On February 15, 2021, ACRI submitted comments on a legal memorandum that seeks to authorize a detention and interrogation facility in the Occupied Territories for the purposes of detaining and interrogating detainees from Israel who are being held for security offenses. The proposed amendment stipulates that Israel may transfer detainees who are held for security offenses whether they are citizens of Israel or foreign nationals, including migrant workers, refugees, tourists, and even detainees from Gaza or other territories, for the purpose of detainment and interrogation.
In the comments, Attorneys Debbie Gild-Hayo and Roni Pelli of ACRI insisted that transferring detainees from Israel to detention and interrogation facilities in the West Bank is unacceptable and that Israel is prohibited from exporting parts of its criminal justice system to the West Bank. Under both Israeli and international law, it is prohibited to detain and interrogate detainees under Israeli law in occupied territory, which is to be considered outside the bounds of the State of Israel and its jurisdiction. They further noted that direct legislation regarding the occupied territories is not within the authority of the Knesset and constitutes an act of annexation.