The location of this detention facility in the heart of Jerusalem illustrates the gap between the aspiration of presenting this city as a tourist and recreation attraction and the dark world in its midst.
Machsomwatch members arrive at this detention facility on a weekly basis to observe reviews of detention on remand and report them. In spite of the public transparency principle, they are required to present a special permit to enter and attend these sessions. Machsomwatch members are the only public representatives who attend these sessions.
The facility is located inside the Russian Compound in the heart of Jerusalem, along with the Jerusalem Police. The structure was built in the 1860s as an inn for male Russian pilgrims. The place serves as a holding facility for both criminal and security detainees and is managed by the Israel Prison Services. Palestinian detainees are brought there in violation of international law that requires detention and prosecution within the occupied area.
The detention inside Jerusalem also makes it most difficult for Palestinian families to make inquiries and visit, for which special permits are required. The conditions in this facility, until a few years ago, resembled those common in the world’s worst prisons. In the past few years, the outside appearance of the building has improved, but the detainees continue to be held in small crowded cells, often sleep on the floor, and undergo harsh and torturing interrogations that result in fake confessions and incriminations. Most detainees do not meet a defense attorney during the earlier phases of their interrogation and arrest, and at times they are denied any legal defense until their actual trial.