UN experts condemn military courts in West Bank and call on Israel to abolish them

Israeli soldiers detain a Palestinian man during a raid in the occupied West Bank town of Deir Al-Ghusun near Tulkarem in May 2024. (AFP/File)

• The courts violate international law, legitimize the occupation and illegal Israeli settlements, and turn a blind eye to settler violence and criminality, they say
• The system, which was established in 1967, handed the functions of police, investigators, prosecutors and judges in occupied territories to the Israeli military

NEW YORK CITY: UN experts on Wednesday denounced the lack of a mechanism for fair trials in the occupied West Bank where, they said, for 57 years judges in Israeli military courts have been providing legal cover for acts of torture and the degrading treatment of Palestinian detainees “carried out by their colleagues in the armed forces and intelligence agencies.”
Not even children are spared this “abusive” system and it makes legal defense impossible, they added.
The experts described the establishment in 1967 of a system in the occupied territories in which the functions of the police, investigators, prosecutors and judges were all vested in the Israeli military, which was given broad powers to conduct legal proceedings.
“This military system has served to control many aspects of Palestinians’ daily lives, including public health, education, and land and property law,” the experts said.
“It also criminalizes many forms of political and cultural expression, association, movement, nonviolent protest, traffic offenses and other acts that might be considered methods for opposing the occupation and its policies.”
To guarantee fair and public trials, international law stipulates that courts must be impartial and the judicial system independent of any branch of government, especially the executive and the armed forces.
Margaret Satterthwaite, special rapporteur to the UN on the independence of judges and lawyers, and Francesca Albanese, special rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the Palestinian territories occupied since 1967, said: “The dual court system set up in the occupied West Bank, in violation of international law, has furthered legitimization of the occupation and illegal settlements in the occupied Palestinian territory, through a militarily enforced, draconian penal system that is only applied to Palestinians, without due process guarantees.
“This system also turns a blind eye to settler violence and criminality, allowing it to grow and remain in impunity.
“Since the beginning of the occupation, the Israeli military has either taken part in, or failed to protect Palestinians from, violent settler attacks in the occupied West Bank, including extrajudicial killings, forced displacement, property damage, destruction and unlawful appropriation, discrimination, harassment and threats.”
Public scrutiny of these legal proceedings, and access to information about the harsh treatment of Palestinians in military courts and the leniency shown to illegal settlers, is extremely limited given the heavy media censorship exercised by the Israeli military, the experts added.
Israeli military courts allow military prosecutors to request prohibition orders against Palestinian detainees, preventing them from talking to lawyers for up to 60 days. This denies detainees the right to confer with legal counsel, especially during the interrogation process, the rapporteurs said.
They warned: “When part of a widespread or systematic attack directed against a civilian population, severe deprivation of physical liberty can amount to a crime against humanity.”
They also expressed concern that an order posted by the Israeli military on its website on May 29 transferred responsibility for dozens of bylaws set by the Civil Administration, the Israeli body that governs the West Bank, from the military to pro-settler officials led by Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich. Annexation is absolutely prohibited under international law, the experts said.
“We call on Israel, as the de facto occupying power, to dissolve the military court and ensure the right to fair trial in the occupied West Bank,” they added.
Special rapporteurs are part of what is known as the special procedures of the UN Human Rights Council. They are independent experts who work on a voluntary basis, are not members of UN staff and are not paid for their work.