Israel’s Shin Bet security service made in 2012, more use of a temporary order extending the time security suspects may be detained before being brought before a judge. According to a recent Shin Bet report submitted to Knesset, last year detention hearings were delayed for 10 detainees in all. Of these, two were held for 72 hours before an initial judicial review and eight saw a judge 48 hours after their arrest. By way of comparison, only one suspect in the second half of 2010 and only four suspects in all of 2011 were detained for 48 hours before seeing a judge.
Palestinians demonstrate in commemoration of the “Palestinian Prisoners Day” on April 17, 2013, Damascus Gate, East Jerusalem. The 17th of April mark the annual “Palestinian Prisoners Day” and it was initially set up to remind the public of the thousands of Palestinian prisoners that are imprisoned in Israeli jails, where they are routinely exposed to forms of torture and other inhumane treatment. (Photo: Activestills)
The report was submitted to the Knesset in preparation for a session scheduled for this week in the Knesset Constitution, Law and Justice Committee on extending by two years the duration of the temporary detention order permitting restrictions of judicial review for security suspects. The temporary order, “Detainees Suspected of Security Offense,” was legislated in 2006 as a “regulatory measure” for various state investigative agencies. Under certain conditions it allows terror suspects to be held for up to 96 hours before being brought before a judge for a detention order. According to MK Dov Khenin (Hadash): “Once again, we are dealing with a law that stems from a sensitive and unique security situation, but it continues to exist during ordinary times as well. We extend it routinely and no longer ask any questions. If the government wants to institute different norms, let it go ahead and do so using proper legislation, not by this method, which sneaks in something unusual that then becomes a routine norm.”
