Articles & News

March 4, 2009

Israeli Lawyers demand better treatment for detainees at remand hearings

By Tomer Zarchin

The Israel Bar Association is demanding that the police, Prisons Service and Courts Administration address the flaws Haaretz revealed in how detainees are handled at magistrate's court remand hearings around the country.

"What is particularly worrisome in terms of preserving basic human dignity is the failure to remove handcuffs inside detention rooms," contrary to the law, the IBA stated.
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On Thursday, Haaretz reporters checked detention procedures at the magistrate's courts in Haifa, Acre, Petah Tikvah, Tel Aviv, Be'er Sheva, Jerusalem and Ashdod.

They found that police representatives and Prison Service officials are late for hearings, while the detainees are left to wait handcuffed in the hall, and cannot meet with their lawyers in a suitable venue.

IBA criminal forum head Rachel Toren sent a letter to Police Commissioner David Cohen, Prison Service Commissioner Benny Kaniak and courts director Judge Moshe Gal two days ago.

In her letter, the attorney argues that despite the inconveniences to judges and attorneys, whose valuable time is wasted, the detainees bear the personal cost of every problem in the detention halls. Toren calls on the three to reduce the number of problems, and asks them to brief the Bar Association's criminal forum on how the matter will be addressed.

Bar Association chairman Yori Guy-Ron said yesterday that the organization has been warning for years that dramatic improvement is needed in the "untenable conditions when it comes to all matters relating to meetings between attorneys and detainees in some of the courts in Israel."

According to him, "what is particularly worrisome with regard to the preservation of basic human dignity is that handcuffs are not released inside the detention rooms. I believe there is no reason to leave detainees handcuffed except in special cases."

Public defender Inbal Rubinstein told Haaretz yesterday, "It's enough just to mention the appalling transportation conditions from the detention facilities to the courts. A detainee's case is heard in 10 minutes, but for that they bring him to court at 5 A.M. and he sometimes has to wait until the afternoon. Look at how the handcuffed detainees are brought through the corridors, among other things, so that the media can photograph them, and at how some of the judges don't allow lawyers enough time to meet with the detainees before hearings."