The Bar Human Rights Committee (BHRC) announces the launch of their new report titled ‘Court Observation of the Israeli Military Courts in the West Bank’ authored by Darryl Hutcheon, Natasha Jackson, and Sahar T. Sadoughi. The Report features the observations following Darryl Hutcheon and Natasha Jackson’s visit between January and February 2023 of the Israeli Military Courts at Ofer and Salem. Over the course of seven days, they observed several sessions of the military courts and conducted fact-finding with relevant stakeholders on the ground. The report provides insights into the operations of the military courts in Ofer and Salem, highlighting potential concerns regarding violations of international humanitarian law and international human rights law.
Darryl Hutcheon is a barrister at Matrix Chambers. Natasha Jackson is a barrister at Landmark Chambers. Sahar T. Sadoughi is a Project Officer at BHRC and a PhD Candidate in Law at City Law School, University of London.
BHRC has previously conducted projects and trial observations in the Israeli military courts and has previously expressed concerns through letters and statements as to the conduct of the military courts and treatment of lawyers. This includes conducting trial observations in the trial of Ahed Tamimi in 2018 and participating with other lawyers in the UK FCDO fact-finding mission on the detention and treatment of children in the military courts. The report builds on BHRC’s work to uphold the rule of law and ensure that international human rights standards are adhered to in courts worldwide mirrored by previous trial observations at Guantanamo Bay, fact-finding missions in Guatemala, and reports on upholding the rule of law in East Asia.
The court observation project of the Israeli military courts was due to begin in 2019 but was delayed due to the COVID-19 pandemic. In 2023, BHRC was able to send Darryl Hutcheon and Natasha Jackson to conduct their court observation and fact-finding mission utilising their expertise as barristers.
The focus of this Report is the Israeli military court system which primarily operates in the occupied West Bank. These military courts were established to enforce Israeli military law and are administered by the Israeli military and security apparatus. Each year, they administer the detention, prosecution, conviction and sentencing of thousands of Palestinian adults and hundreds of Palestinian children for alleged violations of Israeli military law.
The Israeli military courts in the West Bank were established in 1967. Two principal courts are currently in operation: one in the Ofer military base north of Jerusalem and one in the Salem military base near Jenin. There are at least four other “satellite” military courts in the vicinity of Israeli Security Agency facilities in the West Bank and in Israel, but these were not accessible and so were not the focus of the observation. Difficulties in gaining access even to the Ofer and Salem courts were a significant feature of the BHRC observers’ experiences.
Michael Ivers KC, Char of BHRC notes that, ‘Nevertheless, the observers were able to gain a clear understanding of how the courts operated. The courts seemed to limit fundamental fair trial rights set by international standards, including those on access to families, access to lawyers (including private consultation), participation of defendants in their proceedings, and lack independence and impartiality. These concerns and the conclusions in the report highlight the need for more research into the commission of military courts and their observance of international law.’
This report will sit alongside the growing body of work and ongoing legal proceedings at international and domestic institutions which highlight grave concerns about widespread Israeli violations of international humanitarian law, international human rights law, and international criminal law in the treatment of Palestinians in the OPT and in Israel.
BHRC launched the report with a panel discussion held at Matrix Chambers and hybrid via Zoom on 18 November at 18:00, which was chaired by Michael Ivers KC (Garden Court Chambers and Chair of BHRC) and welcomed as speakers: Darryl Hutcheon (Matrix Chambers and Report Author), Natasha Jackson (Landmark Chambers and Report Author), Sahar Francis (Director of Addameer Prisoner Support and Human Rights Association) via Zoom, and Dr Shahd Hammouri (Lecturer in international law at University of Kent Law School).
