft tho Oolan settlements and the town of Katlllrin in uoent months. Mlny mOlO familiaa were expectGd to leave the aL'ea towards the end of the following aohool yoar, he said. (lIa' areta, 13 Fehruary 19!7) l~O. On 14 February 1981, violent demonstrations and olashoD with security f.orces marked the fifth anniversary of the imposition of Is~aeli law on the Golan Hoights. Eight po..ioemen and border: guards were injured in the claahea and 11 residonts wore ae rested. The largest demonstration took place ha Majdal Shams, where hundreds of partioipant.s ahouteCl pro-syrian slogans. Demonst.rators utoned t.he aoe: .Arity personnel. The Northern Rt'!gicUI Commander declared off-lJ.mits to the l:oaidents an luea adjaoent tu the ayr iftn bOlder where reuidents often gathared and c'·ohanged tnoasa~es aereae the border. The demonstrators tr led, deopite tho ban, r.o roach tht: aroa and hold 8 rally thp rOe A largo foreo of police and border 9uurds, equipped with riot goar, blocked t.he road and later fired toar gas into t.he orowd. I~ooidonts maintainetJ thlAt the presence of tho lu~gQ police forco had acted as a provooation. In prbvioua yearo similar demonstrQtion~ paaood oft without incident. Demonst.rations were also held in the othe);: villacaoo, Mas' ada and Uu~lata. (Ha'aret.z, Jeruraalem Post, Mo'ariv, 15 February 1987) 191. On 21 February 1987, serious disturbances were reported in Mas'uda after police tried to detain a local secondary sohOCJl atudont who had takon part, in a souffle bet.woQn Mnjdal Shams and aUk'ata students t.he previous day. One stud~nt wao injured in the souffle. When polioe arrived in Mas'odo to dotain the student. t.hey wore suu»un(led by dozeras of shouting villagore. Tho inoident cleveloped into il maBO anti-Isre.oli demonot.raUon. (!!!:lliE.!, 22 l"ebruary 19S·/) 192. On 8 March 1987, riots were reported in the villugo of auk'uta. Ton policemen were hurt and a looa] woman, Rayil Farhod, 50, was seriouoly injured, and later died of hal wounds. The demonstration was held to mark the twenty-fourth anniversary of th«i' Baath Party's rioe to power in the Syrian Arab Rf)publie. Soveral hundred pupUs blockod tho auk' ata-Mao' ada roael, unfurled syrian flags, shoutcd anti-Israeli slogans and throw atonea () polioolllon wh", triod to dioporoe them. Many demonst.rators ware detained for ques6;ioning. On 10 Mutch 190'1, the funoral of the woman turned iuto a pro-SyLian demonotrf\tion. (lla 1 al'l!, 9 and 11 March 1901, Jorusalem Post, 9, 10 and 11 Maroh 19U7) 19J. On 22 Maroh 1987, IDP ooldiors fired ahots in tho air to disperse atone-throwing youths in Majdal Shams. The youtha reportedly tl: icd to attuok th~~ soldiers and the latter had to fire in the air to pro' ... nt further demonstrations. (Ha'uretz, 23 Maroh 19B7~ 194. On 1 April 1987, the military court ~t Lod oont.enceQ fivu Galan youths to pr toon torms. Muhammad Abu Mlllok, :n, Mutt' Wl.lhabi Abu-Salalll, ~1, awl I · .· A/42/650 English Page 49 Kanj lsmail Abu-Salah, 19, from Majdal Shams, were convicted of having broken into the arms depot of the Neve-Ativ settlement, on the Golan, and having stolen arms and ammunition. They were each sentenced to 10 years' imprisonment and 5 years' suspended term. Farid Aref Shafadi, 19, from Mas'ada, was sentenced to 4 1/2 years' imprisonment and 4 1/2 years' suspended term for membership of the Popular Front organization and for throwing a petrol bomb at a military vehicle and a bus in October 1986. No details were given about the fifth person. (Ha'aretz, 2 April 1987) 195. On 9 April 1987, it was reported that police had arrested seven Golan residents, from Majdal Shams, Mas'ada and BUk'ata, on suspicion of organizing pro-Syrian demonstrations, raising the Syrian flag on public buildings and attacking police. The arrests were made during a thorough search of 20 houses on 7 April 1987 during the night. (Ha'aretz, Jerusalem Post, 9 April 1987) 196. On 10 April 1987, a statue of Sultan al Atrash, a leader of the Druze rebellion against the French in 1925, which had been unveiled in the centre of Majdal Shams eight days earlier, was sabotaged by unidentified persons. This led to clashes between local residents and police who arrived on the spot to conduct an inquiry. Kiryat-Shmona police chief Moshe Cohen was injured in the head when demonstrators threw stones at his car. He was hospitalized. On 12 April 1987, a suspect was arrested for 10 days. He was named as Ade1 abu-Jabal, 55, from Majdal Shams. (Ha'aretz, Jerusalem Post, 12 April 1987; Ma'ariv, 15 April 1987) 197. On 17 April 1987, hundreds of police and border guards prevented demonstrations in the four villages on the Golan to mark the Syrian independence day. It was reported that, following discussions at the highest echelons of the police, it was decided to introduce, as at 17 April 1987, an "iron fist" policy against rioters and persons who broke the peace among the Golan Druze. Police would react promptly and with force to any attempt at rioting, illegal gathering or assaulting policemen. (Ha'aretz, 17 April 1987J Jerusalem Post, 19 April 1987) 198. On 24 April 1987, it was reported that the police had decided to set up a large standing border-guard unit and to station it in the northern Go1an. The unit's task would be to police, protect, maintain public order and assist in dealing with security events. The decision followed the recent incidents and tension in the Villages in the area, but was also designed to strengthen the operational police force in northern Israel. The new unit would undertake, when necessary, police and security tasks throughou'~ the Golan Heights and in northern Israel. The new unit would be subordinate to the Galilee area police. (Ha'aretz, 24 April 1987) 199. On 15 JUly 1987, it was reported t~~t the National Insurance Institute had decided to stop collecting national ihsurance payments from villages on the Golan, due to the failure of the police to provide protection. The previous week a team of collectors, escorted by police and border guards, had to leave the area when angry crowds threatened them. (Jerusalem Post, 15 July 1987) / ... A/42/6S0 English fage SO V. CONCLUSIONS 200. The present report has been prepared in accordance with the mandate of the Special Committee a8 renewed by the General AS8emblr by its resolution 41/63 D of 3 December 1986. 201. Section U contains a description of the organizati,on by the SptK:ial, Committee of its work during the period from 10 September 1986, tho!" date of adoption of its last report (A/4l/680). As may be ascertained from section 11, the Government of Israel oontinued to withhold its co-operation from the Special Committee. On the other hand, the Special Committee benefited from the co-operation of the Governmento of Egypt, Jordan and the Syrian Arab Republic, and of the Paleotine Liberation Organization. Section III spel18 out the mandate of the speoial Committee aB defined in ',revious years. This include. the exten&ion of the mandate of the speo~al Committee to include the investigation of allegatlono of -exploitation and looti~ of the resource. of the occupied territories", "pillaging of the a~cheologioal ~nd oultural heritage of the occupied territories" and "interforenoe in the freedom of worship in the holy plaoes of the occupied territories" IS refleoted in resolution 3005 (XXVII). 202. Seotion IV contains a 8ummary of the oral evidence and written information received by the Special Committee. The Special Committee, having been preoluded from visiting the ocoupied territoriel, conducted a .erie. of meetings at Geneva, Cairo, Amman and Damalous in June of this year. At Geneva, Amman and Damascus it hoard tho evidence of persons from the occupied territories who had fil'8t-hand knowledgo and per'sonal experienoe of the human r 19hts situation in those territorios. Ir. addition, the Speoial Committee folloWGd the situation in the ocoupied terr.itories on a day-to-day basil through report8 appearing in the Israeli and Palestinian pre8s. The Special Committee examined Doverol communications and reports from Government,::, or;;~nizations and individuals in the occupied territories that reached it dur1~ l.ue period oovered by the present report. 203. The conolusions oontained in fiho present section are formulated on the basis of tho information reflected in 8ection IV. It mu.t be borne in mind, however, in this oonneotion, that the volumo of information received and examined by the Spocial Committee doee not permit its total reflection in the present report, the Special Committ,e has endeavoured within the constraints imposed by the finanoial oituation of the United Nations to lr~lude in the report a faithful sample of the information it ham received in order to illustrate the total reality of tho llituatiou of human riVhts in the ocoupied territodos during the period coverod by the report. 204. Sootion IV i8 divided into six parts. Section IV.A oontains a summary of information relating to the general si~uatlon prevailing in the ocoupied territories, it i8 uubcUvidlld into informatio" illustrating the general policy uovelopments, information refleoting the increa8e of tension and inoidents, and information 01" the policy of returning municipal1tiel. to local leador8. Suction IV.S contains information on arruste, detentions, trial. and sentenoes passed on Pftleutinians in the ocoupied territories a8 well a8 on Israelis charged with mistreatment of Arab civiliane. Section IV.C sets out infor~ation on tho I .·· A/42/650 lllng118h Paue 51 treatment of oivilians, inoluding certain fundamental freedoms recognized under international humanitarian laws. It contains information on general developments in that regard, such as the harassment of oivilians, the colleotive punishment measures including the demolition of houses, the expulsion and deportation praotioe, as well as economic aspects of the situation of civilians. It also provides infoJ:IRation on measures affecting the enjoyment of fundamental freedom.l such as the freedoms of movement, expression, association and oduoation. It finally contains information of settlerd' activities affectin~ the civilian population in the territories. Section IV.D provides i;"~ormation on the troatment of detainees. Section IV.E oots out information on the policy and measures implemented in view of the annexation of land Gnd establishment of settlements in the occupied territories. Section IV.F deals specifioally with information rQlftting to the situation in the ocoupied Golan Heights. 205. The Special Committee reiterates the genoral conclusion that it reaohed since the outset of its aotivities to the effect that the oonstitutos a violation of human rights. oocu~ation in itself 206. Ora the basis of the information ana evidenoe before it, the spetJial Committ.ee ooncludas that durinq the period covered by the present report, which coi~clded with the twentieth y' elr of occupation, the general policy of the Government of Israel continues to follow the same lines as in the past. The baoic principle of the policy is that the territories occupied by Israel constitute a par.t of the State of Israel. This policy has led to various ~eaouros to establish settlements, to expropriate property, to transfer Israeli citizens to the occupied territorie~ and to enoourage, dir~otly or indirectly, the Palestini3n population to le8ve their homeland. Illuatrative of this policy are statements by members of the ~srQeli Government, mftde duriny the period oovered by the present report, and refleoted in partioular in section E.l (pdras. 162-167), suoh as the statement, raflected in the Jerusalcw..!.2~ on 13 November 1986, by Pri, I Minister Shamir that he supported the idea of settling "in all parts of the L~nd o~ Isr~al". Th~ s~ecial Committee notes that suoh a t~licy and its implomentation ara in violation of the obliQatione of Israel und'-.:,· the Fourth Geneva Conventi~n. It may be reoal.led that this Convention stipUlates that military occupation is to be considered a~ a ten~rQry, do .tacto situation~ giving no right whatsoever to the occu~yj,n9 Power ovor the te~ritorial integrity of the ocoupied te~r!torias. 207. Within this genou.l oontext, and 88 a result of the" iron fiat" polioy adopted iast year, the climat~ of tension and violenoe that already provailed in the occupiad tardtorioo has been intensified and reached a olimax during the period under conaiueration. Illuetrativ8 of the intensity of this tension are incidents suoh as those whi.oh took pllJoe at Jerusalem following the killing of a yeshiv~ student, Eliyahu AlDodi (para. 41), or those following tho kilUL1.a of two Palestinian youths at Bir Zeit University (~ara. 42). 208. This general olimate of confrontation and repression has left its nogativ8 impaot in voriouo fields. For inBtance, thore WQR during the period oovered by the present report 0 noticeable increase 1U tho number of arroota and, in particular, adminlBtrativo detention orders passed on Paloat1nianu. Haruh sentencos have been passed, oometimoo on m~noro, for allegod security offonces. On tho other hand, tho I ... lOW loruolia 6ontenoed for miatroatmont of Arab civiliane havo uoon trout'~d with rol~tive loni~ncy. Tho da~-to-da:f reality faood by civilians in the Ot.Joupiod tora:itoriel3 has also boon marked by the peraiatonoo and oven intonaif j.cation of the var ious forms of haraGslllont and humiliation of the Arab population. A per:sistent donial of the right to family rounifioation has been noticed (para. 60). Even 'J-year-old childr:oll have not, in some ca008, been immune from indiscriminate violenoe (para. 61). 'l'he illegal practioe of oollective punishment, which in many caecs ponalizos innocent relatives of suspeots, fao.ld with thc demolition or oouUng ot hou/Joe in whiot\ they lived, haD oontinued to be OPFliod as in the IHHJt fow yoaro. 20~. 210. Anotho ..' arbitr:ary praotioe that has oontinued to be \.lsed againot oiviUano 10 that of expulsion Ol':f deportation. The Speoial Committee noted in particular the case of Mr. Akram Hariiyeh, a deported journalist who strossed the illogul nQture of tho depurtation proceduro uDed 8tjainat him and outlined the politioal rOUElono uehind thhJ praotioe (paus. 66 and 68). ~ll. 'l'ho roport contains information on the deteriorating livi.ng conuitions ot tho civilian population, the interferonoou and harassment that workers and furmuru aro subjtlot\:ju tu on tho part of tho oco~pation authoritios, as well UD speoUic probloms facod in the agr ioulture sector, in partioular tho oontrol OX~t ted by tho lsr.auliQ ovor wator resouroes. 212. 'l'h(.) raport of tho Rpeoial Committee also oontainc information on var.-ious moauuros affecting the enjoyment of certain basic frooQomu. For oXDmplo, tho BIlOO tal Commit.toe noted that dur ing the poriod oovered by the prOfiont raport, u numbcH' ut: civiliano, both individually or collootively, wo~o t.ho. lJulJjcct of; arbitr:.u·V "rders r('strioting thoir frfL"edoRl of moveR,ant. lI'reodolll oil LII:JIJuoiation and freedom of tho presa wore alac .'£feoted by vatiouB moasureD ouoh UD cOlllilorship of the preoo, interferenoo in th8 work and harassment of journaUstll and trado un!onisto, or closuro of nowspapers and trade unions. ~ho situation f.)£ education in the oouupied torr itorieo was particularly proocoupying Caur ing tho [Jor ,00 ul1dor connidoration (paras. 99-112). In addition to various p.:oblems thut conLiIl-.lod, UIl in the paot. to affoct anu rootr tot freedom of oduoati..m, (moh an the dellial of ad04uuto oquipment and bul1din98, the efforts to modify the cL\cricula, the tUH'IWSment of toachers and atudenls by, for Qxample, administ:rativu det.ontiun, auaot, :()~trict.iun of froedom of movement, and deportation, tho poriod undor oonflidol:ution WIlS markod by partiCUlarly draRlatio evellto louding to the dOl.lth of u numoor ot: otudonta, incro4ll8ed tension in tho main l'alootinian uQucutlonul inEltit.ut!unC:J, several moaout'os of cloourQ of thofile I notitutions .mu huruh rOlJt:ouoioll u~ilill(lt toachers und studonto. 213. 'l'ho genol:ul climate of tonsion Qlld reproosion witnooeod in the tot'ritor1oo dur il\4 the por iod oovored by tho proaont. report. wao aloo not10011u10 in tho troatment of dotainoeo. Various forma of ill-troat.ment, both physical and p'sycholog ioal, tho laok of adoquate panit.at:y faoHi tios, nutr i tLon and cloth!n\!, tho ovor(;lrowding of oello, lod to protesto by dotainQoo in thu torm of w.i.dooprulld hunqel: otr ikoo by oov~ral t.hf)uoand Ar~b occur ity pc 100noro in moat pr: ioollo and detentioll ci.unpo of the occupied torritorieo (parQo. 133··13U). i\/Iothor preoccupying / ... A/42/6S0 English Page S3 development was the opening uf. the Ansar ~ ~etentlon oamp, where various inoidonts involving abuse of detainees had been reported. 214. Aooording to information gathered during the period under oonsideration, the Government of Israel has continued to implement its polioy of physioal annexation of the territories. Settlements oontinued to be planned, established and expanded by forcibly expropriatiug falestinian farm',lrs and thus inducing them to emigrote and leave their homelanrl (paras. 162-184). the rerlod covered by the pr.esent report, the situation in the Golan He'ights has also C'lontinued to deteriorate (paras. 183-199). Violent demonst1.l1tions arid clashes took plftoe on several occasions in occupied villages of the Golan Heights, resulting in the establishment, reported in Ha'areta of 24 April 1987, of a new border-guard unit oharged with maintaining public ordor and assisting in dealing with seoucity events. 215. 216. Taking into account these various elementa, the Speoial Committee reaches tho Du~ing oonclusion thGt the situation in the occupied territo~ios denotes a oontin~in9 deterioration of human rights aud fundament.al freedoms by tho niviUan population. The relevant provisLons of the Fourth Genevft Convention oontinue to be disregarded. The persistent policy o~ annexation of the ocoupied territories, which meets with fieroe resistance en the part of the civilian popUlation, and the cycle of tension and repression that the implementation of such a policy involves, have led to an explosive situation that seemo bound to ttovoke yet more dramatic ovents in the future. 217. The Special Committee reitaratea the neoeosit~ for the international oommunity to 8&SUme its responsibility and adopt measures to provent further deterioration and prOVide adequate safe-guards for IIn offective peotactio!'! of the fundamental rightd and freedoMs of the oivilians in the occupied territ.oriea. VI. ADOV'l'ION OF 'l'IJE REPORT 218. The proBont report woo approved ono signod by the epoctal Committee on 4 SOlltombor 1987 in aooordanoe with rule 20 of its rules of: procodure. Nuteu Offioial ~l·dU oC t..he Genoral A0gemblXf Twenty-fifth S~ion, agom~a itom 101, documontu A/8089, A/U389 and Corr.l and 2, A/8309/Add.l Qnd Add.l/Cort'.l and 2, A/8~28, A/9l48 and Add.1J A/ga17, A/10212, A/31/218, A/32/28~, A/33/JS6, A/J4/631t A/35/4~5, A/36/~19, A/J1/485, A/38/409, A/3D/591, A!40/702 and A/41/6UO. 11 A/444/650 English ~aCJe 54 Not.es (oontinued) 11 Official Records of the General Assembly, TwentY-fifth Session, Annexos, agenda item 101, document A/8237, ~., Twenty-sixth Sosaion, Annexes, agenda item 40, doaument A/8i30, ~~., ~ent.y-sevehth Sosslon, Annexes, agenda item 42, 800ument A/89S0, ~., Twenty-eighth Session, Annn8xes, agenda item 45, document A/9374, ~., Twenty-ninth Session, Annexe~, aganda item 40, document A/9872, ~., Thirtieth Sossion, Annexes, aq~nda iteD' 52, document A/10461, ibid., ThirtY-first 8asoion, Annexes, agonda item 55, document A/31/:i99, ~., Thirty-seCond S.sslon, Annexes, BgGnda item 57, document A/32/407, ibid., Thirty-third S.solon, Annexes, agenda item 5S, document A/33/439, ibid., Thirty-fourth Se8sion, Annexes, agenda ite:,: 51, document A/34/691 and Add.l, !,lli., Thirty-fifth 8ession, Annexes, ~. nda item 57, document A/35/674, ~., Thirt.y-sixth l!!flI8ion, Annexes, I Jnda it.em 64, document A/36/632/Add.l, .!!!!!!., !h!!ty-seventh Bossion',Annexa", agenda item 61, document A/37/698, ~., Thirty-eighth Session, Annexes, agenda i~em 69, document A/38/710, ibid., Thirty-ninth Se8~ion, Annexes, agenda item 71, document A/39/712, ~., Fortieth Se8f1io~\, Annexes, agenda ita.,. '/5. document A/40/890, and ~., Jj'orty··first So~slon, Annexe!, agenda item 71, dooumont A/41/150. Official Records of the Genor:al Assembly, 'ltwenty-fifth Hoosion; AnnElX09, agenda item 101. dooument A/8089, annex Ill. ~ ~/ y United Nationa, Troaty Serioo, vol. 75, No. 913, p. 287. ~., No. 972, p. 135. vol. 249, No. 3511, p. 215. !I ~., y Catnagie Enduwmltht for IntQl.'Outional Poace, -rho lIague Convontions uno Deolarat.ions of 1899 and 190·/, New York, Oxfurd Univeloity I J roaa, 1915. 1/ Resolut.ion 2200 A (XXI).