OVERCROWDED PA PRISONS SEEK DONOR RELIEF

C O N F I D E N T I A L JERUSALEM 001907 SIPDIS NEA FOR FRONT OFFICE AND IPA; NSC FOR SHAPIRO/KUMAR; JOINT STAFF FOR LTGEN SELVA E.O. 12958: DECL: 10/18/2019 TAGS: PINS PGOV PHUM KPAL KWBG EAID SUBJECT: OVERCROWDED PA PRISONS SEEK DONOR RELIEF REF: A. JERUSALEM 1698 ¶B. JERUSALEM 1605 Classified By: Consul General Daniel Rubinstein for reasons 1.4 (b,d). ¶1. (C) Summary. PM Fayyad has consistently singled out reform of the PA prison system as his highest priority in security sector reform, to counter politically damaging allegations of abuse. (Reftels outlined Fayyad's recent efforts -- including replacement of senior personnel -- to address problems in intelligence service-run detention facilities.) The PA's civil prison system -- which falls under the Civil Police -- remains underfunded and overcrowded, posing a significant challenge to Fayyad's efforts. Interior Ministry officials blame the slow speed of promised European donor assistance for new jails (there are only eight existing facilities for the West Bank's 2.4 million residents),as well as backlogs in the judicial system (70 percent of prisoners are awaiting trial). In visits to PA civil prisons in Bethlehem and Hebron, Poloff found crammed cells and local wardens frustrated by a lack of basic facilities and equipment. End Summary. Fayyad Prioritizes Elimination of Prisoner Abuse -------------- --- ¶2. (C) In recent meetings, PM Fayyad has consistently singled out reform of PA prisoner treatment as his highest priority in security sector reform, noting that allegations of prisoner abuse pose a significant threat to the PA's legitimacy. In response to the deaths of four prisoners held in PA intelligence detention facilities, Fayyad recently undertook a major personnel restructuring at the top of the PA intelligence services, and has threatened to dismiss immediately any PA security personnel involved in deliberate abuse. Senior MOI officials tell Post that Fayyad is equally unhappy about critical reports from human rights organizations regarding overcrowding and lack of basic facilities in the PA's separate, parallel civil prisons system. They also say that a lack of international donor funding for the MOI's correctional service limits opportunities for reform. PA Police Chief Points Finger at Slow Donor Action -------------- -------------- ¶3. (C) In an October 1 meeting, PA Civil Police Chief Hazim Atullah pointed the finger at the slow speed of European donor assistance for a lack of effective reform in the MOI's civil prison system, which handles all prisoners subject to trial by the PA's criminal courts. "Everywhere, we have crowded prisons," he said. "The Red Cross asks me why I don't have libraries, clinics, football yards for the prisoners. I tell them -- I don't have places for the prisoners. I cannot offer them even one uniform. I can't offer them ventilation. We're short of everything. It's a donor issue, a question of money. And things are moving very slowly." ¶4. (C) "The Netherlands promised they would build two prisons," Atullah said, "but I'm waiting now for two years, and nothing has happened. According to their calculations, to build a prison that can hold up to 300 prisoners, it will cost 6 million (USD). It's nothing for these countries, although for us it's a big problem. But when I ask them where we are, they say planning, planning, planning. Even though according to their plans, we should have two new prisons by now, in Jericho and in Nablus. We arranged land for them, we paid the Ministry of Finance, we did everything. But they can't tell us when they are going to begin." He continued, "We care about our people. And I don't blame the Red Cross for what they do to me. But what can you do without facilities?" (Comment: The Dutch are currently the only international donor to commit funds and undertake projects on the ground in this sector. End comment.) In Bethlehem, Prisoners Housed in Converted Caves -------------- -------------- ¶5. (C) On October 15, DepPolChief visited Bethlehem and Hebron (Thahrieh) prisons in the company of Colonel Mahmoud Rabbal, Director General of the General Administration of Reform and Rehabilitation Centers, which administers MOI prisons. At Bethlehem prison, located in the basement of a converted 18th century residence, 48 prisoners were held in a cave formerly used as a stable. Note: Local officials report that the prison's population regularly approaches 100. End note. An iron grille (to which payphones for prisoners' use had been lashed) covered the mouth of the cavern. During the day, prisoners stacked the bedrolls in which they slept on the floor against the walls in order to create a central space in the crowded cave for movement and recreation. ¶6. (C) Prison staff noted that 300,000 USD in Dutch funding was being used to construct toilet stalls, a one-room clinic, and a commissary in the small courtyard outside the cave; the same donation was funding the renovation of a handful of rooms upstairs, for prisoner and guard use. According to Rabbal, however, his discussions with European donors had not resulted in any long-term plans for the prison's replacement with a new facility, despite the clear unsuitability of its current site. "This is the twenty-first century," Rabbal said, shaking his head, "and we are standing in a prison for animals. We need buildings. Yes, we need training, we need computers, we need other things, but most of all we need buildings." In Hebron, Renovations do Little to Ease Overcrowding -------------- -------------- ¶7. (C) At Hebron's Thahrieh facility, Rabbal noted that recent Dutch-funded renovation had improved the prison's conditions from "catastrophic" to "acceptable." Two hundred and two prisoners were housed on bunkbeds in six crowded rooms surrounding a concrete courtyard topped with razor wire, where prisoners spent most of their daylight hours. In the prison's freshly-painted clinic, the shelves were empty. "We can't get any medicines, any basic equipment," Rabbal said, "so when a prisoner is even a little sick, we have to drive him 35 km. to hospital." Pointing to a wooden bookshelf in the corner of the courtyard which held a handful of well-worn textbooks and industrial manuals, he said, "we want to start programs for education, for rehabilitation through work. But for now, this is our library." Prison Officials See Cultural Shift in Correctional Sector -------------- -------------- ¶8. (C) Rabbal argued that the correctional service had recently undergone a significant cultural shift. "The period of ARAFAT is finished," he said. "In all frankness, we lived it, and we cannot say it was not full of mistakes. Today, it's different. We are open 24 hours to ICRC. They can come without an appointment, talk to any prisoner privately. We are not like those Arab countries, where even if a prisoner is released by a court, his family has to pay to take him home, where a prisoner's parents pay for him to have a good blanket. Did you know that they charge the prisoners 9 dollars (US) for a kilo of lemons in those Arab prisons? God willing some day the Arabs will come to our standard of mentality," he said, pointing to a stack of hundreds of cans of okra. "We take care of our people." ¶9. (C) "We don't have a problem of mentality," Rabbal argued, "we have a problem of capacity. We are poor in buildings, we are poor in facilities, but we are rich in mentality. We depend 100 percent on the quality of our police, not in equipment. These police don't consider themselves employees. In other countries, a guard works more than eight hours, he expects overtime. But these are officers, they believe in a patriotic national message. They are proud of what they do. They are here to deal with the prisoners and reform them, not to punish them." Rabbal concluded, "we are very proud of our work. But our pride is broken by this lack of facilities, of equipment, of training. We have the ability, we have the right mindset, but we need help." Comment -------------- ¶10. (C) Overcrowding in PA civil prisons has two main causes. The first is the slow pace of the PA criminal justice system: approximately 70 percent of prisoners in civil prisons are held pending trial. The second is a lack of recent prison construction. During the Second Intifada, a number of prisons were destroyed or severely damaged; the eight facilities that remain are dated and ill-suited for modern correctional operations. (The Hebron Thahrieh facility has been in use since the British Mandate.) To date, foreign assistance has funded some renovations, but EU and Dutch commitments for new prisons have -- from the PA's perspective -- been slow to materialize. RUBINSTEIN