Ofer Military Courts – A hidden portrait of the physical and psychological occupation of Palestinian youths

On the ground of a big dusty square in front of the Ofer military base lie the relics of exploded rubber bullets and discharged live munitions. These are the remnants of demonstrations for the release of political prisoners which are often violently repressed by Israeli forces. Last year, Israeli forces unlawfully killed two youths who were participating in a demonstration close to the base.

Ofer military base was established on the outskirts of Ramallah and has housed the military courts since 1968. Ofer military courts are one of the judicial arms of the prolonged Israeli occupation of Palestine.

Inside the courtrooms – which are small, metal, prefabricated buildings – the everyday business is focused on the prosecution of young Palestinian prisoners. The proceedings violate international law.

On 22 July, a Palestinian child was tried for his involvement in an incident that began on the streets of Hebron. The child flicked a lighter. Israeli soldiers located approximately 100 metres away spotted the flame in the dark and shot three times at the boy’s leg. The soldiers said they shot him because they thought he was about to light a Molotov cocktail. Other soldiers, who immediately gathered, testified that they found the remnants of a Molotov cocktail, approximately 30 metres away from the boy. However, the Israeli soldiers destroyed it on site so it could not be presented in court. Despite the lack of material evidence, the judge convicted the boy.

In another military courtroom, four shackled young Palestinians were sitting on a bench to the left of the military prosecutor’s desk. The mother of one of the boys came in and held up a two finger sign of victory to her son. She then moved to the second row of seats in the back of the courtroom where only parents are allowed to sit. She gave her son a reassuring smile and whispered gentle words to him. His eyes became watery. The judge extended the four youths’ period in detention after having identified them by reading out loud their names, without further examination of each individual case.

The military court system has penal jurisdiction over Palestinian civilians in the West Bank. It is used to extensively control the civilian population through a process of domination. Since 1967, 1,700 military orders have been issued and, based on estimates from 2013, approximately 750,000-800,000 Palestinians have been prosecuted in military courts and convicted.

The standards applied in Israeli military trials are in contravention of international law, which applies in the Occupied Palestinian Territories. Legal standards for military proceedings are substantially lower than those enshrined in civilian legal systems and human rights law. Nonetheless, Israel does not even respect the lower standards set forth by international humanitarian law.

For example, prisoners often only meet their lawyers for the first time as they are brought to court. Moreover, since bail is almost always denied, the fastest way to get out of the military court system is to plead guilty, even if no offence has been committed. Unsurprisingly, the outcome of such a system is that almost everyone tried is convicted. In 2011, Israeli sources revealed that in 2010 the conviction rate was 99.7 per cent.

On the basis of figures and practices, the State of Israel uses the military courts system as a tool to exert physical power over the Palestinians. With every sentence delivered and detention extended, the State of Israel sends a message to the Palestinian youth, that whenever Israel wants, it can arbitrarily deprive you of your liberty. The military courts system is there to formally validate practices that are in contravention of international law.

This is one of the many facets of an illegal occupation that manifests itself at Ofer military courts with the physical imprisonment and psychological occupation of the Palestinian self.

AL is the pseudonym for a legal expert and human rights advocate who is currently living in the occupied Palestinian territories. He holds a LLM in Human Rights, Conflict and Justice from SOAS, University of London.

The views expressed in this article belong to the author and do not necessarily reflect the editorial policy of Middle East Monitor.