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MI MOM MOM= el II UNE Ali MO= la ,M1 .11= MMI MIMI NM MIN NMI 1 ■ 1 •1111, • IN THE ORCHARD MALL 1 1 WEST BLOOMFIELD • 1 11 , Mon.-Sat. 10.5 • Friday 10..S 3947 W. 12 Mile Rd. • Berkley'543 , 3115 54 FRIDAY, MAY 3, 1991 New York (JTA) — An un- published report on prison conditions in Israel and the occupied territories is at the center of a controversy over the objectivity of Middle East Watch, a human rights monitoring organization. Rita Simon, a professor of sociology at American Uni- versity, suggests the report she did for Middle East Wat- ch was not published be- cause it was "basically a positive report" and such reports are usually not issued by the monitoring group. Syndicated newspaper columnist Mona Charon has charged that "Middle East Watch wanted a smear. When they got the truth, they tried to suppress it." But human rights officials counter that Ms. Simon engaged in sloppy research practices, turned in a first draft of "deplorable" quality and sent a copy of her draft report to Israeli police and military authorities, some- thing that "borders on the unethical." "She gave us a flimsy, un- publishable piece of work," said Aryeh Neier, executive director of Human Rights Watch, which is composed of five regional monitoring groups, including Middle East Watch. "It was a very brief, im- pressionistic account with very little hard informa- tion," said Mr. Neier, whose organization tracks human rights violations worldwide. "We simply don't publish work of such deplorable quality." Ms. Simon countered that Middle East Watch was judging her report on the basis of a "rough draft," which was "meant to be worked on." She also said that in academic circles it is normal to send out draft copies and solicit comments before final publication. Mr. Neier dismissed ac- cusations that human rights groups avoid publishing positive reports, citing a re- cently released study of Poland's prison system, which was "highly positive," he said. He also attributed the delay in the report's publica- tion — close to nine months after the research trip — to the Persian Gulf crisis, which required Middle East Watch to shift its priorities to investigating allegations of Iraqi abuses, among other things. Ms. Simon and her daughter, Judith Simon, a lawyer who was part of the three-person team that visited the prisons, have since released their 48-page report privately. It offers a general look at prison and detention camp conditions, with few refer- ences to international law or previously published reports and news articles, which are usually found in human rights reports. In the conclusion, the Simons write that conditions in the Israeli detention centers are "neither in- humane nor intolerable" given the circumstances. "My concern was and is getting out an honest report, and when I saw that it was going to be shelved, I thought that was not consis- The author suggests it was not published because it was "basically a positive report." tent with" the time spent on the trip, said the elder Ms. Simon. Middle East Watch, meanwhile, has completed and issued another report on prison conditions in Israel and the administered ter- ritories. A letter from Mr. Neier attached to the report gives a brief description of the controversy and explains the delay in the report's release. The report, "Prisons in Israel," was written by Eric Goldstein, the group's research director, who ac- companied the Simons on the 12-day fact-finding mis- sion to Israel last summer. The delegation visited 12 facilities between July 29 and Aug. 7, including five prisons run by Israel Prison Services, two police jails and five Israel Defense Force detention camps for Palesti- nians in the administered territories. The report is close to double the length of the Simons' report and gives a detailed critique of the prison and detention center system. Mr. Goldstein's report draws upon previously published information as