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Israel's High Court ruled that the nation's Basic Law: Human Dignity and Liberty obligates authorities to abide by ICCPR's Article 10. It's principles are also affirmed in Article 16(1) of the UN's Convention Against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (CAT), and in Article 1 of the General Assembly's Principles for the Protection of All Persons under Any Form of Detention or Imprisonment."
Fourth Geneva requires that detention conditions must ensure detainee hygiene and health, including protection from weather conditions; that detention space must be adequately heated and lit; that sleeping quarters be spacious and well-ventilated, with suitable bedding and blankets; and that sufficient food and water be provided. These are universally accepted standards, ones Israeli systematically spurns, despite its own law stipulating that:
"Detainee(s) must be held under appropriate conditions that do not harm his Health and dignity." Article 9 of the Detentions Law and related regulations guarantees their bodily integrity, spirit and dignity, affording them sanitary conditions, a mattress, bed, food, light, ventilation, a daily walk, the right to communicate with visitors, to send letters, and other basic considerations."
Detention Regulation 22 differentiates between "regular" and "security" prisoners, latter ones denied or only partially afforded the above rights, in violation of international law making no distinction, without exception, obliging Israel to comply. Even detainees suspected of serious crimes are entitled to the same treatment as others with regard to their basic needs - an inviolable minimum threshold.
Prisoner accounts, however, related otherwise - that "from the moment of their arrest and detention, the detainees were held in disgraceful and inhuman conditions - from their detention in (Gaza) to their time in temporary military facilities for the purpose of absorption, and continuing in their cells in IPS detention centers in Israel."
Gaza Detention
Detainees, including children, were taken from their homes, held in large pits (two - three meters deep), unsheltered from the bitter cold for days, each pit holding 60 - 70 prisoners, their hands shackled and eyes covered. They couldn't even leave their pits to relieve themselves. The sanitary conditions were appalling, the amount of food, water, and blankets negligible.
Detainees complained of hunger, thirst and cold, adjacent to combat areas, endangering their lives. A PACTI/Adalah complaint to CMAG was unanswered.
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