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Sameer Ali Muhammad Attar described his experience after being arrested on January 5, 2009 with his young son, saying:
"We arrived at the place where the tanks were posted, and at that moment (they) were firing shells on Beit Lahiya. (Israelis) dug out a crater with a dirt wall of some two meters. (We were) ordered to climb down the dirt walls and into the crater while shackled, and we were held there under the bare sky for two days (exposed) to the bitter cold, and only (on the second day given one blanket for two people). During the whole period we were shackled and we slept on the dirt."
Once or twice a day, they got food...."as for water, we would ask for it and sometimes they would bring us some, in delay. There were no toilets and they did not provide us with hygienic products like toilet paper. I was (with) 70 other civilians, most of whom I know from the neighborhood."
Other testimonies provided similar accounts, detailing horrific, abusive treatment.
Military Detention in Israel
Detainees were then taken to army facilities "Zikim" and "Sde Teiman," the latter for "unlawful combatants." In all cases, their human rights were denied. After being photographed and medically checked, they were held in cramped quarters, given inadequate food, thin mattresses and blankets, too little to protect against the bitter cold. They were shackled when given access to toilets. Some were placed in dark trailers with no showers, toilets, mattresses or blankets. Detainees related stories of violence and illegal interrogations.
Held as an "unlawful combatant," Muhammad Kisab was taken to Sde Teiman, put on a gravel floor with his father and two brothers, then moved to a trailer made of canvas with no mattresses or blankets. "The room was closed. It had one ventilation hole on the roof and it was completely dark. There was no toilet." Other detainees related similar accounts.
"The conditions (at) military facilities were far from meeting the minimum standards for the protection of the health and dignity of the detainees." Yet former High Court Chief Justice Aharon Barak ruled that even in emergencies, detention facilities must meet minimum international law criteria, Israeli authorities even defying their own Supreme Court.
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