State tells High Court conditions at Sde Teiman are greatly improved, only 24 being held there

The state tells the High Court of Justice that it has greatly improved conditions at the now notorious Sde Teiman detention facility, and that standards of medical care and the provision of food comport with relevant government regulations.

According to the latest submission to the court in response to a petition from human rights groups calling for the facility to be shuttered due to the allegations of severe abuse against Sde Teiman inmates, there are now 24 detainees being held at the detention center, down from 28 at the beginning of August.

Of those however, 10 were brought to Sde Teiman in the last four days, seven of whom are still in the process of “preliminary in interrogation” and are being held in restraints, meaning either handcuffed, blindfolded or both.

Such restraints are used for no longer than four days after being brought to the facility, the state says, unless in “exceptional circumstances.”

One of the seven under “preliminary interrogation” is a minor and will be transferred to Ofer Prison after his questioning is completed, the state says.

The state adds that detainees are being provided with food in accordance with a “food chart” devised by a professional nutritionist in the IDF’s Technological and Logistics Directorate.

The submission also asserts that medical treatment provided at Sde Teiman is commensurate with “accepted medical standards” and “Health Ministry regulations,” adding that medical procedures requiring anesthesia are conducted either with full or partial anesthetic provided by an anesthesiologist “in accordance with professional protocols” used in public hospitals.

The state also tells the court that a new facility at Sde Teiman with conditions similar to that of the long-established military prison at Camp Ofer will be opened on September 17, and that this, together with the improvements at the original detention center, means the petition should be rejected.

Allegations of severe human rights abuses at Sde Teiman against Palestinian detainees emerged in recent months, with several media outlets and NGOs reporting an extreme use of physical restraints, amputations due to prolonged use of handcuffs, beatings and neglect of medical problems at the facility.

One IDF reservist soldier has already been indicted for suspected abuse at the facility, while five others are currently subject to pre-indictment legal proceedings and under house arrest on suspicion of sodomizing a detainee with an object, and other abuses.