Salem Military Court, Monday, 22/08/2005Observers: Hannah H, Leah R, Netta G (reporter)Translation: Brenda H.(Report from the first visit after the workshop)We arrived at the DCO gate at Salem at 10 am. At the request of the security guard we waited about 25 minutes for the Staff Sergeant Major of the Court and then for another 5 minutes while he made phone calls to clarify our admission to the Court.The Staff Sergeant Major told us that there were only a few hearings today. He ushered us into Hall One, the only hall where hearings were taking place. The judge was Major Kamal.The first impression was that the hall was full of security personnel. We entered at 10:30 when a discussion on extension of detention of several suspects was finishing. They were taken from the hall and their family members also left. represented by a lawyer, Farid Hawwash from Jenin.There was a bench with more prisoners. Their lawyer was lawyer Chalabi, who did not arrive for the discussion. Lawyer Hawwash told the judge that he was not representing them and he left the hall.The discussion about these prisoners, according to the lawyer Hawwash concerned extension of detention at the request of the police. Family members are not allowed to be present for this discussion.The first prisoner was Mahmoud Abd El Razek. He was arrested at the time he was accompanying the second prisoner to hospital. He was suspected of being a member of the Al Aksa Brigade. The judge said that in the file there was evidence that justified extension of detention, and asked the prisoner what he had against the extension. He said it was preferable that he had legal representation.The decision was to extend detention until the following day in order that the defense lawyer could appear and also it was up to the investigators to present a detailed report. The second prisoner, was accused of the same offense and was to be represented by the same lawyer. He asked to see a doctor. The decision was the same as that of the first prisoner. The judge ordered that a doctor inspect the prisoner.The third prisoner, a youth of 16, was suspected of belonging to the Islamic Jihad and of activities within that framework. The defense lawyer did not arrive. Again there was a decision to extend detention by one day so that there could be a defending lawyer. The fourth prisoner, Rashed, age 21, from Shvika, was suspected also of belonging to the Islamic Jihad and of being a salaried worker in the organization, of shooting at Israeli soldiers and of laying explosive charges. The suspected was not sure that he could find a lawyer.The fifth prisoner, Achmed Machmud Machmud, was represented by the lawyer Haress. The judge read the file, number 3297. There was already an agreement between the judge and the defense lawyer that the detention would be extended until the Wednesday (two days). At this stage, there was an intermission, and after this would be discussions on the files of the illegal aliens.Lawyer Hawwash invited us to the lawyers’ room. One of the security guards, a paramedic in the Army, asked to join us.The lawyer, Hawwash told us that his services were bought privately by families of the accused or that he works for Palestinian organizations, Fatah and others. He does not work for the “Moadon for the Prisoner”. He is not allowed to enter Israel and therefore can only work in a law court such as Salem, which allows him to enter directly from the border and not in a law court which inside Israel. The paramedic security guard said that every prisoner was examined by a doctor at the beginning of his detention. He said that the second prisoner (we did not record his name) did not tell the doctor about health problems.He said that he had also asked for the doctor to examine the prisoner.The conversation continued. We were sorry to be late back into the hall for the discussions of the illegal aliens. We met the judge at the exit of the court house. The judge stopped to talk with us. He said that he is satisfied that there are instances of appeals, a fact that makes it somewhat easier on the load he carries on his shoulders. He was a military prosecutor in the past. The judge said that he knows about Machsomwatch and values very much the activities of the organization. In his opinion, our presence in the court room is important.In answer to our questions, he said that the sentence he gave to the illegal alien who was not suspected of a security offense was two months in prison. This conviction entails prohibition to enter Israel for two years.The judge seemed a pleasant individual. The discussions that we heard were very quiet and we did not manage to hear all and follow all the details. Not everything was translated into Arabic. We left at 12.30.I have given a lengthy description of our visit to the Court because everything was strange and new to us, and I thought that it would be like that to most of the other members of Machsomwatch.