Prisoners and Detainees in Israeli Prisons

 

General Statistics — 2008-2009

Data is presented below regarding detainees and prisoners in Israeli prisons, as collected from various sources. As of January 2009, approximately 22,500 individuals were imprisoned or detained in Israeli prisons; around 70% of those individuals are Arabs.1

Palestinian prisoners and detainees holding Israeli citizenship (January 2009)

Security classification Criminal classification
370 3,419

Palestinian prisoners and detainees that are residents of the West Bank and Gaza Strip (January 2009)

Security classification Criminal classification
7,720 2,015

Prisoners and detainees with the classification of “security” (total: approx. 8,200) (January 2009)

Palestinian citizens of Israel Jewish citizens of Israel Palestinian residents of Gaza Palestinian residents of the West Bank Palestinian residents of East Jerusalem Syrians from the Golan Hights
370 14 790 6,180 225 10

 

Administrative detainees and unlawful combatants2 (January 2009)

Administrative detainees Unlawful combatants
570 20

Administrative detainees — detention period3 (January 2009)

Number of Adminitrative Detainees Detention period
176 Up to 6 months
154 6 months and more
120 one year to year and a half
56 A year and a half to two years
19 Two to two and a half years
18 Two and a half to three years
2 Three and a half to four years
0 Four to four and a half years
2 Four and a half years and more

Palestinian Minors in IPS’s custody4 (February 2009)

Age Detained Detained until end of proceedings Convicted Administrative detainees total
Under 16 years of age 10 31 13 0 54
Under 18 years of age 29 175 136 6 346

Prisoners and detainees by detention facility5

Southern District (January 2009)

Prison Number of Prisoners
Oholey Keidar 807
Eshel 783
Detention facility, Jerusalem 152
Dekel 961
Nafha 791
Saharonim 1,491
Ofer 1,059
Ktzi’ot 2,609
Ramon 891
Shikma 604

Central District

Prison Number of Prisoners
Ofek 220
Ayalon 906
Ashmoret 200
Hadarim Detention facility 860
Magem-Nitzan Detention facility 829
Tel Aviv Detention facility 495
Giv’on 502
Hasharon 648
Ma’asiyahu 1,263
Neveh Tirtza 195
Rimonim 501

Northern District

Prison Number of Prisoners
Gilbo’a 792
Ramon 598
HaCarmel 328
Hermon 513
Meggido 1,218
Tzalmon 1,064
Kishon 566
Shita 725

Recidivism, sorted by type of crime6

First detention Second detention Third detention Fourth detention Fifth detention Sixth detention and beyond
Violence 879 560 371 219 178 361
Civil crimes 15 4 5 4
Security 4,412 1,656 520 194 90 88
Public order 213 105 79 56 36 88
Financial offenses 50 7 2 2 2 1
Moral crimes 27 11 2 1 3
Crimes against
human life
2,020 627 207 106 51 68
Sex offenses 763 238 76 59 28 43
Fraud 112 50 20 21 8 26
Drug offenses 321 289 248 170 135 420
Transportation and licensing offenses 79 53 41 36 16 12
Offenses against property 227 285 259 206 173 582
Robbery 136 114 89 65 32 72
Other offenses 132 61 41 31 21 38
Illegal stay 2,296 495 217 139 74 143

1  Figures were provided to Adalah by the IPS’ spokesperson, in his letter dated 29.1.2009.  Data valid as of 20.1.2009.

2  Ibid.  it should be noted that according to B’Tselem, in January 2009, there were 564 administrative detainees, and in February 2009 their number was 542.  Available at <btselem.org/Hebrew/Administrative_Detention/Statistics.asp>.

3  See B’Tselem, available at <btselem.org/Hebrew/Administrative_Detention/Statistics.asp>.

4  See B’Tselem, available at <btselem.org/Hebrew/Statistics/Minors_in_Custody.asp>.

5  From statistics given by the IPS’ spokesperson to the Legal Clinic for Prisoners Rights and Rehabilitation at Haifa University, 22.1.2009.

6  From the IPS’ response to an application by the Legal Clinic for Prisoners Rights and Rehabilitation at Haifa University, 22.1.2009.


Abeer Baker is an attorney for Adalah – The Legal Center for Arab Minority Right in Israel, an independent human rights organization registered in Israel.  It is a non-profit, non-governmental, and non-partisan legal center.  Established in November 1996, it serves Arab citizens of Israel, numbering over one million people or close to 20% of the population.  Adalah (“Justice” in Arabic) works to protect human rights in general, and the rights of the Arab minority in particular.