Israeli Justices Assail Army for Prison Condition, Slow Reviews

Israel’s Supreme Court today criticized the army for overcrowded conditions at the Ketziot tent prison and for failing to expedite judicial review for 1,500 detainees jailed there without trial.

But the three-judge panel rejected an appeal for release by 14 detainees, only five of whom are still held.

The court upheld the army’s right to imprison Palestinians from the occupied territories in Israel despite Geneva conventions against transferring prisoners across borders.

An army spokeswoman said 1,558 inmates were under administrative detention in Ketziot, in the Negev Desert near the Egyptian border.

This was a decline from about 2,700 detentions without trial at the peak of army sweeps during the Palestinian uprising in the occupied West Bank and Gaza Strip. More than 300 Palestinians and 11 Israelis have died in the 11-month uprising.

The army had no official reaction to the decision by the high court.

But one military official said the army was satisfied with the ruling for upholding the military’s right to jail Palestinian detainees inside Israel.

The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, also said overcrowding at Ketziot had been relieved since the judges visited the camp in the summer.