Mediernes dækning af palæstinensiske fanger

Af Anja Uglebjerg, Anna Askjær Larsen, Raed El-Haj m.fl. (Mediekritisk Netværk)

Kære danske mainstreammedier,

Vi har i nu 7 måneder ventet på at I tager fat på behandlingen af palæstinensere i israelsk varetægt. Dokumentationen af krænkelserne af menneskerettighederne er massive,  både før og efter 7. oktober 2023. Men med den seneste afsløring fra CNN, som er bragt hos TV2, synes vi tiden er inde, og vi hjælper jer her lidt på vej.

Forhold for tilbageholdte palæstinensere efter 7. oktober 2023

“‘Whisteblowere har over for CNN fortalt om kritisable forhold i en israelsk lejr, hvor palæstinensere bliver holdt fanget og afhørt”, skriver TV2 Nyhederne 11. maj. Nyheden baserer de på en omfattende rapportage fra CNN om forholdene for en række palæstinensiske fanger på en base i Israel. CNN har talt med tre israelske whistleblowere, der har arbejdet i det omtalte center. De fortæller blandt andet om fangerne, at:

“They stripped them down of anything that resembles human beings,” said one whistleblower, who worked as a medic at the facility’s field hospital”. 

“(The beatings) were not done to gather intelligence. They were done out of revenge,” said another whistleblower. “It was punishment for what they (the Palestinians) did on October 7 and punishment for behavior in the camp.”

Mediekritisk Netværk hilser det velkomment, at TV2 Nyheder videreformidler CNNs rapport, men det undrer os, at det har taget så lang tid for både TV2 og andre medier, da behandling af palæstinensere er veldokumenteret, det gælder både før og efter 7. oktober, og det er udelukkende blevet værre efter 7. oktober.  

TV2 henviser selv i artiklen til en rapport fra Physicians for Human Rights Israel (PHRI). Rapporten handler om systematiske brud på menneskerettighederne for palæstinensiske fanger i israelsk varetægt. Det interessante ved rapporten er, at den ikke er ny,  men helt tilbage fra februar 2024 men tilsyneladende er det ikke noget TV2 Nyheder har opdaget, til trods for stationen har korrespondenter i Israel. I rapporten som TV2 Nyhederne henviser til står der blandt andet:

“The number of Palestinians held by the Israel Prison Service (IPS) has surged from around 5,500 before the war to approximately 9,000 as of January 2024, including dozens of minors and women. Nearly one-third of those in custody are held under administrative detention. Furthermore, the military has arrested hundreds of Gaza residents while providing no information, even four months later, about their well-being, whereabouts, and the conditions of their incarceration.

Since October 7 and the ensuing war, both the IPS and the military have implemented policies of arbitrary punishment by systematically infringing upon the rights of Palestinians in custody, including the denial of access to adequate medical care. These policies are a direct extension of the legislative efforts led by National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir before October 7, which aimed to worsen the incarceration conditions of Palestinians in Israeli prisons. The incidents of deaths in custody in recent months underscore the degree of negligence, mistreatment, and violence. Six Palestinians have died between October and November, and regrettably, two more have passed since the report was drafted”

På baggrund af rapporten kræver PHRI stop for alt tortur og mishandling af palæstinensiske fanger. Det er ikke den eneste rapport PHRI har udgivet mellem 7. oktober og nu, der handler om horrible forhold for palæstinensiske fanger. Efter føromtalte rapport, kom i marts 2024 Death in Israeli Prisons, hvor der blandt andet står:

“Since the beginning of the war, Physicians for Human Rights Israel (PHRI) has received information whereby more than ten Palestinians have died in detention facilities under the custody of the Israel Prison Services (IPS) and the Israeli army. In the last month alone – since we finished the writing of our recent report on systemic violations of human rights in incarceration settings, four additional Palestinians have died in Israeli prisons.”

Også interessant er udeladelsen af den nyeste rapport fra PHRI, der netop handler om det center CNN og TV2 skriver om, som er fra april 2024, altså før CNNs rapport. På baggrund af rapporten, der er underskrevet af 600 personer med medicinsk uddannelse, skriver PHRI blandt andet at:

“Each of us, whether it is the medical personnel or you, the supervising authorities at the Health and Defense ministries, is implicated in breaching Israeli law. Even more concerning for me as a physician is the breach of my commitment to providing equal treatment to all patients—a vow I pledged to uphold upon graduating two decades ago.”

This conclusion was shared earlier this month by a physician working at the field hospital located within the Sde Teiman military facility. His testimony adds to the mounting evidence revealing the treatment and detention conditions of Gazans at the facility. Various reports and a UNWRA document compiling the testimonies of over 100 released detainees indicate that hundreds of individuals are being held in open-air pens, with their hands cuffed and eyes covered for the entire day, and are prohibited from moving or speaking; otherwise, they face severe punishment. According to all testimonies, these detainees regularly endure severe violence, leading to cases of fractures, internal bleeding, and even death.

Since the start of the current war and particularly following Israel’s ground invasion of the Gaza Strip, thousands of Gazans, including minors, women, the elderly, and dozens of healthcare workers, have been detained. Many of them were apprehended from protected spaces such as hospitals and schools. So far, all efforts to locate or obtain information regarding their well-being and whereabouts have proven unsuccessful.

The evidence and information disclosed to the public confirm the findings outlined in the ethical position paper we are releasing today. Within it, we analyze data collected from released detainees, the (inadequate) responses offered by officials, discussions with healthcare professionals, and data concerning dozens of deaths in custody. We are issuing this report because, drawing upon the lessons learned from secret detention facilities like Guantanamo and Abu Ghraib, it is crucial to prevent their continued operations and recognize the misconception that they can ever be “reformed.”

Andre israelske menneskerettighedsorganisationer har set på Israels tilbageholdelse af palæstinensiske fanger, som blandt andet DR har rapporteret. Det gælder for eksempel organisationenen HaMoked: 

“- Der har været massearrestationer af palæstinensere siden den 7. oktober, og de bliver brugt mere og mere. Noget i retning af halvdelen af de palæstinenserne, der er blevet arresteret siden den 7. oktober, er blevet sat i administrativ forvaring, fortæller Jessica Montell, administrerende direktør i Hamoked.”

B’Tselem – The Israeli Information Center for Human Rights in the Occupied Territories, holder løbende øje med de administrative tilbageholdelser i israelske fængsler. De udarbejder for eksempel statistik over, hvor mange palæstinensiske fanger, der tilbageholdes uden sigtelser eller domme, herunder mindreårige. B’Tselem beskriver administrative tilbageholdelser således

“In administrative detention, a person is held without trial without having committed an offense, on the grounds that he or she plans to break the law in the future. As this measure is supposed to be preventive, it has no time limit. The person is detained without legal proceedings, by order of the regional military commander, based on classified evidence that is not revealed to them. This leaves the detainees helpless – facing unknown allegations with no way to disprove them, not knowing when they will be released, and without being charged, tried or convicted”

De administrative tilbageholdelser er ifølge flere NGO’er, heriblandt Amnesty International, direkte imod den internationale humanitære folkeret.

I marts 2024 sammenlignede  menneskerettighedsorganisationen EuroMed forholdene for palæstinske fanger med Guantanamo:

“Palestinian prisoners and detainees from the Gaza Strip who are being held by the Israeli army are being subjected to premeditated murder and arbitrary execution outside the purview of the law and the judiciary, Euro-Med Human Rights Monitor said in a statement issued Saturday.

Euro-Med Monitor emphasised the need for international judicial authorities, in response to these crimes, to launch an urgent and comprehensive international investigation to hold the perpetrators accountable, exhume the bodies, identify the victims, return the remains, and provide justice to the families of the victims. It also emphasised the necessity of taking all necessary steps to preserve the lives of thousands of people who are still being held in Israeli prisons and detention facilities under duress, arrest, or forced disappearance.

According to Euro-Med Monitor, Israeli prisons and detention centres have become more brutal replicas of Guantanamo. Ill treatment and degrading disregard of human dignity, deprivation of the most basic rights, and horrible forms of torture including those that result in murder have been documented despite numerous international condemnations and demands to ensure the rights and safety of prisoners and detainees”.

Behandling af palæstinensere i israelsk varetægt er veldokumenteret, og Mediekritisk Netværk er uforstående overfor, dette ikke har fyldt mere i den danske dækning efter 7. oktober?

Hvordan var forholdene før 7. oktober 2023?

Allerede før 7. oktober, og mange år tilbage i tiden, findes der solid dokumentation for Israels behandling af palæstinensiske fanger. 23. september 2023 beskrev EuroMed monitor en betydelig forværring for fangerne under den nuværende regering:

“Israel’s Security Minister campaigned on making life impossible for Palestinian prisoners. Since taking office, Ben-Gvir hasn’t wasted a moment to deliver on this promise, whether by reducing shower time to just 2-4 minutes per Palestinian prisoner, giving orders to Israeli prison officials to arbitrarily place Palestinian prisoners in solitary confinement, or launching additional random inspections in Palestinian women’s cells.

More recently, the far-right minister decided to ban Palestinian prisoners from receiving dental care, and instead ordered that they be charged about $50 USD per hour for any dental visits, regardless of medical urgency or the patient’s financial situation. Ben-Gvir further dictated set time limits for dental care visits.

Furthermore, the minister blocked the early release of over 1,000 Palestinians, despite the Israeli security establishment’s recommendation to do the opposite to reduce prison overcrowding. Ben-Gvir is also said to be planning to reduce the types of shampoo available to inmates in the prison cantinas, restrict their television access, cut back on time allowed in prison yards, and limit the availability of lamb meat.

Cruelty is precisely the point of Ben-Gvir’s unprovoked and pointless punitive measures against captive Palestinians. These decisions cause unnecessary suffering and tension, and have no clear security value or legitimate goal other than to boost the extremist minister’s standing and approval ratings, and to solidify Ben-Gvir’s reputation as a tough politician who is cracking down on Palestinians and showing them Israel’s full might and strength”.

Men det er vigtigt at huske, at det IKKE kun er under den nuværende regering at palæstinensere, hvad enten de er fanger eller ej,  bliver udsat for umenneskelige og forfærdelige forhold. For eksempel er det værd at se på U.S Department of States rapport 2022 Country Reports on Human Rights Practices: Israel, West Bank and Gaza, her står der blandt andet:

“Significant human rights issues included credible reports of: unlawful or arbitrary killings; arbitrary or unjust detention, including of Palestinians in Israel and the occupied territories; restrictions on Palestinians residing in Jerusalem including arbitrary or unlawful interference with privacy, family, and home; substantial interference with the freedom of peaceful assembly and association; arbitrary or unlawful interference with privacy; punishment of family members for alleged offenses by a relative; restrictions on freedom of expression and media including censorship; harassment of nongovernmental organizations; violence against asylum seekers and migrants; violence or threats of violence against Palestinians and members of national, racial, or ethnic minority groups; and labor rights abuses against foreign workers and Palestinian workers.

The Israeli military and civilian justice systems have rarely found members of the security forces to have committed abuses. The government took some steps to identify, investigate, prosecute, and punish officials who committed human rights abuses, engaged in corruption, or both within Israel.”

Hvorfor er det vigtigt?

Vi har her dokumenteret, at der findes omfattende materiale med evidens for israelske myndigheders brud på menneskerettighederne i deres behandling af palæstinsiske fanger. Kilderne er troværdige, israelske organisationer, menneskerettighedsorganisationer, FN og endda den amerikanske regering. Det er alt sammen offentliggjort materiale.  Vi inkluderer nedenfor udvalgt dokumentation, der findes meget mere.

Mens danske medier igen og igen har sat fokus på Hamas’ angreb på israelere, herunder civile – vi fordømmer alle angreb på civile! – så har der ikke været nær samme fokus på behandlingen af palæstinensere. Danske medier bør være en vagthund, særligt i en tid hvor regeringen og et flertal i Folketinget er åbenlyse støtter af Israel, som de ser som en væsentlig dansk allieret. Når mediernes dækning ikke tager fat i Israels behandling af palæstinensere, og stiller kritiske spørgsmål til magthaverne, så mener Mediekritisk Netværk, at medierne svigter deres væsentligste opgave. Det er ikke det samme som at medierne ikke skal sætte fokus på Israel og Israelske fanger, det er et spørgsmål om balance og en særlig forpligtelse til at udfordre magten

Udvalgte rapporter og artikler