Vermonters for a Just Peace in Palestine/Israel
Prisoners Archive - January 2008
Treatment of Prisoners and Detainees by Israel and Others
Prisoners Archive - January 2008
Treatment of Prisoners and Detainees by Israel and Others
| Home | Vermonters for a Just Peace in Palestine/Israel Prisoners Archive - January 2008 Treatment of Prisoners and Detainees by Israel and Others |
|
|
|
The Palestinian prisoners strike unmatched examples of human patience and endurance Friends of Humanity International, International Middle East Media Center 1/30/2008 Friends of Humanity International released today Wednesday a detailed report* about the condition of the Palestinian prisoners inside the Israeli jails in 2007. The report confirms that the imprisonment of thousands of Palestinians is one in a series of the dark episodes in the history of the Palestinian people considering the consequent anguish endured by the victims The Organization states that the captured Palestinian movement strikes unmatched human examples of patience, endurance and agony that brought about tragic circumstances as the prisoners are left with no choice but to engage in ongoing confrontations with the Israeli squads that are equipped with helmets, batons and gas guns. It confirms that prisoners have been continually subjected to assaults and aggressions at the hands of the occupation army forces and Shabas gangs. Sick detainees hospitalized in Al Ramala, face deteriorating conditions Saed Bannoura & Agencies, International Middle East Media Center 1/28/2008 One of the lawyers of the Palestinian Prisoner Society (PPS) visited Al Ramla Prison Hospital on January 23 and managed to meet with a number of Palestinian detainees who are hospitalized there and not receiving treatment the need. The lawyer met with the representative of the detainees at the hospital, detainee Isam Abu Jandal from Jerusalem, who stated that his health condition is gradually deteriorating in spite the fact that he is hospitalized and that he is still having sharp pain in his chest in addition to feeling dizzy very often. Abu Jandal, who was kidnapped by the army in the northern West Bank city of Jenin on April 2, 2007, is suffering from a heart disease. He said that he is supposed to be examined every six months but was not examined by any specialized physician since his arrest. The lawyer also met with detainee Nahedh Jadallah from Al Am’ary refugee camp in the West Bank city of Ramallah. Prisoners of privatization Avirama Golan, Ha’aretz 1/30/2008 The High Court of Justice’s reluctance to deal with the petition against privatizing prisons is liable to transform the issue into a theoretical debate. The privatization law has already passed and construction of the private prison is almost finished. The details of the tender that Lev Leviev won with amazing speed in November 2005, were kept "confidential for security reasons" and published only after a petition submitted by the Association for Civil Rights in Israel. The tender does promise close supervision on the part of the state, but it is a well-known fact that such supervision is limited in most countries. Israelis still remember the wretched oversight of the Bar Lev Line of military fortifications, and had it not been for the media, the state would never have discovered the abuse of elderly patients in private hospitals for the mentally ill. Soldiers attack underage Palestinian detainees during interrogation Saed Bannoura & Agencies, International Middle East Media Center 1/27/2008 One of the lawyers of the Palestinian Prisoners Society visited Hasharon Israeli prison on January 23 and met with a number of detainees, including underage detainees illegally imprisoned by Israel. The lawyer met with detainee Laila Al Bukhari, a female detainee who was kidnapped by the army on June 29 2002 and was sentenced to eight years. Laila informed the lawyer that female detainees, and underage detainees imprisoned at Hasharon prison are facing ongoing violations and are facing gradually declining conditions. One of the underage detainees, Ahmad Shtewy from Bethlehem, said that he is suffering from a skin disease and was only seen by a physician recently although he was kidnapped by the army since February, 2, 2007. The lawyer also visited detainee Mohammad Simmak from the northern West Bank city of Nablus, detainee Ahmad Qatmera, 17, and detainee Naim Qatmeera, both from El Ezariyya (Bethany) town near Jerusalem. Soldiers kidnap a Palestinian Human rights Activist in Nablus IMEMC News, International Middle East Media Center 1/24/2008 The Ahrar Center for Detainees’ Studies reported on Wednesday that Israeli soldiers kidnapped Ahlam Jawhar, a Palestinian woman active in Human Rights, as she was leaving Nablus city through the Huwwara roadblock. The center slammed the abduction of Jawhar and considered it as another Israeli violation against human rights groups and activists in the occupied territories. Jawhar, 30, is one of the main female activists in defending Human Rights and the rights of the Palestinian detainees imprisoned by Israel. She was never arrested before this incident. The Center states in a press release that Israel recently arrested several residents on roadblock and during attacks against Palestinian homes. The Center voiced an appeal to International Human Rights groups to intervene and expose the Israeli violations in the occupied territories, and the violations against all detainees. An appeal to save the life of a sick detainee IMEMC staff, International Middle East Media Center 1/22/2008 Family of detainee Ali Rajih Asfour, 31, from Ya’bod town near the northern West Bank city of Jenin, voiced an appealed to human rights groups to intervene for the release of their son from Majiddo Israeli prison, in order to ensure that he receives the needed open-heart surgery, in addition to the needed treatment for his kidney failure and blood pressure. Imad added that several physicians and specialists in addition to specialist sent by the Red Cross examined his brother and confirmed that he needs a heart surgery, a surgery never performed in prison hospitals, especially since prison hospitals do not have any equipment and any surgeons. It is worth mentioning that Ali was kidnapped by the army 15 months ago and Israel only recently filed chargesagainst him of membership in the Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine. Aisha, 3, the youngest Palestinian detainee, freed International Middle East Media Center 1/22/2008 This is not fiction or a tale meant for amusement or to make the reader sad; it is one of the real-time stories of the suffering of the Palestinian people, living under unjust and illegal Israeli occupation of their land. Today, Tuesday January 22, 2008, Aisha, 3 years old, was "set free", three years after she was born in detention. For this child who did not know any other world than behind bars, it was a sad day, a day filled with tears and scrams as she was taken away from her detained mother and set free while her family, who are still total strangers to her, waited for her outside the prison gates. Of course, it is good that this child is now free, after three years of not even knowing what color the skies are, and only knowing bars and jailors who know nothing but brutality and anger. Her only "fault" is that she is the only daughter of a Palestinian woman, a Palestinian political... Nablus demonstration in solidarity with prisoners International Solidarity Movement 1/21/2008 Nablus Region On the 21st January 2008, over 200 people took to the streets of Nablus to demonstrate in solidarity with Palestinian prisoners currently held in Israeli prisons. Organised by the local municipality, Nadi al Aseer (prisoner support club made up of local community members including family and friends of prisoners), and the Tan-Weer centre for cultural enlightenment, the demonstrators called for the release of all political prisoners. The protest began outside the office of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), where a statement condemning the treatment of Palestinian prisoners was delivered, along with a demand that the ICRC and wider international community fulfil their obligations in accordance with international law. "From our solidarity stand with our imprisoned sons, we demand the international community to move rapidly to stop these crimes... Canada to rewrite ’torture’ manual Al Jazeera 1/20/2008 Amnesty International has criticised a decision by Canada to rewrite a training manual that put the US and Israel on a list of nations where prisoners risk being tortured. The document, released on Friday, named the US, Israel, Afghanistan, China, Egypt, Iran, Saudi Arabia, Mexico and Syria as places where torture was used. It had classified some interrogation methods used by the US as torture, including isolation, sleep deprivation and blindfolding, according to an official document obtained by Reuters news agency. The decision to redraft the manual used by Canadian diplomats came after the US objected. Alex Neve, secretary general of Amnesty International, said: "It was commendable to see that manual, which seemed to include an important section that was an objective assessment of human rights concerns around the world. Palestinian woman gives birth in Israeli jail Ma’an News Agency 1/18/2008 Gaza – Ma’an – A Palestinian woman gave birth to her ninth child in an Israeli prison on Friday. Despite his wife’s incarceration, Fatima Al-Zaq’s husband, Muhammed, was ecstatic when he heard the news of the birth of his son, Yousef. Forty-four-year-old Muhammad, who lives in the Ash-Shaja’iyeh neighbourhood of Beit Hanoun, in the Gaza Strip, told Ma’an that he had been present at the birth of his other eight children. "It was ten o’clock when the lawyer Buthaina Adaqmaq told me about the birth of my son, but I won’t be totally happy until I see all the Palestinian prisoners out of Israeli jails," he said, adding, "I am praying for the safety of my wife and son." Yousef was born in Meir Hospital in Kfar Saba in Israel. Fatima was arrested on 20 May 2007, as she her was taking her niece to Ramallah for medical treatment. Pregnant Detainee delivers her baby under harsh conditions IMEMC Staff, International Middle East Media Center 1/18/2008 Palestinian Ministry of Detainees, in the West Bank city of Ramallah, reported on Friday that detainee Fatima Al Ziq, from Gaza, delivered her baby, Yousef, in Kfar Saba Israeli hospital. She was subjected to harsh treatment while being transferred to the hospital and was cuffed. Head of the Ministry of Census, Abdul-Nasser Farawna, said that Fatima was not allowed to have any family members while she was in delivery and was not allowed any visitation after she had her new born baby. Farawna added that two days ago his Ministry voiced several appeals to Human Rights Groups and the International Red Cross to intervene and provide Fatima with the needed medical attention. He also stated that Fatima, 40, is a mother to eight children, in addition to her new born baby. She was kidnapped by the Israeli army on the Eretz Crossing on May, 20, 2007, while she was accompanying her niece Rawda Habeeb, who was also kidnapped with her. Bethlehem family appeals for life of son imprisoned by Israel Ma’an News Agency 1/17/2008 Bethlehem – Ma’an – The family of a Palestinian man imprisoned by Israel is appealing to the International Committee of the Red Cross to help them save their son’s life. Twenty-five-year-old Nidal Ubayyat, from the West Bank city of Bethlehem, is serving a six-year sentence in an Israeli prison compound in the Negev desert. He was shot with an exploding hollow-point bullet in 2004, and needs ongoing medical attention, his family said. Ubayyat’s relatives said that the Israeli prison guards are not providing him with adequate treatment, providing him only with pain relievers. The family said they are concerned because the guards also administer sleeping pills to Nidal. Nidal’s brother Nasser Ubayyat is also serving a 21 year sentence in an Israeli prison. This Week’s Message Gush Shalom 1/17/2008 End the siege! THE VISIT WONDERFUL YEAR! WAR CRIME? CEASE FIRE! 3WEEKS LATER Accomplices Rubber checks AN EMPTY CEREMONY The crucial sentence POLITICAL ARMY Red Herring HOW TO HONOR THE MEMORY OF ITZHAK RABIN Quite an average week Ehud & Ehud PRISONERS WARNING! REDEMPTION CEASE FIRE! Balance More... End the siege! The cruel blockade of Gaza Intensifies the hatred, Intensifies the bloodshed. All Israeli peace movements, In cooperation with Gaza Human rights activists, Will participate on January 26 In a large convoy To bring essential supplies To the Gaza Strip, Express their protest, And demand: Lift the blockade! Join the convoy! Take your family with you! If you own a private car: please bring it, in order to add to the convoy! A tactic categorized as a systematic method of slow death Friends of Humanity International, International Middle East Media Center 1/16/2008 Friends of Humanity International publishes a report about the tragic conditions experienced by the Palestinian isolated prisoners Friends of Humanity International issued today Sunday a report* about the Palestinian prisoners withering in the solitary confinement at the Israeli occupation jails. Israel is described as seeking to disseminate its expertise in oppressing and torturing the Palestinian prisoners all over the world. The Organization states that the occupational forces apply the isolation policy on a number of Palestinian prisoners with the aim to degrade them and turn them into sick and depressed individuals who are incapable of leading a normal life. The report lists the names of thirteen Palestinian prisoners who are confirmed as totally isolated from the outer world for some years. The Organization presents a detailed account of the life of the prisoners and... Detainee confined to solitary, facing a deteriorating health condition IMEMC Staff, International Middle East Media Center 1/14/2008 Family of detainee Saleh Dar Mousa contacted the Nafha society, which defends the Rights of Palestinian Detainees and Human Rights, and appealed them to intervene to save the life of Saleh who is facing a sharply deteriorating health conditions in Israeli prisons. His brother, Mousa, said that Saleh was transferred to Al Ramla Prison Hospital, which lacks the basic medical equipment, and is currently facing s sharply deteriorating condition. Mousa was kidnapped by the Israeli forces in June 2002, and was sentenced by an Israeli military court to 17 life-terms. He is married and a father to six children. Prior to his arrest, Mousa was working as a teacher in Beit Liqya School, near the West Bank city of Ramallah. He has been in solitary confinement since three years, and suffers from several chronic diseases, in addition to problems in his vision and back. ISRAEL-SUDAN: Five hundred Sudanese receive temporary protected status Tamar Dressler/IRIN, IRIN - UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs 1/15/2008 African refugees attempt to keep warm by huddling in the sunshine, at the tent compound for asylum seekers at Ktsiyot prison BEERSHEBA, 14 January 2008 (IRIN) - The Israeli Ministry of the Interior has begun to distribute Israeli ID cards to hundreds of refugees from the war-ravaged Darfur region of Sudan, granting them transient residency. The process of reaching all the refugees is expected to take several weeks. "We are issuing ID cards for transient residency to 500 Darfurian refugees, as recommended by UNHCR [UN Refugee Agency]," said Sabin Haddad, a spokeswoman for the ministry. The status will allow them to receive social benefits, such as health care, from the state. The ID cards are up for renewal every year. "Finally, I will not have to worry about being deported. Now I can sleep safely at night," said Ahmed, an overjoyed young refugee from Darfur who is set to receive the ID card. An Appeal to end the solitary confinement of a Palestinian journalist IMEMC, International Middle East Media Center 1/14/2008 The family of detainee Waleed Khalid Harb, 38, the director of Palestine Newspaper, from Iskaka village near the West Bank city of Salfit, appealed the International Journalist Union and Reporters Without Borders to intervene for his release, and for ending his solitary confinement. The family stated that Harb spent nearly six years under administrative detention orders, without charges or trial, and a total of 12 years imprisonment. He has been barred from his visitation rights, and confinement to solitary, since ten months. Harb is considered the oldest Palestinian administrative detainee. The family called on International Human Rights organizations, and the Red Cross, to intervene and oblige Israel to end his solitary confinement. It is worth mentioning that from his prison cell, Harb wrote several books and poems. Reports: Sudanese refugees march to Beersheba Yonat Atlas, YNetNews 1/13/2008 Dozens of refugees march in bitter cold weather in Negev after seeking to enter Ketziot Prison, eyewitnesses say. ’This is not the first time,’ says aid organization representative. Israel Prison Service: We are unauthorized to deal with them - About 30 Sudanese refugees marched Sunday evening in the bitter cold weather from the Ketziot Prison in the Negev to the city of Beersheba. The group of refugees sought to enter the prison, but was turned down, apparently because they did not possess the required documents from the army. In the absence of a solution, the refugees began walking on the road leading to Beersheba. "I was driving towards Ketziot when I spotted a convoy of refugees walking at the opposite direction," an eyewitness told Ynet. "I continued driving and saw a larger group of about 20 refugees near the Ketziot Prison, most of them men. Children rights group: Release minors arrested at outpost Nadav Shragai, Ha’aretz 1/13/2008 The director of the National Council for the Child, Dr. Yitzhak Kadman, has asked the State Attorney’s Office to find a "creative solution" that will allow the release from prison of seven minors arrested at the outpost of Givat Ha’Or. The seven minors were arrested three weeks ago and are refusing to identify themselves. They are also refusing legal representation and have declared they do not recognize the authority of the courts. The minors, teenage girls aged between 13 and 15, could be released if they heed the demands of the court to identify themselves. For their part, the girls insist that they want to be brought before a "Jewish court." In a letter to Jerusalem District Attorney Eli Abarbanel, Kadman emphasizes that the National Council for the Child does not support any kind of violation of the law - "yet, we cannot... A tactic categorized as a systematic method of slow death Friends Of Humanity International, International Middle East Media Center 1/13/2008 Friends of Humanity International publishes a report about the tragic conditions experienced by the Palestinian isolated prisoners Friends of Humanity International issued today Sunday a report* about the Palestinian prisoners withering in the solitary confinement at the Israeli occupation jails. Israel is described as seeking to disseminate its expertise in oppressing and torturing the Palestinian prisoners all over the world. The Organization states that the occupational forces apply the isolation policy on a number of Palestinian prisoners with the aim to degrade them and turn them into sick and depressed individuals who are incapable of leading a normal life. The report lists the names of thirteen Palestinian prisoners who are confirmed as totally isolated from the outer world for some years. Woman prisoner on hunger strike in Israeli jail to be released soon Ma’an News Agency 1/12/2008 Nablus – Ma’an – A female Palestinian prisoner on hunger strike, who has been held in Israeli administrative detention for over two years, will soon be released, a solicitor of the NAFHA association for defending prisoners and human rights said on Saturday. Nora Hashlamon has ended a 27-day hunger strike after the Israeli authorities promised to release her. Thirty-seven-year-old Hashlamon is from Taffuh in the district of Hebron. She began her hunger strike after being held for two years in administrative detention, which was frequently renewed without any specific charge. She is married to Muhammad Hashlamon, who has also been in administrative detention since 2006. They have six children aged between three and fourteen. African asylum-seekers face ‘harsh conditions’ in Israeli camps Middle East Online 1/11/2008 TEL AVIV - Some 1,000 African asylum-seekers, including over 200 women and children, are being detained in Ktsiyot prison in Israel’s Negev desert. Some have been held for up to six months. In late September 2007, all newly arrived African asylum-seekers were moved into tents within the prison grounds. Activists from various Israeli advocacy groups have begun to look into prison conditions: They said they were appalled by "harsh conditions" in the camp. Attorney Yonatan Berman from the Hotline for Migrant Workers in Tel Aviv described a recent visit to the camp: "The nights are extremely cold in the desert, yet there is no heating in the tents. The wind simply blows through them. There is no warm water to wash the children, whose ages vary from three weeks to 18 years. At least 16 are under two years old. "The women and children are still being held separately from their... This Week’s Message Gush Shalom 1/11/2008 THE VISIT WONDERFUL YEAR! WAR CRIME? CEASE FIRE! 3WEEKS LATER Accomplices Rubber checks AN EMPTY CEREMONY The crucial sentence POLITICAL ARMY Red Herring HOW TO HONOR THE MEMORY OF ITZHAK RABIN Quite an average week Ehud & Ehud PRISONERS WARNING! REDEMPTION CEASE FIRE! Balance Day and night More... THE VISIT Bush comes and goes. We remain here - And so do the Palestinians. Not the Americans Will safeguard our future. Our Future Will be assured When we succeed In persuading The Arab world That we are fair partners In the building of this region - For all its Peoples and countries. Ad published in Haaretz, January 11, 2008 Statistic: 700 Palestinians including 48 female kidnapped from Nablus in 2007 Ameen Abu Wardeh, International Middle East Media Center 1/10/2008 Statistics issued by the Palestinian Prisoners’ Society about the number of abducted Palestinians in the past year in the Nablus district show that at least 700 were kidnapped. Amer added that 277 prisoners were abducted from the city, 236 from the refugee camps and 210 from villages surrounding Nablus. The statistics also show that the number of abducted Palestinians in the Nablus district since the beginning of the Al Aqsa Intifada reached at least 2000 male and female prisoners, among those 23 female prisoners who are still inside the Israeli detention centers, and 48 female prisoners had been released. Amer censured the ongoing Israeli policy in the northern West Bank city of Nablus including the establishment of military checkpoints and the random daily abductions that included most sectors of the society, children, elderly people, ministers, parliamentary members, mayors and council members. ICRC activities in Israel and the occupied and autonomous territories: Nov 2007 International Committee of the Red Cross, ReliefWeb 1/10/2008 In Israel and the occupied and autonomous territories, the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) works towards ensuring the faithful application of International Humanitarian Law (IHL), and in particular the Fourth Geneva Convention relative to the protection of civilians in times of armed conflict and occupation. Following the ongoing closure of the Gaza Strip, the ICRC continues to monitor closely the humanitarian consequences of this action, in particular the transfer of patients in need of medical treatment not available in the Gaza Strip. In the West Bank, the ICRC is monitoring farmers’ access to their land during the olive harvest. In Israel, the Occupied and Autonomous Territories, the ICRC regularly visits detainees falling under its mandate in order to monitor their conditions of detention and the treatment they receive. Israeli Army Invades Quisin, Two Children Arrested and Tortured International Solidarity Movement 1/9/2008 Nablus Region On Monday night at 9pm, twelve Israeli jeeps stormed into the West Bank village of Quisin firing live ammunition, rubber bullets, tear gas and sound bombs. All men in the village between the ages of fifteen and forty were brought to the playground of the local school. The army took pictures of all the older men whilst interrogating the teenagers, looking for "wanted" children who had thrown stones at the armoured jeeps. At one point, a soldier held a knife to the throat of a twelve year old boy and threatened to kill him. After three hours the army arrested two sixteen year old boys, Hassan Fachri and Ali Nayef, releasing everybody else. The two boys were hancuffed, blindfolded and taken to Keddemim police station, where they were tortured for seven hours before being released. They were held together in a small filthy cell, blindfolded and denied food and water. PCHR Calls for an immediate end to attacks against Fatah offices, affiliated Institutions in Gaza PCHR, International Middle East Media Center 1/9/2008 The Palestinian Centre for Human Rights (PCHR) strongly condemns attacks against offices of the Fatah movement and affiliated institutions in Gaza City, as well as attacks against the campus of al-Azhar University in Gaza, in which dozens of people have been arrested. PCHR calls upon the dismissed Palestinian government in Gaza to end these attacks, and to respect the right to association and other rights and public freedoms. According to investigations conducted by PCHR, at approximately 20:30 on Saturday, 29 December 2007, the Palestinian police raided an office of the Fatah movement in al-Remal neighborhood in the west of Gaza City. They confiscated a computer, a photocopier, a fax machine, a scanner, documents, photographs and Fatah flags. They also arrested 6 people who were in the office. One of the detainees, who was later released, told PCHR that the police forced them... 4 months in jail for soldier who abused Palestinian detainee Hanan Greenberg, YNetNews 1/9/2008 Givati Brigade soldier convicted of slamming head of blindfolded detainee against pole also gets four-month probation, demoted from corporal to private. Court denounces defendant’s ’deplorable actions’ - The Southern Command Military Court sentenced a Givati Brigade soldier to four and-a-half months in prison Wednesday, after he was convicted of abusing a handcuffed, blindfolded Palestinian detainee. The defendant "brutally violated his duties as a human being, a citizen of the state and a soldier," the court said in the verdict. "While another man, handcuffed and blindfolded, was under his custody, the defendant treated him badly, slamming his head against an iron pole and bruising his face. "This harassment of a helpless person casts disgrace on the soldier and tarnishes the IDF and Israel’s name," the judges stated. Hamas: PA seizes four journalists in Tulkarem Ma’an News Agency 1/8/2008 Tulkarm – Ma’an – The Palestinian Authority arrested four journalists in the West Bank City of Tulkarem on Tuesday, the Hamas movement said. According to Hamas, the detainees included the head of Al-Aqsa television in the West Bank, Muhammad Shtewi, Al-Aqsa correspondent Tariq Shahab, Palestine newspaper journalist Salim Tayeh, and another journalist named Fareed As Sayed. The Fatah-controlled Palestinian Authority shut down the Hamas-affiliated Al-Aqsa satellite channel in the West Bank after Hamas took control of the Gaza Strip in June. [end] Israeli forces invade Beit Hanoun, hold 30 Palestinians captive Ma’an News Agency 1/7/2008 Gaza – Ma’an – Israeli military vehicles invaded the An-Nada area north of Beit Hanoun, at the northern end of the Gaza Strip on Monday, seizing several Palestinians including farmers, witnesses said. The invading troops blindfolded 30 people and are holding them captive in a forested area, while releasing others. Among those captured then released was the Mukhtar, or elder of the Abu Khusa family, Abu Hafidh, who has been held prisoner since yesterday. Israeli said that Palestinians were in the area of Beit Hanoun, and that Palestinian medics could not reach them. Report: Israeli military courts automatically convict Palestinians Associated Press, YNetNews 1/6/2008 Yesh Din report finds Palestinian detainees denied due process rights in military court hearings. According to group, almost 100% of trials lead to convictions, average hearing is two-minutes long. Army: Report full of mistakes - An Israeli human rights group charges that Israel’s military court system for Palestinian suspects in the West Bank produces almost automatic convictions. A report by the Yesh Din organization found that in 2006, more than 99. 7% of those accused are found guilty, some 95% of the cases end with a plea bargain and the average hearing is just two minutes long. Yesh Din, which said that its inquiry was the first of its kind, found major failings in the court’s due process: Hearings were held in Hebrew and the Arabic-speaking suspects often did not understand the charges brought against them, they were unable to present a full defense or have an effective counsel. This Week’s Message Gush Shalom 1/4/2008 WONDERFUL YEAR! WAR CRIME? CEASE FIRE! 3WEEKS LATER Accomplices Rubber checks AN EMPTY CEREMONY The crucial sentence POLITICAL ARMY Red Herring HOW TO HONOR THE MEMORY OF ITZHAK RABIN Quite an average week Ehud & Ehud PRISONERS WARNING! REDEMPTION CEASE FIRE! Balance Day and night Silence More... WONDERFUL YEAR! The headlines proclaim: "2007 was a good year" - A year of improved security, Economic prosperity, And generally. The people of Sderot Did not suffer From the rockets. The elderly Did not seek for food In the trashcans. The millions of Palestinians Did not suffer under the occupation. The million and a half inhabitants Of the Gaza strip Were not starved by the siege. What a wonderful year! Ad published in Haaretz, January 4, 2008... ISRAEL-AFRICA: African asylum-seekers detained in "harsh conditions" Tamar Dressler/IRIN, IRIN - UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs 1/4/2008 Recreation activity for Sudanese refugee children in Ktsiot prison in Israel’s Negev Desert TEL AVIV, 3 January 2008 (IRIN) - Some 1,000 African asylum-seekers, including over 200 women and children, are being detained in Ktsiyot prison in Israel’s Negev desert. Some have been held for up to six months. In late September 2007, all newly arrived African asylum-seekers were moved into tents within the prison grounds. Activists from various Israeli advocacy groups have begun to look into prison conditions: They said they were appalled by "harsh conditions" in the camp. Attorney Yonatan Berman from the Hotline for Migrant Workers in Tel Aviv described a recent visit to the camp: "The nights are extremely cold in the desert, yet there is no heating in the tents. The wind simply blows through them. There is no warm water to wash the children, whose ages vary from three weeks to 18 years. Combat soldier charged with abusing Palestinian detainee Hanan Greenberg, YNetNews 1/2/2008 Soldier indicted on aggravated assault charges after allegedly striking bound, blindfolded detainee under his care - An IDF combat soldier was indicted Wednesday on charges of aggravated assault against a Palestinian detainee under his care. The soldier is charged with injuring the Palestinian, who was handcuffed and blindfolded at the time. The military prosecution is expected to file a second indictment against another soldier who was involved in the incident, which was first reported by Ynet in December. Both soldiers serve in the Givati Brigade. It took brigade commanders and Military Police investigators over a month to determine the identity of the two soldiers who struck the detainee, who had been arrested earlier on suspicion of being involved in terrorism. The detainee stated in his official complaint that two soldiers had grabbed him tightly and struck his head against a blunt object.  Articles
Guantanamo as a Symbol Ramzy Baroud, Palestine Chronicle 1/21/2008 11 January marked the sixth year anniversary of the establishment of the Guantanamo detention camp. Mere months after the start of the 2001 United States invasion of Afghanistan, a large cargo plane landed in a US military base in Cuba’s Guantanamo Bay, bringing in a group of hunchbacked, orange-clad, blindfolded, "terrorist" suspects, apparently representing the worst of the worst. They included children and aged men, charity workers, journalists and people who were sold to the US military in exchange for a large bounty. The debate over this notorious prison has ever since been marred by easy reductionism. The fact is that Guantanamo is neither a warranted compound holding "bad people" -- as explained by the ever straightforward President Bush -- nor is it a dark spot in the otherwise luminous US record for respecting human rights, rules of war and international treaties. If anything, Guantanamo is a mere extension of a long list of untold violations practised by the Bush administration, which condenses the camp to being a symbol of widespread policy predicated on nonchalantly undermining international law. Believing Olmert Gideon Levy, MIFTAH 1/15/2008 After listening to many of his statements, some of them very impressive, one comes to recognize that Ehud Olmert perhaps truly desires peace with the Palestinians. The fact that he has not zigzagged, not even once, that he only reiterates the same things, speaking like Uri Avnery (even if 40 years late), that he does not backtrack or stutter - only reinforces this feeling. It is permissible, therefore, to succumb to the temptation and believe that the man who told Haaretz on November 28, "two states, or Israel is finished," indeed has undergone a profound change. However, there’s a catch: This welcome change of consciousness has not yet been accompanied by any practical action. The settlements are flourishing, 10,000 Palestinian prisoners are rotting in prisons, Gaza is starved and blacked-out, Shin Bet security service investigators are torturing, the checkpoints incarcerating and the acacias blooming in the territories. The conclusion: Olmert wants, but is unable. Or perhaps he wants, but is afraid. The common explanation: If he takes any practical step to implement his intentions, his government will collapse immediately. Olmert is imprisoned in his impossible coalition. If he only dares to do something, Avigdor Lieberman and Eli Yishai will quit, and Olmert will be left without parliamentary support. The Grand Jury and the persecution of Dr. Abdelhaleem Ashqar Michael E. Deutsch, Electronic Intifada 1/14/2008 Ever since his sentencing on 21 November, I have been ruminating on the extreme injustice perpetrated on Abdelhaleem Ashqar by the US government and the federal court in Chicago culminating in a draconian sentence of 135 months for nonviolent acts of civil disobedience.Dr. Ashqar, a Palestinian and a former professor of business administration at Howard University, was acquitted this past February by a federal court jury of participation in an alleged racketeering conspiracy charged against Hamas, the elected government of the Palestinian Authority, which had been designated in 1997 as a foreign terrorist organization by the US government. [Disclosure: the author was one of the counsel for Dr. Ashqar’s co-defendant Muhammad Salah who was acquitted of racketeering conspiracy, but convicted of obstruction of justice for filing false answers to interrogatories in a civil case and sentenced to 21 months in prison.] Dr. Ashqar, who received his PhD from the University of Mississippi and was a candidate for the presidency of the Palestinian Authority in 2005, was convicted of one count of obstruction of the administration of justice and one count of criminal contempt stemming from his refusal to collaborate with federal grand juries, one in New York and one in Chicago, investigating Hamas and the Palestinian anti-occupation movement. His refusals to testify before investigative grand juries about his work and relationships with other Palestinians -- in effect to become an informer against his people and his liberation movement -- was part of a long history of resistance by activists in this country to "naming names" of political associates before government investigative bodies. Such refusals to cooperate with grand juries have occurred in response to the usurpation by prosecutors of the purported independent power of the grand jury. Believing Olmert Gideon Levy, Ha’aretz 1/13/2008 After listening to many of his statements, some of them very impressive, one comes to recognize that Ehud Olmert perhaps truly desires peace with the Palestinians. The fact that he has not zigzagged, not even once, that he only reiterates the same things, speaking like Uri Avnery (even if 40 years late), that he does not backtrack or stutter - only reinforces this feeling. It is permissible, therefore, to succumb to the temptation and believe that the man who told Haaretz on November 28, "two states, or Israel is finished," indeed has undergone a profound change. However, there’s a catch: This welcome change of consciousness has not yet been accompanied by any practical action. The settlements are flourishing, 10,000 Palestinian prisoners are rotting in prisons, Gaza is starved and blacked-out, Shin Bet security service investigators are torturing, the checkpoints incarcerating and the acacias blooming in the territories. Twilight Zone / A window on interrogation Gideon Levy, Ha’aretz 1/12/2008 Imad Khotri says he is a clerk in the Qalqilyah municipality and serves as a volunteer imam in the city’s Saladdin Mosque. He is 23 years old, and was arrested in his home late at night on October 17, 2007 by Israel Defense Forces soldiers. The next day he was transferred to a Shin Bet security service interrogation facility in the Kishon detention camp. That was the start of a prolonged series of interrogations involving torture. His hands have remained partially paralyzed as a result of the torture, and the tight and prolonged binding of his hands to a chair with iron handcuffs. Anyone who saw him brought to the military court saw a person with dangling palms, which he is barely able to move. A judge who saw him in this condition ordered the cessation of his interrogation and medical tests. A test performed in Haifa’s Rambam Medical Center indicated "quite serious partial axonal damage to his nerve." The Shin Bet doctor determined that this was caused by "strong pressure" on his hands. The legal bureau of the Public Committee Against Torture in Israel (PCATI) filed a harsh complaint with the attorney general. Prisoners’ dilemma Akiva Eldar, Ha’aretz 1/3/2008 The phrase "blood on their hands" makes Hisham Abdel-Razeq’s blood boil. The former minister of prisoner affairs in the Palestinian Authority has spent more than a third of his life - he is 54 - in Israeli prisons. He was arrested for the first time at age 17 and three years later, in 1974, was jailed again after being wounded by an explosive device he was preparing, and which he wanted to detonate in Rishon Letzion. "When you use the expression ’blood on their hands,’ you only consider the victims on your side and not those on the other side," he said this week (in fluent Hebrew) in a phone conversation from his home in besieged Gaza. "You differentiate between blood and blood, between suffering and suffering, between pain and pain. It’s a racist way of seeing things." Hajj pilgrims stranded in Egypt Rami Almeghari writing from Gaza City, occupied Gaza Strip, Electronic Intifada 1/1/2008 "We are in a prison. Our situation is so miserable in the arena the Egyptian authorities have placed us in. Yesterday a 45-year-old woman pilgrim died in front of us," says Nayef al-Khaldi. The 55-year-old al-Khaldi is stuck at an arena turned into a shelter at the Egyptian border town at al-Arish along with more than 1,100 other Palestinians, including high-ranking Hamas members, following the Hajj pilgrimage to Mecca, Saudi Arabia. The pilgrims refused Egypt’s demands that they return to Gaza through an Israeli-controlled border crossing, fearing that they would be vulnerable to arrest and interrogation. Israel and Egypt claim that Palestinians could be smuggling cash to the desperate strip. Around 2,000 returning pilgrims are stranded at the Egyptian Red Sea port of Nuweiba after traveling from Saudi Arabia via ferry. "It’s hell. The Egyptian authorities should have taken us back to the Rafah crossing terminal instead of placing us in this sports stadium. Our situation is unbearable, as no one seems to care," al-Khaldi explains in a phone interview. LinksAdalah Adalah (Justice in Arabic) is the first non-profit, non-sectarian Palestinian-run legal center in Israel. The main goal of Adalah’s work is to achieve equal rights and minority rights protections for Palestinian citizens of Israel. Addameer Prisoners’ Support and Human Rights Organization: Addameer (conscience) is a Palestinian non-governmental, civil institution which focuses on human rights issues. Supports Palestinian prisoners, advocates for rights of political prisoners, works to end torture. Amnesty International Amnesty International (AI) is a worldwide movement of people who campaign for internationally recognized human rights. AI’s vision is of a world in which every person enjoys all of the human rights enshrined in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and other international human rights standards. Amnesty International USA Amnesty International (AI) is a worldwide movement of people who campaign for internationally recognized human rights. AI’s vision is of a world in which every person enjoys all of the human rights enshrined in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and other international human rights standards. Arab Association for Human Rights - HRA The HRA was founded in 1988 to promote and protect the political, civil, economic, and cultural rights of the Palestinian Arab minority in Israel and to further the domestic implementation of international human rights principles. It is an independent non-governmental organisation registered in Israel. Association for Civil Rights in Israel - ACRI In Hebrew - The Association for Civil Rights in Israel (ACRI) was founded in 1972 as a non-political and independent body, with the goal of protecting human and civil rights in Israel and in the territories under Israeli control. B’tselem The Israeli Information Center for Human Rights in the Occupied Territories. It endeavors to document and educate the Israeli public and policymakers about human rights violations in the Occupied Territories, combat the phenomenon of denial prevalent among the Israeli public, and help create a human rights culture in Israel. Boycott Israeli Medical Association UK: The Medical Committee for Boycott of the Israeli Medical Association (IMA) will document the systematic torture of Palestinian people by agents of Israel. It will publicise the practice in order to bring world opinion to bear on Israel. And it will challenge the Israeli Medical Association which has repeatedly failed to issue advice to doctors who are involved in any way with torture. Human Rights Watch Human Rights Watch is an independent, nongovernmental organization, supported by contributions from private individuals and foundations worldwide. Human Rights Watch is dedicated to protecting the human rights of people around the world. Palestinian Center for Human Rights The Palestinian Centre for Human Rights (PCHR) is an independent legal body based in Gaza City dedicated to protecting human rights, promoting the rule of law, and upholding democratic principles in the Occupied Palestinian Territories. Palestinian Prisoners Society The Palestinian Prisoner Society is a social and human institution and its members are prisoners inside prisons and released prisoners. Membership is open to every Palestinian prisoner inside and outside prisons who meets the conditions of membership. Physicians for Human Rights - Israel Physicians for Human Rights - Israel (PHR-Israel) was established in 1988 as a nonpartisan, nonprofit organization, dedicated to promoting and protecting the medical human rights of all residents of Israel and the Occupied Territories. Public Committee Against Torture in Israel - PCATI An independent human rights organization founded that monitors the implementation conditions in detention centers and continues the struggle against the use of torture in interrogation in Israel and the Palestinian Authority. United Nations Information System on the Question of Palestine The main collection contains the texts of current and historical United Nations material concerning the question of Palestine and other issues related to the Middle East situation and the search for peace. World Organisation Against Torture OMCT is today the largest international coalition of NGOs fighting against torture,summary executions, forced disappearances and all other forms of cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment in order to preserve Human Rights. It has at its disposal a network, SOS Torture, consisting of some 240 non-governmental organisations which act as sources of information.
The Treatment of Prisoners and Detainees: Home page
To receive
a once-daily e-mail digest of our News and Articles content, write
to Disclaimer: The views expressed in the material posted on this site are the sole responsibility of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of the webmaster or Vermonters for a Just Peace in Palestine/Israel. FAIR USE NOTICE: This site may contain copyrighted material the use of which has not always been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. We are making such material available in our efforts to advance understanding of environmental, political, human rights, economic, democracy, scientific, and social justice issues. We believe this constitutes a 'fair use' of any such copyrighted material as provided for in section 107 of the US Copyright Law. In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, the material on this site is distributed without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information for research and educational purposes. For more information go to: http://www4.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.html If you wish to use copyrighted material from this site for purposes of your own that go beyond 'fair use', you must obtain permission from the copyright owner.
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
