Vermonters for a Just Peace in Palestine/Israel
Prisoners Archive - February 2008
Treatment of Prisoners and Detainees by Israel and Others
Prisoners Archive - February 2008
Treatment of Prisoners and Detainees by Israel and Others
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Decorated IDF officer accused of killing Palestinian in ’vendetta’ Uri Blau, Ha’aretz 2/29/2008 Information contained in a petition that will be filed with the High Court of Justice in the next few days casts serious aspersions on Y. B. , now commander of the Jerusalem Border Police’s undercover unit and one of Israel’s most illustrious warriors. The petition claims he shot to death an unarmed Palestinian, from close range, in the course of a November 2001 operation to arrest the man. At the time Y. B. served as a company commander in the undercover unit of the Judea and Samaria Border Police. Three years ago he was awarded the Medal of Valor for dozens of operations in which he took part and assassinations he carried out. The petitioners, lawyers Shlomo Lecker, Shimon Dolan and Michael Sfard and the Public Committee Against Torture want the High Court to order the Israel Defense Forces to open a military police investigation into the death of the Palestinian, Issa Dabasa. Tortured by Abbas’s general intelligence for allegedly trying to expose torture Palestinian Information Center 2/28/2008 RAMALLAH, (PIC)-- Abbas’s general intelligence on Tuesday kidnapped a male nurse working in the Khaled hospital in Ramallah accusing him of photographing the torture marks on the body of Sheikh Majd al-Barghouthi who was tortured to death by the general intelligence. Informed sources told the PIC reporter that PA intelligence elements stormed the hospital and kidnapped Najeh Asi and assaulted hospital staff, adding that information leaked from the PA intelligence’s prison confirmed that Asi is being subjected to excruciating torture more brutal than the torture inflicted on Sheikh Barghouthi. The sources appealed to the Palestinian factions, forces and human rights organizations to intervene quickly to save his life. IOA denies treatment to 6 Palestinian prisoners in dire need of hospitalization Palestinian Information Center 2/27/2008 NABLUS, (PIC)-- The Nafha legal society has revealed that six Palestinian prisoners in an Israeli jail in Beer Sheba were in dire need of hospitalization but were denied treatment by the Israeli prisons authority. The lawyer of the society said after visiting the jail that one of them suffered constant bleeding in his small intestines and was in need of a surgery but the prison’s authority was delaying it. She added that another was hit with a bullet in his head and lost his right eye and was denied treatment. Two other prisoners suffer from diabetes and another was hit with bullets in his legs and was in need of three surgeries, the lawyer said, adding "Finally there is a prisoner who is hit with a bullet in his knee and was in need of urgent treatment". The society appealed to the doctors and human rights organizations to speed up intervention to save the lives of those detained patients and others languishing in various occupation jails. EU’s Human Rights Subcommittee concerned of the lives of Palestinian Detainees Saed Bannoura & Agencies, International Middle East Media Center 2/28/2008 Members of the Human Rights Subcommittee of the European Union met on Wednesday with the Palestinian Minister of Detainees, Ashraf Al Ajrami, and Fadwa Ibrahim, of the Free Marwan Barghouthi Committee, and expressed concern over the lives of Palestinian detainees held by Israel and facing violations. The EU MPs held a public hearing which was chaired by Hélène Flautre (Greens/EFA, FR), and heard from Al Ajrami and Fadwa Ibrahim, the wife of Barghouthi and also heard from Anat Barsella of B’Tselem (the Israeli Center for Human Rights in the Occupied Territories). The MP’s criticized Israel for not sending a representative to the haring. Israel is currently holding captive more than 10. 000 Palestinians including 300 children and 100 women, in addition to 40 legislators. Over one-third of the Palestinian population has spent time in Israeli prisons since 1967. Four prisoners wounded after setting cells on fire Ma’an News Agency 2/27/2008 Bethlehem - Ma’an - Four prisoners in the Palestinian Authority Jnaid prison, Nablus, were injured on Wednesday after setting their prison cells on fire in protest over their living conditions. Our reporter added that the prisoners, who suffered from light burns, set fire to the cell’s furniture along with their own possessions. Nablus’ Mayor Dr. Jamal Muhaisen denied the reports of injuries in the Jnaid prison, instead claiming that what happened was a case of mutiny and an attempt to pressure the authorities to accept "illegal" demands. Muhaisen added in a conversation with Ma’an that the fire was started after the prisoner Ja’far E-Samhan, an activist in the Al Aqsa Brigades, and a number of others refused to abide by the prison rules. He added that the rules were in place to provide protection to both the prisoners themselves and the Palestinian National Authorities. Abbas government accused of torture Al Jazeera 2/26/2008 More detainees have complained of torture by the Palestinian Authority following the death in custody of a Hamas religious leader in the West Bank - The family and followers of imam Majd al-Barghouthi say he was tortured to death last Friday, an allegation that the authorities strenuously deny. Now new allegations have emerged of ill-treatment – even torture – of Hamas supporters held in Palestinian Authority jails. Four men who were arrested alongside al-Barghouthi told his family that they were all tied up in painful positions during interrogation, and that intelligence officers demanded to know where the detainees had hidden weapons. Accused of possessing weapons, Azzam Fehil was arrested on February 10 and held for 13 days in the same detention facility as al-Barghouti. 46 killed in Gaza, 5 in the West Bank in February IMEMC, International Middle East Media Center 2/26/2008 The Media Office of the Nafha Society for defending the Detainee’s Rights and Human Rights, reported on Monday that Israeli forces killed 51 Palestinians in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip since the beginning of this month. Seven children and two women were among the casualties. The Office stated that most of the casualties were killed in the Gaza Strip as the army killed 46 residents. Most of the casualties were killed during air strikes that targeted civilians areas. The office added that five members of the same family were killed in an Israeli air strike to their home in Gaza, and three other civilians were killed in a nearby house in the same strike. In the occupied West Bank, five Palestinians, including two fighters were killed in Qabatia town, near the northern West Bank city of Jenin. One of the casualties is a mentally disabled resident. Legal report: IOF troops killed 51 Palestinians in February including 7 children Palestinian Information Center 2/25/2008 GAZA, (PIC)-- The IOF troops killed 51 Palestinians including seven children and two women mostly in the Gaza Strip since the beginning of February, according to a report issued by the Nafha society for the defense of human and prisoners’ rights. The report said that 46 victims were only killed in Gaza most of them during Israeli air strikes In another context, the IOF troops acknowledged that three Israeli settlers at least were injured during rocket attacks at noon Monday carried out by the Palestinian resistance on the Israeli Sderot settlement in the Palestinian lands occupied in 1948. For its part, the Salahuddin Brigades, the armed wing of the popular resistance committees, announced its responsibility for firing two homemade rockets on Sderot, adding that this operation came in retaliation to the ongoing Israeli crimes committed against the Palestinian people in Gaza and the West Bank. Palestinian Professor released after two years in detention IMEMC Staff, International Middle East Media Center 2/25/2008 The Israeli Authorities released professor Issam Al Ashqar, 50, from the northern West Bank city of Nablus after two years in administrative detention without trial. Professor Al Ashqar was kidnapped by the army on March 2, 2006 and was transferred to an interrogation facility. Later on his health conditions had sharply deteriorated and was hospitalized at Al Ramla Prison Hospital which already lack the basic medical equipment. He suffers from high blood pressure and other related health problems. The Professor was imprisoned under administrative detention orders which were renewed five times without trial. He teaches at Al Najah National University in Nablus. It is worth mentioning that his son Isam, 20, is currently under interrogation in Petah Tikva Israeli interrogation center. Professor Al Ashqar was born in Saida village, near the northern West Bank city of Tulkarem in 1958. Palestinian scientist released after two years in custody without trial Palestinian Information Center 2/25/2008 GAZA, (PIC)-- The Israeli occupation authority released the Palestinian physics professor Essam Al-Ashkar, 50, after spending two years in its jails without charge or trial under the infamous "administrative detention" orders. Ashkar, a renowned physics scientist, was arrested on 2/3/2006 and held in Petah Tikwa interrogation center where his health condition rapidly deteriorated due to high blood pressure. He was carried to the Ramle prison hospital then to other Israeli hospitals and jails. His administrative detention was renewed five times. The physicist used to work as a lecturer at the Najah University in Nablus and his son Mujahid, 20, who is also held in administrative captivity, received a renewal of his detention on the same day his father was released. Ashker was born in Sida village, Tulkarm district, in 1958 and completed his BA in physics from Yarmouk University... Popular Committees appeals the release of an ailing detainee imprisoned by Israel IMEMC Staff, International Middle East Media Center 2/25/2008 The Palestinian Popular (Folk) Committees issued a press release appealing several human rights groups and the International Red Cross to intervene and save the life of a Palestinian detainee who is suffering from a heart disease and imprisoned by Israel. The administration is still rejecting to allow him to be seen by a physician. Azmi Shiokhy, secretary-general of the Committees, stated that there are dozens of detainees who need immediate medical attention but the Israeli Prison Administration is denying their right to medical treatment. He voiced several appeals to international human rights groups and the International Red Cross to intervene and visit all Israeli detention centers and prisons to observe the daily violations against the detainees. Immigration Police detains some 200 African refugees in Tel Aviv Ruth Sinai, Ha’aretz 2/25/2008 The Immigration Police raided the area surrounding Tel Aviv’s central bus station Monday morning and detained more than 200 African asylum seekers. The raid followed a statement Prime Minister Ehud Olmert had made on Sunday, urging the police to deport migrants who had illegally entered Israel from Egypt, but do not enjoy the protection of the UN. Among the detainees were citizens of Eritrea, the Ivory Coast, and Sudan. They were taken to the Holon police station for interrogation and their status to be determined. Those who are recognized as refugees will be immediately released, and the others will be taken to Ketziot prison, where illegal dwellers are incarcerated before deportation. Since the refugees’ lives may be at risk in their home countries, Israel considers deporting them to a third country that will agree to host them. Detained Palestinian MPs call for filing their case with international court Palestinian Information Center 2/24/2008 NABLUS, (PIC)-- Palestinian PLC members detained in the Israeli Ofer jail have called on legal institutions and all concerned societies to table their case with the international court of justice in The Hague to demand their release. MP Hatem Qufaisha explained that efforts should focus on the legal aspect of their detention and to form an international legal committee to follow up their case instead of leaving the deputies to political whims or the "good intentions" of occupation. For his part, MP Ahmed Mubarak said that the people and its authority are called upon to focus their efforts on freedom of the detained lawmakers and to shun differences. He called for restoration of people’s unity, and championed halting media campaigns and releasing political prisoners as an introduction to dialogue. The MPs were speaking during a visit by Nafha legal society’s lawyer to them. PA security quells funeral march of Barghouthi Palestinian Information Center 2/24/2008 RAMALLAH, (PIC)-- The PA security elements in Ramallah suppressed on Sunday the funeral march of Sheikh Majd Al-Barghouthi who was tortured to death by the PA intelligence apparatus in its jails. Palestinian eyewitnesses told the PIC reporter that PA security elements used without any warning a baton charge on the participants in the funeral procession and beat without mercy many Palestinian citizens who wanted to bid farewell to Sheikh Barghouthi, a mosque imam in Ramallah, who was loved and esteemed by a large segment of the Palestinian citizenry. The eyewitness also explained that the security elements came unexpectedly from behind the massive march and started to beat, drag and round up a number of young men, adding that a number of injuries in the heads and other areas of the body were recorded in the ranks of the funeral participants. Army officials downplay abuse allegations Yuval Azoulay, Ha’aretz 2/23/2008 Shooting Palestinian bystanders; illegally commandeering cars and going on joyrides; torturing a youth by pressing a heater to his face and beating cuffed prisoners on their way to custody. These are only some of the reported cases of abuse for which Israel Defense Forces soldiers serving in the West Bank are currently on trial. "We’ve been hit by a tsunami," said the commander of the Kfir Brigade, members of which were recently implicated in a rampage through a West Bank town that left two Palestinians wounded, one of them seriously. Kfir is the largest IDF unit in the West Bank. "I suppose every brigade goes through low and high periods, and right now we’re in a low one." Another officer in the GOC Central Command admitted that "the brigade is in a rough patch." But some officers say that the incident, while lamentable, is not unusual; what is different about this case, they... Abbas orders inquiry into alleged PA torture of dead Hamas preacher Associated Press, YNetNews 2/23/2008 Palestinian prime minister demands investigation into death of Hamas leader Majed Barghouti while under PA custody. Family say the 44-year-old preacher was tortured during his detention in Ramallah, agree to autopsy to prove case - A Hamas preacher died in the custody of the Palestinian intelligence service, and his family, citing reports from fellow detainees, alleged Saturday that he had been tortured. Majed Barghouti, 44, died at an intelligence lockup in the West Bank city of Ramallah on Friday, a week after his arrest. Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas ordered an investigation of the death, which came among repeated complaints by Hamas detainees that they were mistreated by Abbas’ forces. Six West Bank legislators called for an independent investigation, and Barghouti’s family said it would agree to an autopsy, if attended by independent observers. Hamas preacher dies while in Palestinian jail; kin allege torture The Associated Press, Ha’aretz 2/24/2008 A Hamas preacher died in the custody of the Palestinian intelligence service, and his family, citing reports from fellow detainees, alleged Saturday that he had been tortured. Majed Barghouti, 44, died at an intelligence lockup in the West Bank city of Ramallah on Friday, a week after his arrest. Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas ordered an investigation of the death, which came among repeated complaints by Hamas detainees that they were mistreated by Abbas’ forces. An autopsy indicated that Barghouti had died of a heart problem, said Shawan Jabareen, head of the Palestinian human rights group Al Haq, adding that he had been shown the four-page medical report. However, Jabareen and six West Bank legislators called for another autopsy, under supervision. Half are in shelters, half in apartments - but nearly all are unemployed Vered Lee, Ha’aretz 2/24/2008 Fifty refugees from Eritrea arrived in Tel Aviv on Thursday of last week, on a bus that brought them from Ketziot Prison, in the south of the country. They had spent two months in detention, after crossing the Egyptian border into Israel. Now, they are scattered to the winds. About half are staying with friends and relatives. The remainder sleep in dank shelters at night and spend the days wandering the streets, trying to survive until their temporary permits allowing them to stay in Tel Aviv expire. Vanos and Ibrahim were both on the bus. In their 20’s, they attended the same school back home and traveled together to Israel. In Sudan, young people are conscripted into the army, where they have no rights, no salary and no demobilization date. Vanos explains that he and Ibrahim fled from the draft and when it became too dangerous to remain in Sudan they escaped to Egypt. Hamas sources: "An Imam dies due to torture in a Palestinian interrogation facility"ť IMEMC Staff, International Middle East Media Center 2/22/2008 Hamas media sources reported on Friday that Sheikh Mohammad Abdul-Aziz Al Barghouthi, 42, the Imam of Kobar mosque near Ramallah, died in a Palestinian interrogation facility due to extreme torture. One of the relatives of Barghouthi stated that the Sheikh was moved to a hospital on Thursday evening and died at the hospital on Friday evening. The relative added that marks of torture and burn were clearly apparent on the body of Barghouthi. Barghouthi was arrested by the Palestinian security forces last week and was under interrogation since then. Also, Hamas stated on Friday that Palestinian security forces in the West Bank continued their arrest campaign against Hamas members and supporters and arrested on Thursday four members of the movement in the West Bank cities of Ramallah and Tulkarem. Abbas"™s Mukhabarat tortures Palestinian man to death on Israel"™s behalf Yasser al Rimawi, Palestinian Information Center 2/22/2008 Occupied Ramallah, (PIC)-- A middle-aged Palestinian man from a village near Ramallah has died, apparently of severe bodily torture at the hands of the PA Mukhabarat or General Intelligence. According to family sources, Majd Abdul Aziz al Barghouthi, 42, died Friday after he was subjected for seven days to severe physical torture at the Mukhabarat dungeons in Ramallah. A relative told this reporter that Barghouthi, an imam at the local Mosque of the village of Kobar, near Ramallah, was rushed to hospital Friday afternoon after he lost consciousness. "śHe was in a critical condition as a result of harsh beating, burns, and other forms of torture,"ť said Muhammed al Barghouthi. "śSigns of torture and burns were all over his body. Rights group: Prisons Authority ignores medical needs of inmates Jonathan Lis, Ha’aretz 2/21/2008 A rights group says they have received over 350 complaints in the last year dealing with the treatment of prisoners seeking medical treatment while incarcerated. Doctors for Human Rights blamed Prisons Service doctors as practicing dual loyalty -often putting the concerns of their employer above those of the patients they are responsible for treating. The group issued a report detailing several particular incidents of wrongdoing, including a Palestinian prisoner who was left handcuffed to a hospital bed while he was dying of a gunshot wound, and a refugee from Darfur who was kept handcuffed while undergoing treatment for Leukemia. The rights group also said that AIDS patients incarcerated in the prison system were not informed that they were eligible to receive medical care. Sick, injured detainees continue to be barred from medical treatment IMEMC Staff, International Middle East Media Center 2/21/2008 One of the lawyers of the Palestinian Prisoners Society (PPS) visited a number of detainees imprisoned by Israel who informed him of the bad treatment and the continued negligence by the Prison Administration to their right to receive medical treatment. Ammar also stated that he also had three fingers amputated; a fracture in his arm, back pain and pain in his left leg, but is not receiving any medical treatment. He added that he needs platinum implant in his head but the prison administration is rejecting to provide him with the needed surgery and medical attention. The lawyer also met with detainee Mohammad Eshtewy from the Balata refugee camp in Nablus. Eshtewy was kidnapped by the army last month and the soldiers who him in his right foot while he was standing in front of his home. His arrest came only three months after he was released from an Israeli detention facility. PPC appeals medical treatment to a Palestinian detainee International Middle East Media Center 2/21/2008 The Palestinian Popular Committees issued a press release appealing Human Rights Groups and the International Red Cross to intervene and save the life of detainee Bassam Hafith, 38, who is facing a continuously deteriorating health conditions. Human Rights Groups filed several appeals to transfer Hafith to a hospital but all appeals were rejected and his conditions is gradually declining. Azmi Shiokhy, secretary-general of the Committees stated that Hafith have three other brothers who are also imprisoned by Israel since more than one year in addition to a fourth brother who was assassinated by the army. [end] Red Cross delegation visits the Palestinian ministry of prisoners affairs Ma’an News Agency 2/20/2008 Ramallah – Ma’an – A delegation representing the International Committee of the Red Cross met with the Palestinian Minister of Prisoners’ Affairs, Ashraf Al-Ajrami, on Tuesday evening. The group from the Red Cross included the head of the Red Cross delegation to Israel and the Palestinian Territories, Christoph Harnisch, the Director of Logistical Operations, and the director of the West Bank delegation. The director of the minister of Prisoner’s Affairs office and the director of administrative affairs also attended the meeting. The Palestinian minister updated the visitors on the latest developments and obstacles that impede the ministry’s performance. He explained that the Israeli Prison Service refuses to improve living conditions for Palestinian prisoners, which would enable them to live in dignity as required by the fourth Geneva Convention. Israeli soldiers severely beat a Palestinian boy in Tulkarem city Rami Almeghari & Agencies, International Middle East Media Center 2/20/2008 Israeli soldiers harshly attacked and beaten up a Palestinian boy from the West Bank city of Tulkarem, Palestinian medical sources said. Medics added that Mohammad Abu Zant, 14, suffered bruises in all over his body after having been exposed to severe beating by the Israeli soldiers. Witnesses said that Abu Zant was arrested earlier in the day during an Israeli military incursion into the city. Local sources confirmed that the Israeli army force took prisoner 12 other residents, including teens. Israeli army attacks on the occupied West Bank take place almost on daily basis, as many Palestinians happen to be taken prisoners by the Israeli soldiers. Currently, Israel holds at least 11500 Palestinians including women and juveniles inside its jails, according to Palestinian sources. PLC speaker on trial at an Israeli court Palestinian Information Center 2/20/2008 RAMALLAH, (PIC)-- Dr. Aziz Dwaik, the PLC speaker, is to stand trial on Wednesday at an Israeli military court after one and a half year of abduction and detention at the hands of IOF troops, a legal center reported. Al-Ahrar center for prisoners’ studies reported that Dr. Dwaik is to attend his trial hearing on Wednesday at Ofer military court. The center described the trial as a "theatrical play" that completes the illegal kidnap of the legitimate representatives of the Palestinian people, and added that the detained MPs do not recognize those trials. It called on the world at large to practically act to release all detained deputies, atop of them Dr. Dwaik, and all Palestinian prisoners. The center finally appealed to legal institutions in the world to swiftly intervene to block the trial, which it described as "theatrical". IOA releases Palestinian woman after paying fine Palestinian Information Center 2/20/2008 NABLUS, (PIC)-- An Israeli military court has ruled the release of Palestinian detainee Suad Al-Amad after one month incarceration in return for a fine of almost 2,000 dollars. The lawyer of the Nafha legal society said that the Israeli military court of appeals held a hearing on Sunday at the request of the lawyer and on Tuesday she was released after paying the fine. Amad, 29, was kidnapped on Monday night 17/1/2008 during an IOF incursion into Nablus. She was held in Petah Tikwah interrogation center where she was subjected to psychological pressures and was deprived of seeing a lawyer to force her to "confess". [end] Underage detainee complains he was raped by an Israeli prisoner Saed Bannoura, International Middle East Media Center 2/18/2008 The Israeli Army radio reported that a Palestinian underage detainee imprisoned in Ophic Israeli prison complained that he was raped by an Israeli prisoner, held for criminal charges and placed with the child in the same cell. The detainee is 16 year-oldand was under interrogation and placed in solitary confinement. The Radio reported that the Israeli police initiated a probe into the issue and transferred the Palestinian detainee to another room away from the rapist. Israel is illegally holding 350 underage Palestinian prisoners, including one female detainee identified as Ayat Dababsa, 16. A total of 90 female detainees are currently imprisoned by Israel, the Palestinian Prisoners Society reported. Nearly 11500 Palestinians are detained by Israel among them 900 who need medical attention including 500 who need surgeries and urgent treatment, the Society added. Israeli forces apprehend Palestinian woman in Nablus Ma’an News Agency 2/18/2008 Nablus – Ma’an – Israeli forces apprehended 22-year-old Tasbeeh Khayyat on Monday in the northern West Bank city of Nablus. The Nafha Society, which defends Palestinian prisoners and human rights, said that Israeli forces stormed a street in Nablus and seized the woman after ransacking her home. Khayyat is a student in the engineering faculty at the An-Najah National University. The Nafha Society condemned the action and affirmed that there has been a notable escalation in Israeli forces seizing Palestinian women. They highlighted that seven Palestinian women have been apprehended since the beginning of 2008. [end] Israeli forces kidnap a female university student in Nablus Nisreen Qumsieh, International Middle East Media Center 2/18/2008 The media department of Nafha Society for Defending Human and Prisoner Rights indicated on Monday that Israeli military invaded the northern West Bank city of Nablus and kidnapped a female Palestinian from her home. Nafha Society condemned the kidnapping, indicating there had been a visible raise of targeting Palestinian females. The Society confirmed that in addition to al-Khayyat, six Palestinian females have been abducted since the beginning of this year identifying them as, Mahasen ’Amr, Asma’ al Batran, Ahlam Jowhar, Afaf Jom’a, and Isra’ al-’Amarna. [end] Prisons Service refuses early release of man charged with giving Hezbollah information Yoav Stern and Jack Khourys, Ha’aretz 2/18/2008 Israel Prisons Service on Monday rejected an appeal to shorten the sentence of Nissim Nasser, an Israeli accused of giving Hezbollah information damaging to Israel’s security. Nasser, who immigrated to Israel from Lebanon, was sentenced to six years imprisonment after he was accused of having contact with an enemy agent and of transferring information with a view to undermining national security. The IPS rejected the petition to shorten Nasser’s sentence on advice from the Shin Bet security service, who charged that Nasser still has contact with Hezbollah. Nasser told Haaretz via his lawyer that he did not expect the petition to be rejected. "I’ve been in prison for six years and will be out in two months," he said. "I am not a danger to the public, but they (the Shin Bet) think I am in contact with Hezbollah." Israeli military court extends administrative custody of oldest serving detainee Palestinian Information Center 2/14/2008 SALFIT, (PIC)-- An Israeli military court has extended the administrative detention, without trial or charge, of Walid Khaled the oldest serving detainee in the history of Palestine. Khaled, who hails from Skaka village, Salfit district, has been in administrative custody for more than six years, which brought to 14 years the overall years he spent in Israeli captivity that he served on gradual stages during which he spent only few months outside jails. The family of the detainee denounced the "oppressive ruling", and asked for his immediate release and for pressuring the IOA in this regard. Khaled, who is the director of Palestine newspaper in the West Bank, had memorized the holy Koran while in captivity and wrote a number of books and poems. This Week’s Message Gush Shalom 2/14/2008 REVENGE STOP IT! What exactly did the commission inquire? The Gaza blockade has been broken 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 More... REVENGE Experience shows That nothing good Comes out of Assassinations. An assassination Is followed by Revenge. Dozens of innocents Are killed in the Vicious circle of Revenge and bloodshed. Experience shows That the place Of the assassinated, Is almost always Taken by a More talented Enemy. See under: Mussawi. * *Hizbullah leader Abbas Mussawi was assassinated in Lebanon by Israeli attack helicopters in 1992. A ’humanitarian disaster’ next door Nurit Wurgaft, Ha’aretz 2/14/2008 About two months ago, businessman and entrepreneur Yossi Kucik saw a report on the "Mabat" nightly news program about African refugees in Israel. One of those mentioned in the report was Nahom, a pregnant woman who is disabled, a refugee and a daughter of refugees from Eritrea. She was born in Sudan to parents who had fled the civil war in Ethiopia, married a refugee from Eritrea and together they decided to flee to Egypt and from there to Israel. Why to Israel? Mainly for fear that they would be sent back to Eritrea, a country that Nahom has never visited, but where she and her husband may face imprisonment and perhaps even torture. In Israel, the two were imprisoned separately and met again only after her husband took a risk and escaped from the moshav where he had been sent to work as an alternative to detention. Court okays soldier’s 15-month jail term for Hebron rampage Yuval Azoulay, Ha’aretz 2/13/2008 The officer in charge of an army unit that went on a wild rampage in the West Bank and shot a Palestinian without justification last July was sentenced to 15 months in prison Wednesday and demoted to rank of private by a military court in Jaffa. The court okayed the 15-month prison term that had been reached in a plea bargain the week before, but decided to demote the commander to private instead of only to sergeant. Lieutenant Ya’akov Gigi’s sentence was the result of an agreement between his attorneys and the Military Advocate General (MAG). MAG has not yet presented any charges against First Sergeant Dror, who actually pulled the trigger, despite promising that it would do so. Dror claims that the way the Palestinian looked at him was enough to classify him as a "suspect" and to justify opening fire. Israeli prisons authority refuses to treat seriously ill captive Palestinian Information Center 2/13/2008 JENIN, (PIC)-- Relatives of Yasser Nazzal, held in Israeli occupation jails, have called for his immediate release after being denied badly needed medical treatment in captivity. The relatives along with the prisoner’s committee expressed absolute concern over the life of Nazzal, who is suffering a serious medical condition. The committee in a statement appealed to the human rights and international organizations to pressure the Israeli prisons authority (IPA) to extend urgent treatment to him. It said that the IPA transferred Nazzal from Megiddo jail to Shatta jail and refused his request to be held for treatment in Ramle prison hospital. The committee said that Nazzal, who has been held in custody for more than a year, suffers chronic inflammation in the chest and lung deficiency. He was under intensified medical care before his arrest. Several Female detainees suffering bad health conditions, violations IMEMC Staff, International Middle East Media Center 2/12/2008 One of the lawyers of the Palestinian Prisoners Society (PPS) visited a number of female detainees in Hasharon Israeli detention facility and met with a number of detainees who informed him of cases of detainees suffering from various health issues and not receiving the needed medical attention. The lawyer met with detainee Latifa Abu Thra’, from Balata refugee camp in Nablus, who informed him of the bad living conditions the detainees are facing in addition to the lack of medical attention for sick detainees. Abu Thra’ was kidnapped by the Israeli forces on December 19, 2003, and was sentenced to 25 years imprisonment. She is a mother of seven children. The lawyer also met with detainee Shereen Al Sheikh Khalil from Gaza and was living in Ramallah, Khalil was kidnapped on July 13, 2003 and was sentenced to six years. IOA holds Palestinian woman in administrative custody after serving her sentence Palestinian Information Center 2/11/2008 RAMALLAH, (PIC)-- An Israeli military court ordered the administrative detention of Wadha Fukaha for ten months without trial or charge, citing secret evidence tabled by the Israeli military prosecution. The Palestinian prisoner’s club said that the Israeli judge sanctioned the recommendation depending on the so-called secret file that the defendant and her lawyer could not get hold of at the pretext of preserving secrecy of the source. The club said that Fukaha was about to complete her term in prison when the administrative detention order was issued against her. It noted that many Palestinian prisoners had appealed to PA officials to demand an end of the Israeli occupation’s policy of administrative detention, describing it as "inhuman" and in flagrant violation of human rights. Soldiers indicted on abuse charges Hanan Greenberg, YNetNews 2/11/2008 3 soldiers accused of beating teenage Palestinian detainees under their custody. One soldier allegedly pressed blow heater to youth’s face. Female soldiers who bore witness to abuse chose to testify against defendants despite repeated attempts to pressure them - Three combat soldiers from the Haruv Battalion were indicted on Monday on charges of aggravated abuse, obstruction of justice and conduct unbecoming following an investigation into allegations that the troops beat and mistreated 16-year-old Palestinian detainees. According to the indictment filed to the Jaffa Military Court the three soldiers, all holding the rank of 1st Sgt, were instructed to watch over the blindfolded and cuffed detainees at the battalion’s command outpost near Shavei Shomron in the West Bank. At some point two of the soldiers slapped and beat the youths on their shoulder while the third soldier stood to the side and laughed. Red Cross to oversee transfer of man held in Israel Daily Star 2/12/2008 BEIRUT: The International Red Cross has started legal proceedings to ensure the transfer of Nassim Nisr, a Lebanese man detained in an Israeli prison who will finish his term in two months, the pan-Arab Al-Hayat daily reported on Monday. "Ever since I signed a UN document calling for my return to my country, Israeli pressure on me has increased, and they wanted to give me back my Israeli ID card, which I’ve had since I arrived in Israel and have since decided to drop," Nisr told Al-Hayat. He also said that Israel is trying to use him against Hizbullah. "Once his sentence is over, Israel is under obligation to hand Nisr over to the UN, aside from any swap deal with Hizbullah," said Souha Mounzer, Nisr’s lawyer. Israeli authorities extend detention of Palestinian lawmaker and mayor Ma’an News Agency 2/10/2008 Nablus – Ma’an – Israeli authorities have extended the detention of Palestinian lawmaker Dawood Abu Sir for five more months, a lawyer from the Nafha Society for the defense of Palestinian detainees and human rights said on Sunday. The Nafha society appealed for Abu Sir’s release, but to no avail. Abu Sir is a Hamas member who represents Nablus in the Palestinian Legislative Council. In the same regard, an Israeli military court has extended the detention of the mayor of Nablus, Adli Ya’ish for 45 more days. He was supposed to be released on February 13. Dozens of Palestinian elected officials are held in Israeli prisons. Under Israel’s policy of administrative detention, Palestinians can be held without charge or trial for months. Gazans held in Egypt threaten self-immolation Ma’an News Agency 2/10/2008 Gaza – Ma’an – Palestinians from the Gaza Strip detained in the Egyptian city of Al-Arish are threatening to set themselves on fire if they are not allowed to return to Gaza by 3pm Sunday afternoon. Egyptian police are detaining about 500 Palestinians in a sports club in Al-Arish. Several of the detainees called Ma’an to explain their plight. They are also threatening set fire to the building if they are not set free. One of the callers, a resident of Al-Bureij refugee camp, said that the situation in the building is miserable, lacking medical care and other basic needs. He said that 10 of the detainees fainted but did not receive medical attention. Another caller named Ubayda Al-Baghdadi said: "I have been detained in the sports club for five days, and others have been detained for ten days without even water for drinking. IOF soldiers torture two Palestinian children, try to maim one of them Palestinian Information Center 9/2/2008 NAZARETH, (PIC)-- Three IOF soldiers were recently involved in a violent assault on two Palestinian children who were less than 16 years old in an area near Nablus in the West Bank, a Hebrew website revealed on Saturday. The website of the Yediot Ahronot said that the soldiers kicked and beat the two kids and even tried to maim one of them when they put a heater near to his face. The paper would not elaborate, however, on the physical or psychological results of such an assault on the two children. The paper noted that members of the Kfir army unit had been notorious for a number of similar acts against Palestinian civilians in recent weeks. The Nafha society defending prisoners and human rights charged that the assault points to only a fraction of what the IOF soldiers are really doing against Palestinian prisoners, especially children. News in Brief: MKs tour shelters for African refugees Ha’aretz 2/10/2008 MKs to tour shelters for African refugees The Knesset Committee for Foreign Workers is set to tour shelters in central and South Tel Aviv today, where hundreds of Africans have been temporarily lodged. The committee, headed by Ran Cohen (Meretz), will inspect three buildings located near Levinsky park, Har Zion Avenue and Matalon Street where refugees and migratory workers reside. Meanwhile, hundreds more Africans are expected to flock to Tel Aviv later this week after they are released from the Ketziot prison. The Tel Aviv municipality is seeking to rent an office building in order to house 400 more asylum seekers. (Yigal Hai) Arkia wins tender to fly Polish observers Israeli airliner Arkia has won a tender worth millions of shekels to fly hundreds of Polish UN observers to Israel, Haaretz learned over the weekend. Report: the Israeli army kidnapped 60 civilians from Hebron during the moth of January 2008 Ghassan Bannoura, International Middle East Media Center 2/6/2008 The Palestinian Prisoners Society office in the southern West Bank city of Hebron issued a report on Wednesday; the report states that during the month of January 2008 the Israeli army kidnapped 60 Palestinian civilians from the city. The Palestinian Prisoners Society is a local NGO that works with relief and aid workers for the Palestinian Prisoners in Israeli detention camps and their families. Their report stated that 11 of those kidnapped from the city of Hebron in the month of January 2008 were children. In addition the report shows that among the 60 kidnapped there are nine that need constant medical care. Regarding the way the kidnappings were conducted the report says that during the search of the detainees’ homes the Israeli soldiers often destroyed the family belongings such as furniture and electrical devices and confiscated computers. Starting tomorrow: Escalation in collective punishment of Gaza – with supreme court approval - further electricity cuts planned Gisha, ReliefWeb 2/6/2008 Adalah - The Legal Center for Arab Minority Rights in Israel * Gisha - Legal Center for Freedom of Movement * HaMoked: Center for the Defence of the Individual * Physicians for Human Rights-Israel * The Palestinian Centre for Human Rights * The Public Committee Against Torture in Israel * Gaza Community Mental Health Programme * B’Tselem - The Israeli Information Center for Human Rights in the Occupied Territories * Al-Haq * Mezan Center for Human Rights * Association for Civil Rights in Israel * Human Rights Groups: "Israel is Violating the Rights of Civilians in Gaza and Depriving them of Basic Needs - in Violation of International Law." Beginning tomorrow (Thursday, Feb. 7), Israel will reduce supplies of electricity it sells to Gaza, as part of punitive measures taken against Gaza’s civilian population, with the approval of Israel’s Supreme Court. OPT: Update and call for action: emergency situation at the Open Clinic for migrants and undocumented persons Physicians for Human Rights, ReliefWeb 2/6/2008 Over the past few weeks there has been a steep rise in the workload of PHR-Israel’s Open Clinic in the south of Tel Aviv. The reason for the heavy workload is the growing number of refugees and asylum seekers who are arriving in Israel, or who have recently been released from prison. The State of Israel refuses to take any responsibility or offer any solution for their well-being. Refugees and asylum seekers in Israel (both adults and children) are not eligible for public health services. They rely almost exclusively on the medial services provided by PHR-Israel. The statistics for visits to the Clinic in 2007 underline the rising proportion of asylum seekers and minors within the Clinic’s total client population. In absolute terms the number of asylum seekers coming to the Clinic rose from 121 in January 2007 to 437 in November – an increase of 261 percent. MKs petition justice minister to release Israeli Arab prisoners Sharon Roffe-Ofir, YNetNews 2/6/2008 Lawmakers from United Arab List-Ta’al petition ask Daniel Friedmann to cut jail time for Israel-Arab prisoners convicted of offenses against state security - Knesset Members Ibrahim Sarsur, Abas Zkoor and Talab El-Sana of the United Arab List-Ta’al, met with Justice Minister Daniel Friedmann Wednesday, and asked him to cut the jail terms for several Israeli-Arab prisoners convicted of offenses against state security. The MKs additionally gave the justice minister a letter from Israel-Arab prisoners, in which the prisoners alleged that they were discriminated against in Israeli prisons. "These are Israeli citizens who should not have to wait to be placed on Hamas ’ list in order to be made eligible for release,"ť said MK Zakoor following Prime Minister Ehud Olmert’s recent decision to mitigate the criteria for release of Palestinian prisoners. News in Brief: High Court refuses to improve detention conditions Ha’aretz 2/7/2008 The High Court of Justice yesterday refused to order the state to improve the conditions at the detention center for border infiltrators from Africa at Ketziot Prison. Five human rights groups had sought educational and social services for the refugees, among other demands. The three-justice panel noted that the number of African nationals crossing the border illegally from Egypt has been rising steadily in the past few years, to its current rate of 200 per week. The panel upheld the state’s contention that most of these are economic migrants and not political refugees. (Yuval Yoaz) The Chinese are the most oppressed of all foreign nationals working in Israel, according to a study conducted by Prof. Yzhak Shihur of Haifa University. The study found that in 2006 there were over 3,300 Chinese nationals working in Israel, who are subject to Chinese law and political norms that prohibit... Dichter: Heating, air conditioning to be installed in new prisons Shahar Ilan, Ha’aretz 2/6/2008 Public Security Minister Avi Dichter said on Wednesday that Israel Prisons Service (IPS) will install heating and air-conditioning systems in all new facilities to be built in the future. In addition, the IPS will launch a comprehensive refurbishment scheme in all existing facilities. Addressing the Knesset plenum, Dichter said that prisoners are currently allowed to have only one heater in their cells, and are entitled to have up to five blankets each. This is, Dichter explained, due to the faltering electric supply systems in the country’s prisons. He said that "the IPS facilities leave much to be desired. Most of them were built in the 1930s." Meretz Whip MK Zahava Gal-On, who initiated Wednesday’s discussion on the matter, said that "the prisons are society’s back yard. I find it unacceptable that prisoners struggle to keep themselves warm whereas the guards sit in air-conditioned rooms." Prisoners’ Society: 60 Palestinians kidnapped in Hebron last month including 11 children Nisreen Qumsieh, International Middle East Media Center 2/6/2008 A report issued by the Palestinian Prisoners’ Society in the southern West Bank city of Hebron indicated on Wednesday that in January the Israeli forces kidnapped at least 60 Palestinians including 11 children under the age of 18. In January, ex-prisoners Mahmoud and Mohammad Sabarna from Beit Ummar village near Hebron, were killed by Israeli settlers from the settlement of Kfar Etzion south of Bethlehem allegedly for attempting to infiltrate the settlement and stab settlers. Both were released from Israeli jail ten days before they were killed. The statement also indicated that during the abduction campaign, soldiers assaulted the prisoners, confiscated and stole property in their homes. The statement says that 19 have been transferred to Askalan detention center for interrogation, another 5 were transferred to the Russian Compound in Jerusalem also for interrogation and a further 13 are being held under administrative terms. Israel is holding 365 Palestinian children captive in its prisons IMEMC News, International Middle East Media Center 2/5/2008 The Palestinian Center for Detainees’ Studies issued a press release on Monday revealing that Israel is currently holding more than 365 Palestinian children captive in its prisons, including 100 children who are 13-15 years old. The Center also stated that all of the child detainees, currently imprisoned by Israel, were kidnapped by the army since during the Al Aqsa Intifada which started in 2000. Ahmad Shawahna, head of the center stated, that the Israeli Prison Administration is subjecting the detainees to physical and psychological pressuresin addition to threatening them to attack their families if they do not confess to charges filed against them. Shawahna appealed the International Community to practice pressure on Israel in order to stop its violations against the detainees, especially child detainees, and added that these violations should be labeled as War Crimes. Jailed Hamas legislators call for countering Israel’s plan to dig a tunnel near the Al Aqsa Mosque IMEMC News, International Middle East Media Center 2/5/2008 Hams legislators, detained by Israel, called on the Palestinian people to counter a new Israeli plan to dig a new tunnel under the Islamic Neighborhood, near the Al Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem. In an urgent letter written by the legislators detained in Ayalon Israeli prison, the officials stated that what is happening is another Israeli attempt to wipe the Arab and Palestinian history in Jerusalem. They called on the Arab and Islamic worlds to aid the Palestinian in their struggle for protecting Jerusalem and the holy places. They also said that the current divisions among the Palestinians are encouraging the Israeli occupation to continue its assaults, and resume its attacks against Jerusalem and the Al Aqsa Mosque. On Thursday, January 31, Israeli Newspaper, Haaretz, reported that the Israeli Authorities decided to start digging a new tunnel under the Muslim neighborhood in the Old City of Jerusalem. Commission to probe Shehada assassination Aviram Zino, YNetNews 2/4/2008 State Prosecution names commission members set to investigate 2002 assassination of senior Hamas operative that also led to death of 15 Palestinian civilians - The State Prosecution Monday handed the High Court of Justice the names of the committee members set to investigate the 2002 assassination of senior Hams leader Sheikh Salah Shehada. The IDF bombed Shehada’s home in July of 2002, leading to the death of 15 Palestinian civilians. Chairing the committee will be former Chief Military Advocate General, Brigadier General Tzvi Inbar, who also formerly served as the Knesset legal council. The makeup of the commission was presented to the High Court pursuant to a petition by the Public Committee Against Torture in Israel, which demanded the appointment of a commission of inquiry regarding the Shehada assassination. VIDEO - Hebron: IDF soldiers expose themselves to Palestinians Ali Waked, YNetNews 2/3/2008 (Video) Peace activist films Israeli soldiers exposing rear ends to Palestinian shepherds. MK Tibi: Incident IDF’s Abu Ghraib. Soldiers sentenced to 21 days in prison following tape’s release - VIDEO - IDF soldiers who arrived at the Maon Farm settlement outpost near the West Bank city of Hebron exposed their rear ends to Palestinians in an attempt to make them evacuate nearby grazing fields, Palestinian sources and foreign peace activists claimed Sunday. On Sunday, the soldiers were sentenced to 21 days incarceration in a military prison and suspended from operational duty until further notice. Ynet has received exclusive footage of the incident, which took place on January 11. Video: Christian Peacemaker Teams - Sean, the foreign peace activist who filmed the soldiers, said activists and foreign volunteers from a Christian organization... 3 IDF troops jailed for exposing themselves to Palestinians Yuval Azoulay, Ha’aretz 2/4/2008 Three Israel Defense Forces soldiers belonging to the Lavi Battalion of the Kfir Infantry Brigade were sentenced Sunday to 21 days in military prison after footage was discovered of them undressing and exposing themselves in front of Palestinian civilians near Hebron a few weeks ago. The three were caught on film by a peace activist who was in the area. In the video, one of the soldiers can be seen shaking his bare buttocks at the Palestinians. The video also shows the soldiers making other obscene gestures towards the Palestinians. The batallion commander decided that the three would not return to combat positions following their prison time. The IDF condemned the incident and an IDF spokesperson said it was a "embarrassing aberration that does not reflect the values and norms IDF soldiers are inculcated with. IDF commander gets 15 months in prison for W. Bank rampage Yuval Azoulay, Ha’aretz 2/3/2008 The officer in charge of an army unit that shot a Palestinian without justification last July was sentenced last week to 15 months in prison and a demotion. Lieutenant Ya’akov Gigi’s sentence was the result of an agreement between his attorneys and the Military Advocate General (MAG). However, it is not yet clear whether he will be demoted to sergeant, as his attorneys requested, or to private, as MAG wanted. MAG has not yet presented any charges against First Sergeant Dror, who actually pulled the trigger, despite promising that it would do so. Dror claims that the way the Palestinian looked at him was enough to classify him as a "suspect" and to justify opening fire. Gigi and five of his soldiers hijacked a Palestinian taxi last July in the West Bank village of Dahariya, near Hebron. Prison Administration denies medical treatment for a seriously ill detainee IMEMC News, International Middle East Media Center 2/3/2008 Family of detainee Zeidan Mohammad Zeidan, 22, from the northern West Bank city of Jenin, voiced an appeal to save the life of their detained son as he is seriously ill while the Israeli Prison Administration (IPA) refuses to provide him with the needed medical treatment. Zeidan was shot and injured before he was arrested six years ago in Majiddo inside the Israeli boundaries. The Israeli prosecution claims that Zeidan intended to carry a suicide bombing, and that he is a member of the Islamic Jihad. The father added that the IPA neglected the medical condition of his son and is refusing to transfer him to any hospital which is causing serious deterioration in his health condition. He voiced an appeal to human rights groups to intervene and ensure that his detained son receives the needed medical treatment. A freed detainee talks about the harsh conditions in Shatta prison IMEMC News, International Middle East Media Center 2/2/2008 Detainee Mojahid Mustafa Qreeny, 25, from Jenin refugee camp in the northern West Bank city of Jenin, was recently freed after five years in detention at the Shatta Israeli prison. He explained the situation at the facility and the conditions that the detainees have to face on daily basis, especially the detainees who are several from health issues. He added that Shatta prison has two sections where the Palestinian political detainees are imprisoned, and eight sections for Israeli prisoners held for criminal violations. There are fifteen rooms in every section, each room is 4 meters wide and eight detainees are placed in it. The rooms are old, very cold in winter and extremely hot in summer. Bugs, cockroaches and insects are filling the rooms due to old toilets. The detainees are also lacking hot eater for shower.  Articles
A Police State without a State Khalid Amayreh in Ramallah, Palestinian Information Center 2/26/2008 A government that murders its political opponents, by way of torture or assassination, and then tries to cover up the crime, or mitigate its gravity, is a criminal government, pure and simple. As Palestinian citizens, we are worried that the Ramallah-based government is effectively becoming just another Arab police state, to be added to the other 22 other police states in the Arab world. But there is a very a conspicuous difference, because in our case, the Palestinian "śstate"ť is obviously a police state without a state. Two weeks ago, the Palestinian General Intelligence, also known as Mukhabarat, arrested, reportedly in a brutal manner, eight people from the village of Kober near Ramallah. Among the detainees was the imam of the local mosque, Majd al Barghouthi, 45, and father to eight children. The main charge leveled against him was related to a firearm he allegedly was hiding somewhere. Al-Barghouthi denied that he possessed or knew of any firearm. Palestinians should seek reparations from Germany Khalid Amayreh in the West Bank, Palestinian Information Center 2/26/2008 In the early months of the Aqsa intifada against the Israeli occupation, an Israeli officer in the Nablus region told dozens of handcuffed and blindfolded Palestinian detainees that "śwe are treating you like the Nazis treated us, and maybe when you are free from our grip, you will find another people whom you will treat the same way we are treating you."ť These were not facetious remarks. That officer was actually displaying definitive symptoms of a chronic collective psychosis permeating through the Israeli Jewish society. It is this collective mental sickness that make Israelis commit the most heinous crimes without feeling the slightest shred of guilt. Didn"™t Dan Halutz, the former Israeli air-force commander and later chief of staff boast that he slept well at night and felt no compunctions after he ordered an F-16 fighter warplane to drop a one-ton bomb on a residential apartment building in downtown Gaza , killing sixteen sleeping people, including 11 children? Palestinian revenge was inevitable Ahmed Yousef, Ha’aretz 2/12/2008 Last week’s bombing in Dimona was the first martyrdom operation committed by Hamas in more than five years. For some time, we have been warning the world that the relentless pressure on our people would eventually tell. In the last two months, more than a hundred people have been killed by the Israeli occupation forces in the Gaza Strip, including many civilians, women and children. Thirty people have died in the last month for lack of medical care brought on by the embargo. Only two weeks ago, we saw the appalling sight of over 40 women and children seriously injured when an Israeli F-16 dropped an enormous bomb in the middle of the densely populated Gaza City, a few meters from a wedding party. This kind of atrocity, piled onto the daily death toll, has finally tested the patience of Palestinians, and after lengthy restraint, revenge was inevitable. To many in Israel and the West, this act of resistance will be judged in isolation. They will no doubt say that it justifies the inhumane embargo on the people of Gaza and the arrests of more than 500 people and daily torture of innocents in the West Bank by both Israelis and the puppet government imposed on us by the U.S. Yes, Canada, There is Torture in Israel Louis Frankenthaler, Palestine Chronicle 2/9/2008 Israeli Ambassador, Alan Baker recently expressed his indignation over Canada’s listing of Israel as a state that engages in torture in a training manual for diplomats. The ambassador asserts that torture is not practiced by Israel and based on this it seems that the Canadian Foreign Ministry will revaluate this manual and "correct" it. The problem, however, is not the manual but the fact that Israel continues to regularly practice torture. The Ambassador claimed that allegations of torture, such as those made by The Public Committee Against Torture in Israel (PCATI), are questionable. In November 2007 PCATI began to handle an especially egregious case of the abusive use of handcuffing in which the detainee upon remand complained of and displayed evidence of having been tortured. The Military Judge ordered that the detainee to be examined. Subsequent neurological examinations in an Israeli hospital demonstrated that the detainee suffered lasting injury to his hands. PCATI filed a major complaint on this matter and asserts that it is further evidence of the systematic nature of this practice. This case was reported on by Gideon Levy in Israel’s Haaretz Newspaper in which he quoted the victim’s affidavit. Westminster Still in Awe of Israel’s ‘Amoral Thugs’ Stuart Littlewood, Middle East Online 2/7/2008 Stuart Littlewood describes how, in a British Parliament debate about Gaza, ministers, including at least one former chairman of the ‘Labour Friends of Israel’ lobby group, dodged difficult questions about UK support of Israel and stonewalled criticism of Israeli crimes. Last week there was a debate on Gaza in the UK Parliament. Very few people turned up. MP Jeremy Corbyn reminded everyone that 36 of the 39 Hamas Palestinian Legislative Council members the Israelis abducted in 2006 were still detained and some hadn’t even been charged. “We cannot stand by and allow elected members of a fellow parliament to be arrested and held without charge or trial in Israeli prisons… More Palestinian legislators are in prison than legislators from all the other parliaments in the rest of the world put together. I hope that the minister will tell us that serious pressure has been put on Israel to release those parliamentarians.” He also raised questions on settlements, the blockade of Gaza and the West’s refusal to talk to Hamas. The minister with responsibility for the Middle East, Dr Kim Howells (a former chairman of Labour Friends of Israel), replied: "The government recognizes the impact and scale of the problems and the need to address all of them." He then dismissed Hamas as "a rejectionist Palestinian group" and tried to equate Gaza’s home-made rocket launchings with Israel’s crippling siege and high-tech military onslaughts that have killed 169 (at the time of writing) people and maimed hundreds more since the Annapolis “peace” meeting. 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.
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