Vermonters for a Just Peace in Palestine/Israel
Prisoners Archive - February 2009
Treatment of Prisoners and Detainees by Israel and Others
Prisoners Archive - February 2009
Treatment of Prisoners and Detainees by Israel and Others
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Spanish war crimes probe against Israeli officials to go on Ha’aretz 2/27/2009 A Spanish court announced a decision on Friday to go ahead with a much publicized investigation against senior Israeli officials over alleged war crimes. Last month, Spanish judge Fernando Andreu launched the investigation against seven current or former Israeli officials, over a 2002 bombing in Gaza that killed top Hamas militant Salah Shehadeh and 14 other people, including nine children. The investigation includes former defense minister Benjamin Ben-Eliezer, and former Israel Defense Forces chief of staff Dan Halutz, who served as the commander of the Israel Air Force at the time of the targeted assassination of Shehadeh, along with five other Israeli officials. The judge initially launched the investigation under a doctrine that allows prosecution in Spain, and other European countries, to reach far beyond national borders in cases of torture or war crimes. $9,000 buys black market mobile in Israeli prison; bankrupts families Ma’an News Agency 2/27/2009 Bethlehem – Ma’an report – A recently released Palestinian detainee reported rumors of exorbitant black market prices for items such as cell phones. The former prisoner, who preferred to remain anonymous, said families were bankrupting themselves to purchase the up to 25-30,000 shekel (6-7000 US dollar) phones, just so they could hear their sons’ voices. The source, who spent 10 years in Israeli prisons, said the black market smuggling and near extortion of prisoners families was allowed to continue because of a lack of Palestinian organization within the Ofer prison in particular. He said he felt badly for those conned into purchasing the smuggled items and hoped detainees would discourage the practice in the future. Head of the detainees’ society in Bethlehem Abdullah Az-Zaghari confirmed that he personally had heard of mobile phones being sold for as much as 40,000 shekels (9,500 US dollars). PPS demands medical attention for Palestinian detainees Saed Bannoura & Agencies, International Middle East Media Center News 2/24/2009 The Palestinian Prisoners Society (PPS) stated that several detainees at the Ofer Israeli detention facility are suffering from different health problems due to torture and medical negligence, while the administration refuses to provide them with the needed medical attention. Detainee Mohammad Salah, age 19, from al-Khader town near Bethlehem, is currently facing a deteriorating health condition as he was violently attacked by Israeli soldiers when he was kidnapped on January 16, 2009. The soldiers kicked him in various parts of his body, mostly in his chest, and struck him with batons and rifle-butts. Salah said that during his interrogation he was cuffed, and the soldiers kicked and clubbed as they tried to make him sign a forced confession. He was later moved to the Hadassah Ein Karem Israeli hospital in Jerusalem, and the doctors had only given him pain-killing pills for infections and bruises. Palestinian legislator sentenced to 19 months imprisonment Saed Bannoura & Agencies, International Middle East Media Center News 2/24/2009 The Israeli Military Court in Ofer prison sentenced on Monday Palestinian legislator, Ahmad Abdul-Aziz Mubarak, from al-Jalazoun refugee camp in Ramallah, to 19 months imprisonment. In a press release, Hamas legislators in the occupied West Bank slammed the court’s decision, and considered it another Israeli violation that targeted elected Palestinian officials, including legislators and mayors. The legislators demanded different human rights groups and international parliaments to intervene and ensure the release of all Palestinian legislators and officials illegally detained by Israel. It is worth mentioning that Mubarak was arrested on April 17, 2007, only a month after he was released from another Israeli detention facility. Israel is currently holding 49 legislators and ministers captive without legal basis. Settler soldier receives harsher sentence Hanan Greenberg, YNetNews 2/24/2009 Soldier who protested eviction of his West Bank home has jail sentence increased from 4 to 6 months, after military prosecution says original sentence too lenient - An Israeli soldier who was detained for his behavior during the eviction of the northern West Bank outpost of Adei-Ad was sentenced on Tuesday to half a military year in prison by an IDF appeals court. Prior to an appeal by the prosecution, he had been sentenced to four months in prison. Private Menachem Bakush, who serves in the military rabbinate, was accused of disobeying orders and damaging the image of the IDF when he protested a military eviction of the settlement in late December 2008. Bakush, married and father to a baby girl, had been on the way to his base near Jerusalem when he received a message that IDF forces were clearing out the outpost where he lived. Still wearing his uniform and armed with a military-issue rifle, he entered the area, which the IDF’s Central Command Chief had temporarily decreed to be a closed military area. Four Hizb At-Tahrir members detained by PA police in Salfit Ma’an News Agency 2/23/2009 Bethlehem – Ma’an – Palestine’s Hizb At-Tahrir (Liberation Party) said that four of their members detained by Salfit police for more than 20 days began a hunger strike on Sunday. The party said in a statement received by Ma’an that the parents of the detainees are condemning the arrests. They also said they blame the Palestinian Authority for the detentions and that the government “will be held responsible if anything happens to their sons. ” [end] Palestinians taken from Gaza held in torturous conditions PNN, Palestine News Network 2/22/2009 Gaza -- The fate of Palestinians arrested from the Gaza Strip during the recent major attacks is being slowly uncovered. Several were found after being taken out of Al Naqab Prison under false pretences. The Palestinians were being held, according to the Israelis, as "illegal combatants" and therefore, they said, did not require the attention of the Red Cross or attorneys. The Palestinian Prisoner Society has followed the case closely while issuing reports when new information becomes available. Ghazi Sobhi Al Attar is among those taken from the Gaza Strip. Israeli forces kidnapped the young man, along with his father and 17 year old brother, from their home in the north’s Beit Lahiya on the third of January this year. It was just days after the major attacks began on 28 December. In an eventual meeting with PPS lawyers Al Attar was able to give some of the details of his family’s arrest. Israeli soldiers seize former prisoner at checkpoint Ma’an News Agency 2/20/2009 Hebron – Ma’an – Israeli soldiers seized 37-year-old Muhammad An-Nawaj’a at a checkpoint between Ramallah and Bethlehem on Thursday night. Witnesses said that the soldiers assaulted An-Nawaj’a before arresting him. An-Nawaj’a is a former prisoner who was on his way home to the town of Yatta, near Hebron. An-Nawaj’a’s parents condemned the arrest, calling on human rights organizations to press for his release. [end] Focus on Gaza Al Jazeera 2/20/2009 Al Jazeera’s recent coverage of Israel’s war on Gaza was unparalelled. The network was the only international broadcaster with reporters on both sides of the border, in Israel and Gaza. The war may now be over but the human suffering continues. Focus On Gaza is a new weekly show that will examine all facets of life in the Gaza Strip. Presented by Imran Garda the programme will bring all the latest news and devolopments in Gaza and in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Al Jazeera will also showcase family life in the densely populated area that some describe as the world’s largest open prison. Focus on Gaza features Al Jazeera’s team in the territory including correspondent Ayman Mohyeldin as we continue to lead the way in covering one of the world’s most intractable conflicts. - Human rights investigators continue to look into allegations that Israeli soldiers may have committed crimes of war during their Gaza military campaign. Tadamun: IPA bars transplant for detainee Palestinian Information Center 2/18/2009 NABLUS, (PIC)-- The international Tadamun society has charged the Israeli prisons authority with barring a Palestinian detainee from undergoing a kidney transplant operation. The society in a press release on Wednesday quoted its lawyer as saying that the detainee, Zuhair Lubada, is forced to have dialysis three times weekly and each session takes four hours accompanied by severe pains. It said that the detainee also suffers from liver problems and teeth ache but no treatment is provided for him. Lubada, 47, is held under administrative custody, without charge or trial, since 19/6/2008. Lubada, a father of four children, is held in the Ramle prison hospital. Tadamun held the IPA fully responsible for the lives of dozens of detainees and prisoners who suffer serious diseases and are held in the Ramle prison, demanding their immediate release to enable them receive proper medical treatment. Report: 'Amy kidnapped 7,600 children since 2000, 246 remain behind bars'ť Saed Bannoura & Agencies, International Middle East Media Center News 2/19/2009 Palestinian researcher, specializing in detainees’ affairs, Awni Farawna, stated that the Israeli Army has kidnapped a total of 7,600 Palestinian children, males and females, since the year 2000; 246 children are still behind bars. At least 200 of the kidnapped children were detained under administrative detention, without charges or trial. Some of the children were as young as 12 years old. One detainee is now 13 months old as he was born behind bars. His mother, Fatima Al Zoq, was kidnapped while pregnant, and gave birth in prison while she was handcuffed and her legs were tied to the hospital bed. Farawna stated that Israel’s targeting of children is a policy that targets childhood and a healthy growth, and expressed concern over the fate of the detained children as they are subjected to different sorts of violations, including torture and isolation, which affects their growth,. . . Mazuz mulls indicting senior Arab MK for attacking cop during protest Jack Khoury and Tomer Zarchin, Ha’aretz 2/19/2009 Attorney General Menachem Mazuz is considering indicting Hadash Chairman MK Mohammad Barakeh for attacking a policeman during a demonstration. Barakeh is suspected of having assaulted a member of the Israel Prison Service’s elite Masada unit at a protest in the West bank village of Bi’ilin in 2005. The policeman was taking a detainee to a police car at the time of Barakeh’s alleged assault. Mazuz is considering also including on the charge sheet the crimes of offending a public servant and issuing threats. Barakeh, a prominent Israeli Arab MK, is alleged to have committed these offenses at two other demonstrations in addition to the one at Bi’ilin. In one of the incidents, Barakeh allegedly attacked a police officer during a 2006 protest in Tel Aviv, while in another he is accused of assaulting a passerby during a demonstration in Tel Aviv’s Rabin Square. Ministry of prisoners holds IOA responsible for lives of Raymond detainees Palestinian Information Center 2/17/2009 GAZA, (PIC)-- The ministry of prisoners’ affairs held the IOA fully responsible for the lives of Palestinian prisoners in the Raymond prison after a painful skin infection swept through the jail and infected dozens of Palestinian prisoners with this disease as a result of the unhealthy incarceration conditions in this jail and the policy of medical neglect practiced by Israel against all Palestinian prisoners. In a press statement received by the PIC, Riyadh Al-Ashqar, the director of the information office in the ministry, explained that an infectious skin disease has spread recently among the Raymond prisoners and infected about 60 of them with symptoms similar to those caused by eczema but they are more serious. According to Ashqar, the prison administration refused, despite the many appeals made to it, to bring a doctor specialized in skin diseases. Conditions deteriorate in Eshel Prison without accountable administration Ali Samoudi for PNN, Palestine News Network 2/17/2009 Jenin -- The Palestinian Prisoners Society said today that the conditions in the Eshel Prison are continuing to deteriorate since the recent transfer of the Department Director. Officers and guards are using arbitrary actions and new restrictions which have exacerbated the suffering of Palestinians. The list of banned goods has been expanded, says the PPS, obliging Palestinians to purchase necessities from the prison store at exorbitant prices and a random schedule. In a report issued after a visit by the PPS lawyer investigating transfers of detainees, several cases were taken into account. Safwat Jibril Jabour was sentenced on 8 October 2002 to two life times plus 22 years. The 34 year old explained to the PPS that the general situation in the prison is "poor and chaotic in the absence of a director. Fatah activist sentenced to seven years in Israeli prison Ma’an News Agency 2/17/2009 Gaza – Ma’an – An Israeli military court in the city of Beersheba sentenced a 38-year-old Fatah activist to seven years in prison on Tuesday after postponing his trial for two and a half years. Ali Fuad Abu Al-Foul, who is from Gaza, faced charges related to activities with Fatah and its armed branch, the Al-Aqsa Brigades. He was seized by Israeli forces at the Erez crossing while returning to Gaza from the West Bank city of Jericho in October 2006. According to sources close to him, Abu Al-Foul suffers chronic back pain and impaired vision after he was tortured in prison. Abu Al-Foul is married and has two sons, Muhammad and Fuad. [end] Israel installs surveillance equipment in Palestinian detention center Ma’an News Agency 2/17/2009 Salfit – Ma’an – Israeli prison guards at the Huwwara detention center have installed surveillance equipment in cells and common areas and are using information obtained by the devices during interrogation, prisoners at the facility said this week. A report from the Prisoners’ Society released Tuesday said the prison was being used to gather information and inmates would be released or taken elsewhere for questioning shortly after arriving. Prisoners said they were very disturbed by the development, noting that it violated their rights to privacy. Several prisoners also reported poor health conditions in the prison, noting that there were no doctors on staff and only basic painkillers like acetaminophen were available for the treatment of all manner of illnesses. In protest of the conditions detainees organized a hunger strike and were brutally punished for their actions. 2 ex-Border Guard officers jailed for robbing Palestinians Ilana Curiel, YNetNews 2/17/2009 Officers get prison sentence for demanding illegal Palestinian residents hand over NIS 4,000 in market -Two former Border Guard officers received prison sentences Monday after being convicted of robbing Palestinians at a Beersheba market. One of the officers received six months in jail and the other four - but the sentences can be converted to community service. The Beersheba District Court handed the tougher sentence to a 22-year old former officer who was convicted of abuse of power, assault, and demanding of property under threat. His accomplice, a 21-year old, was convicted of abuse of power and aiding the demanding of property under threat. According to the indictment, the two officers met three Palestinians at the city’s market three years ago and asked them for IDs. After ascertaining that the Palestinians were illegal residents, the officers ordered them to empty their pockets. Israeli soldiers sentenced for extorting money from Palestinian workers Ma’an News Agency 2/17/2009 Bethlehem – Ma’an – An Israeli court in Beersheva sentenced two soldiers to four and six month prison terms after they were found guilty of stealing 4,000 shekels from four Palestinians. The money was taken in lieu of arrest as soldiers discovered the men were attempting to work in Israel without permits. The Palestinians were held at gunpoint until cash was produced. The incidents took place three years ago. The Israeli court ordered 1,700 shekels in compensation for each of the Palestinian men. [end] Israel intends to use the unlawful combatant law against Gaza POWs Palestinian Information Center 2/16/2009 GAZA, (PIC)-- The PA ministry of prisoners’ affairs in Gaza said on Monday that Israel intends to use the law of "unlawful combatant" against more than 200 civilians kidnapped during its war on the Gaza Strip whose fate and whereabouts are still unknown and concealed by the IOA. In a statement received by the PIC, Riyadh Al-Ashqar, the director of the information office in the ministry, explained that Israel devised the law of unlawful combatant to legalize the abduction of civilians endlessly and without any trial. Ashqar added that according to this arbitrary law, the prisoners are denied the right of defending themselves or knowing the charges filed against them. Moreoever, the IOA does not level any indictment against them at the pretext that there are secret files, he pointed out. The Palestinian official revealed that before the war, the IOA had founded a special judicial. . . 22-year-old released from Israeli prison after four years Ma’an News Agency 2/16/2009 Tulkarem – Ma’an –Israeli forces released 22-year-old Nabil Jamil Issa Bado following a four year prison term on Monday evening. Nabil, from the Tulkarem refugee camp, spent the duration of his sentence at the Israeli Negev prison, notorious for its difficult living conditions. Israeli forces detained Bado from his house on 18 August 2005. He was accused of affiliation to Fatah and acting against Israel. [end] IOF troops quell Na’lin peaceful march Palestinian Information Center 2/14/2009 RAMALLAH, (PIC)-- Israeli occupation forces on Friday quelled the weekly peaceful demonstration organized by the inhabitants of Na’lin village, along with foreign sympathizers, to protest confiscation of their lands. Local sources said that the IOF soldiers fired sonic and gas bombs at the participants, and added that 15 of them were treated for suffocation including five journalists and an international activist. In the West Bank, IOF troops arrested three citizens including a young woman in Nablus district at dawn Saturday, local sources reported. They noted that two other young men were rounded up from the Duma village to the southeast of Nablus at dawn Friday. The Israeli occupation authority renewed the administrative detention, without trial or charge, of former PA minister of prisoners’ affairs Wasfi Qabaha, 49, for six months despite absence of any charge against him since his detention on 23/5/2007. PPP: Skin diseases spreading in Ramon detention facility Saed Bannoura & Agencies, International Middle East Media Center News 2/13/2009 "The Palestinian Prisoners Society (PPS) reported Thursday that a skin disease is spreading among the Palestinian detainees in Ramon Israeli detention facility, as nearly 50 detainees are suffering from allergies that are causing the skin to peal off. The PPS said that the disease was first found three months ago, but it was minor and was accompanied with small pimples that would burst and leave a small mark. But later on, the disease started spreading and started to affect different parts of the body, and one detainee also had the disease under his nails causing him to lose three of them. In a letter sent to the prison’s physician, the detainees said that the disease is rapidly spreading among them, but the administration failed to conduct the needed arrangements for treatment. Later on, the detainees held a protest and the administration allowed some of the detainees to be. . . Hamas murder campaign in Gaza exposed Rory McCarthy, Bethlehem, The Guardian 2/13/2009 Islamist regime has killed dozens and tortured others as ’collaborators’ with Israel in war’s aftermath, Amnesty and Guardian sources say - New evidence has emerged revealing the extent of the crackdown by Hamas during and after Israel’s war in Gaza last month. Amnesty International said Hamas forces and militias were involved in a "campaign of abductions, deliberate and unlawful killings, torture and death threats against those they accuse of ’collaborating’ with Israel, as well as opponents and critics". It said at least two dozen men had been shot by Hamas since the end of December and "scores of others" shot in the legs, kneecapped or beaten. Amnesty gave detailed accounts of some of the cases and said there was "incontrovertible evidence" that Hamas security forces and militia were "responsible for grave human rights abuses". -- See also: VIDEO - Living in the rubble: a Gaza family left homeless by the war National and Religious Institution in Jerusalem to hold a protest Saturday Saed Bannoura, International Middle East Media Center News 2/11/2009 National and Religious Institutions issued a press release stating that they are planning to hold a protest against the ongoing Israeli siege on Gaza, and to demand a boycott against Israel for its ongoing violations, in addition to demanding the release of 11. 000 political detainees imprisoned by Israel. The protest would be conducted at noon Saturday, February 14, at the Damascus Gate in East Jerusalem. The protest is entitled "Lift the Blockade on Gaza Now", "Boycott Israel Now". There are hundreds of Palestinian detained who were kidnapped and imprisoned by Israeli before the first Oslo agreement was sign between the Palestinian Liberation Organization (PLO) and Israel in 1993. The agreement was entitled Gaza-Jericho First. More than 200 prisoners died in Israeli prisons due to torture and medical negligence. Hundreds of women and children and also detained by Israel. [end] Barghouthi: The prisoners ready to remain in jails without waiving one demand Palestinian Information Center 2/12/2009 GAZA, (PIC)-- Dean of the Palestinian prisoners Na’el Al-Barghouthi stated that the prisoners in Israeli jails are willing to stay in captivity for the rest of their lives without the Palestinian resistance relinquishing one demand regarding the prisoner swap deal. In a letter sent through the Wa’ed society for detainees and ex-detainees, Barghouthi expressed the Palestinian prisoners’ rejection of the Israeli attempts to link the issue of captive soldier Gilad Shalit with the opening of crossings, calling on the Palestinian resistance not to be swayed by any Arab or Israeli pressures trying to ignore or extract concessions on the issue of Palestinian prisoners. In another related context, Israeli military analyst Aluf Ben opined that a prisoner swap deal between the Hamas Movement and Israel might come to light soon, noting that Hamas is insistent on clinging to its demands regarding. . . Israel releases 25-year-old Palestinian woman after seven years in prison Ma’an News Agency 2/12/2009 Bethlehem- Ma’an – Israeli authorities released 25-year-old A’reen A’wad Husein Shu’eibat from prison on Thursday. The young woman was detained in 2002 during the Israeli siege of Bethlehem. The young woman, from the Bethlehem suburb of Beit Sahour spent her seven-year imprisonment in the Israeli Ad-Damun prison in northern Israel. The young woman prepared to launch a suicide bomb attack against the Israeli soldiers occupying Bethlehem in 2002. She left her home prepared to carry out the mission but had a change of heart and returned home. Israeli intelligence surrounded her home two days following the event. Forces imposed a curfew on the entire town, raided the home and arrested her. A’reen was in her second year of a Business Administration degree at Bethlehem University when she was detained. She was charged with attempting to carry out a suicide attack. VIDEO - Soldier who fired gunshots in Hebron to be jailed Hanan Greenberg, YNetNews 2/12/2009 (VIDEO) Corporal Nahum Ben-Yaakov of Givati Brigade arrested after Ynet publishes video showing him threatening, firing in air during clash between settlers, Palestinians. Plea bargain states soldier to serve five months in prison - VIDEO -An Israel Defense Forces soldier, who fired gunshots in the air during a clash between settlers and Palestinians near the West Bank Jewish settlement of Kiryat Arba adjoining the city of Hebron, will serve five and a half months in prison, according to a plea bargain which will be presented to the court in the coming days. "The soldier’s actions were severe, so the punishment must deter all those holding weapons in their hands," a military source involved in the affair said Thursday. Initial ReportSoldier recorded firing gunshots in Hebron / Exclusive video obtained by Ynet reveals IDF ununiformed soldier. . . Amnesty International accuses Hamas of targeting Fatah rivals during war The Associated Press, Ha’aretz 2/11/2009 GAZA CITY - Hamas militants or security forces killed two dozen people and beat or tortured scores more during and after Israel’s recent Gaza offensive, Amnesty International said in a report released yesterday. Many of those targeted had been detained on charges of spying for Israel and were killed after fleeing a Gaza prison damaged in Israeli airstrikes, the report said. Others were former security officers for the Palestinian Authority or members of Hamas’ rival Fatah movement, the report said. Many of the victims were abducted from their homes by Hamas gunmen or security officers and later found dead, the report said. Others were beaten or shot through the legs, many permanently injured, Amnesty said. Amnesty’s findings echo recent reports by Palestinian human rights groups. MP Mansour calls for independent committee to probe Haj’s death Palestinian Information Center 2/10/2009 NABLUS, (PIC)-- MP Mona Mansour has called for the formation of an independent investigation committee including representatives of legal and human rights institutions, factions and relatives of Mohammed Al-Haj to determine the exact cause of his death in PA custody. She said that all those involved in the "crime" should be prosecuted in the light of the findings of the proposed committee so as to avoid recurrence of this incident. Mansour, a Hamas MP in Nablus, said in a press release on Tuesday that the PA preventive security apparatus’s claim that Haj committed suicide in his cell was a premature investigation result and was unfair to the man, a Hamas activist, and his family. The lawmaker asked for the release of all political detainees in the jails of former PA chief Mahmoud Abbas’s security apparatuses to furnish the atmosphere before initiation of national dialog and real conciliation. Another political detainee in Abbas’s jails rushed to hospital Palestinian Information Center 2/10/2009 RAMALLAH, (PIC)-- Palestinian political detainee in the jails of Fatah leader Mahmoud Abbas was rushed to Tulkarem hospital on Monday after elements of the preventive security apparatus in the city severely tortured him. Well-informed Palestinian sources identified the tortured man as Esam Dhamiri, adding he was kidnapped three days ago at his Tulkarem home, and that he was now in the intensive care unit under tight security from those militias who denied him family visitation. A couple of days ago, a Hamas political detainee, Mohammed Al-Haj, 30, died after he was tortured at the hands of the same apparatus’s elements in Jenin city. Dhamiri was released from Israeli jails few months ago after he spent two years there. Family of Dhamiri held Abbas and his lieutenant Ibrahim Abu Al-Jazar, the chief of the apparatus in Tulkarem, responsible for the life of their son, urging the. . . Amnesty Condemns Hamas’ deadly retribution against opponents and critics Palestine Media Center 2/11/2009 Since the end of December 2008, during and after the three-week Israeli military offensive which killed some 1,300 Palestinians, most of them civilians, Hamas forces and militias in the Gaza Strip have carried out a deadly campaign of abductions, deliberate and unlawful killings, torture and death threats against those they accuse of “collaborating” with Israel, as well as, Amnesty International revealed in a new document today. At least two dozen men have been shot dead by Hamas gunmen and scores of others have been shot in the legs, kneecapped or inflicted with other injuries intended to cause permanent disability, subjected to severe beatings which have caused multiple fractures and other injuries, or otherwise tortured or ill-treated. Most were abducted from their homes and later dumped – dead or injured – in isolated areas, or found in the morgue of one of Gaza’s hospitals. Some were shot dead in hospitals where they were receiving treatment for injuries. Disappeared free Gaza activist, Teresa McDermott, found in Israel’s Ramleh Prison Staff, International Middle East Media Center News 2/9/2009 Scottish activist Teresa McDermott was found in Ramleh prison, four days after the Israeli Government claimed she suposedly "disappeared", after being forcibly removed from a seaborne Lebanese aid mission to Gaza, a statement sentto IMEMC on Monday by the Free Gaza movement said. Teresa was one of only nine passengers aboard the cargo ship on February 4, 2009 when Israeli gunboats intercepted it, boarded, and forced the ship to Ashdod port in Israel. All the passengers and crew aboard were released on Thursday, February 5, except Teresa. Between Thursday evening and Sunday morning there was no word in regards to Teresa’s whereabouts, except for several false stories stating that "Britons" had departed to London. Finally, on Sunday, Teresa was able to call her brother John in Scotland to say she was in Ramleh prison in Israel. Prisoners’ conditions spur complaint by Jerusalem public defender Tomer Zarchin, Ha’aretz 2/9/2009 Prisoners sit with their legs chained together for hours in a cell in the back of an Israel Prisons Service van, while they await hearings in the Jerusalem Magistrate’s Court. The cell is only 1. 5 meter by 1. 5 meter in size. The prisoners are kept in the van because there is not enough room in the holding cells at the court, according to a complaint submitted on Sunday by attorney Moshe Hacohen, chief public defender for the Jerusalem district. Hacohen’s complaint was filed with Prisoner Commissioner Benny Kaniak and Judge Amnon Cohen, president of the Jerusalem Magistrate’s Court. Hacohen demanded the two intervene immediately, due to the "disgraceful and inhuman conditions" of the prisoners. Last Wednesday, after one prisoner complained, Hacohen and his staff went to the back entrance of the Jerusalem court and confronted a depressing. . . Hamas prisoners declare hunger strike over man who died in PA jail Ma’an News Agency 2/9/2009 Jenin - Ma’an – Hamas-affiliated Palestinian political prisoners in Israeli jails declared a hunger strike on Monday in protest of the death of Abd Al-Jamil Al-Haj, a Hamas member who died while in Palestinian Authority custody in Jenin on Sunday. The detainees, in a statement issued from an Israeli prison, said that Al-Haj’s death “is a disgrace on the forehead of the PA and all those who kept silent over such crimes. ”The PA declared Al-Haj’s death a suicide, but his family says that he was tortured, and that he was arrested on political grounds. The detainees are calling for the PA to shut down its prisons, noting "dozens" of cases of torture against Hamas members in PA jails. The Hamas-run de facto government in Gaza has also been accused of human rights abuses, including torture. Philip Rizk - Egypt’s Latest Political Captive Kalash, Kabofest 2/7/2009 A group of activists were recently detained in Sariaqos, north of Cairo. They had been holding a march in the rural area to raise awareness about the situation in Gaza. For several hours, they walked around, talking to bystanders and asking them to join the protest. They did what they had to do. As they were heading back to Cairo, they were stopped and arrested. All of them were released... except for Philip Rizk. Human rights lawyers arrived to help the activists but Rizk was snuck out of the prison’s backdoor of and taken away. According to a Reuters report, he was put in an unmarked car with no license plates; police also blocked his companions’ vehicle to prevent them from following. A Facebook group set up by his friends and family explains further: Phil’s parents went to the police headquarters to file a missing persons complaint.... Scottish activist on humanitarian mission for Gaza found in Israeli prison PNN, Palestine News Network 2/9/2009 Gaza -- The missing passenger from the Lebanese ship bringing aid to Gaza was found yesterday. Resident of Scotland, Teresa McDermott, was able to telephone her brother from Ramle Prison on Sunday. The Israeli administration arrested all of the passengers from the Togo flagged ship, Tali, last week after "beating and kicking" them. That report was confirmed by Al Jazeera reporter Salam Khader who was on board. For four days McDermott was held without contact in the Tel Aviv area Israeli prison. She was one of nine passengers aboard the cargo ship carrying medical and humanitarian supplies as part of ongoing local and international efforts to break the siege on Gaza. On 4 February Israeli gunboats intercepted and boarded the ship, forcing it into the Israeli Ashdod port. The Tali was impounded and the aid confiscated. Investigation sought after Gaza man tortured to death by security forces Ma’an News Agency 2/9/2009 Gaza – Ma’an – A Palestinian human rights organization is calling for an investigation in to the death of a Gazan man it says was tortured to death by Palestinian security forces in Gaza. According to the independent Palestinian Center for Human Rights (PCHR), Jameel Shafiq Shaqqura, 51, from Khan Yunis refugee camp Internal Security Services and subsequently died of his injuries. According to PCHR’s investigation, the security forces delivered Shaqqura to a hospital on 31 January. He died on Friday after his condition deteriorated while in custody. The victim’s brother, Aatef Shaqqura told PCHR that on 30 January Jameel and three others were summoned to the Khan Yunis Sports Club for questioning “in a case they knew nothing about. ”“At approximately 06:30 on Saturday, 31 January, I received a phone call from a staff member of Nasser Hospital, who informed me that. . . Fatah calls for investigation into death of Hamas PA prisoner Ma’an News Agency 2/9/2009 Nablus – Ma’an – The secretaries of the Fatah movement in the West Bank called on the Palestinian Authority (PA) on Monday to open an investigation into the death of a Hamas member in a PA prison. Ad Al-Jamil Al-Haj died in a Palestinian Preventive Security detention center in the West Bank city of Jenin on Sunday. The PA said Al-Haj committed suicide, but his family and Hamas are alleging that he was arrested on political charges, then tortured and possibly killed. In a statement the Fatah secretaries also expressed concern at the deteriorating human rights situation in Gaza, blaming the Hamas movement for abuses there, which the statement said were documented by the human rights organizations Addamir, Al-Mezan, and the Gaza Community Mental Health Program. The statement said that “Hamas’ coup” is the cause for “all the catastrophes that are going on in Gaza. PCHR Calls for Investigation into the Death of Palestinian Tortured by Security Services in Khan Yunis Palestinian Centre for Human Rights 2/8/2009 PCHR calls for an immediate and rigorous investigation into the circumstances of the death of Jameel Shafiq Shaqqura, 51, from Khan Yunis refugee camp, who was tortured by the Internal Security Services and subsequently died of his injuries. PCHR calls also for the results of the investigation to be made public, and for the perpetrators to be brought to justice according to the law. According to investigations conducted by PCHR, at approximately 10:40 on Friday, 6 February, medical sources at Nasser Hospital in Khan Yunis, confirmed that Jameel Shafiq Shaqqura had died from a brain clot caused by torture and severe beating to his head. Security officers had transferred Shaqqura to Nasser hospital on 31 January, as his health had deteriorated whilst he was in their custody. The victim’s brother, ’Aatef Shaqqura gave PCHR the following testimony. . . . PA held responsible in death of Hamas man in West Bank prison Ma’an News Agency 2/8/2009 Bethlehem – Ma’an – The family of a Hamas member who died in a Palestinian Authority (PA) prison on Sunday are holding the PA responsible for his death. A Palestinian security source earlier confirmed that 30-year-old Mohammad Abd Aj-Jamil Al-Haj died in a Palestinian Preventive Security detention center in the West Bank city of Jenin. He was arrested on Friday. The security source claimed that Al-Haj committed suicide. Al-Haj’s brother, Bilial, however, told Ma’an that that Al-Haj had been arrested for political reasons, adding that no charges had been leveled against his brother. Bilal Al-Haj said that upon arrival at the morgue, his brother’s body had bruises on his waist. A Hamas spokesperson also accused the PA security forces of causing Al-Haj’s death. Scottish activist seized from Gaza aid boat held in Israeli prison Ma’an News Agency 2/8/2009 Bethlehem – Ma’an – A Scottish human rights activist seized by the Israeli Navy from a Lebanese aid ship bound for Gaza has been detained in Israel’s Ramleh prison, according to the Free Gaza Movement. Teresa McDermottwas detained along with eight other passengers on Thursday when the Israeli Navy stormed the Togo-flagged cargo ship, firing shots and reportedly assaulting them. The others, including Lebanese and Palestinian nationals, were deported. Israeli officials claimed that McDermott would be flown to London. McDermott however never appeared in London. According to Free Gaza, McDermott, an employee of the postal service, was able to call her brother John in Scotland from Ramleh prison on Sunday. The ship is still in Israeli custody. Israeli officials claimed that they transferred the humanitarian cargo to Gaza, but there has been no confirmation of this. Israeli prisons escalate measures against Palestinians refusing orange uniforms Palestinian Information Center 2/8/2009 GAZA, (PIC)-- The ministry of prisoners’ affairs in Gaza reported that the Israeli prison authority stepped up recently its arbitrary measures against the Palestinian prisoners who refuse to wear the orange uniforms. Riyadh-Al-Ashqar, the director of the information office in the ministry, said that the Israeli prison administrations have been trying for several months to impose by force an orange uniform on the Palestinian prisoners who unanimously refused to wear it. Ashqar pointed out that this uniform is known worldwide as uniform worn by prisoners sentenced to death and those held in the notorious Guantanamo detention camp, adding that some administrators in Israeli jails stated publically that the Palestinian prisoners must be treated as terrorist and not as war or political prisoners. The official affirmed that the Israeli prison authority faced the prisoners’ refusal to. . . Mizan center demands Israel to probe torture of prisoners from Gaza Palestinian Information Center 2/8/2009 GAZA, (PIC)-- The Mizan center for human rights reported that it filed four complaints with the Israeli military prosecutor and the legal advisor to the Israeli government demanding them to conduct an investigation into the torture of Palestinian prisoners from the Gaza Strip kidnapped during the last Israeli war. In a press statement received on Sunday by the PIC, the center underlined that the information obtained by its lawyer based on testimonies of prisoners released recently confirmed that the IOF troops had tortured and maltreated them. According to the testimonies, the IOF troops were using batons and rifle butts to beat the prisoners as well as they were shackling and blindfolding prisoners in painful positions for long hours. The center expressed its strong condemnation of the Israeli persistence in committing serious and organized violations against the rules of international. . . Egypt sources: Hamas agrees to link Shalit deal to opening of Gaza border Amos Harel, Avi Issacharoff, Jack Khoury and Barak Ravid, Ha’aretz 2/9/2009 Hamas has acceded over the past few days to the Israeli demand to link the opening of the border crossings to the release of kidnapped Israel Defense Forces soldier Gilad Shalit, Egyptian sources told Haaretz on Sunday. This allows progress toward a cease-fire, by creating a connection between the opening of all crossings by Israel, completion of a prisoner swap and Shalit’s release. Egyptian sources told Haaretz cautiously that they were "very optimistic" about making progress toward a deal in the near future. However, they said it could not be known when there would be a breakthrough. According to the plan Egypt is promoting, Israel would open the crossings, albeit not totally, when a cease-fire is reached. The crossings would operate at 80-percent capacity, which would allow a large quantity of merchandise to pass into the Gaza Strip, as Hamas is demanding. Activists seek ’Gaza abuses’ probe Al Jazeera 2/8/2009 Human rights groups have called on Hamas officials to investigate widespread allegations of abduction, torture and the killing of Palestinians accused of being collaborators during Israel’s war on Gaza. Al Jazeera has been shown sworn affidavits, medical records and photographs of alleged victims of reprisals committed against Fatah supporters by security agents or associates of Hamas. "I think that the officials from the Hamas deposed government have the responsibility to investigate into these incidents. . . and bring those who have committed those crimes to justice," Randa Siniora of the Independent Commission for Human Rights, said on Sunday. "There is a state of vigilantism and chaos, lawlessness in the Gaza Strip right now," she said. "Extrajudicial killings have increased during the Israeli aggression. "Separately on Sunday, the Gaza-based Palestinian Center for Human Rights called for an investigation into the death of a man beaten in the custody of security forces loyal to the Hamas movement. Early morning raids PNN, Palestine News Network 2/7/2009 Nablus -- The sounds of doors being blown open and jeep engines in the streets remain a part of life in the West Bank. Early Saturday Israeli forces invaded the town of Beit Fureik in the Nablus Governorate and took four young men from the Khatatbeh family. To the east of the city in Azmut, another young man was arrested: 19 year old Amer Mohammad Murad. The village of Azmut has faced increased aggression this week while early Saturday Israeli forces fired live ammunition at residents. To the north Israeli forces arrested brothers from the Sadi family at Jenin’s Attara military checkpoint. There are some 11,000 Palestinians in Israeli prisons. [end] High school student seized by Israeli forces at Tulkarem checkpoint Ma’an News Agency 2/5/2009 Tulkarm – Ma’an – Israeli soldiers seized a student from the West Bank village of Kur, near Tulkarem, while he was crossing the Jabara checkpoint on Thursday. The detainee,18-year-old Omar Ismat Jayyusi is a high school student on his way to Tulkarem when he was arrested by Israeli forces. [end] B’tselem: Administrative detainees sometimes held for years Ali Waked, YNetNews 2/5/2009 Rights organization claims number of Palestinians held without indictment has decreased, but claim 10% of them have been held for over two years -Security forces are currently holding hundreds of Palestinians in administrative detention, sometimes for years, without filing an indictment against them, a B’tselem report says. The report, published Thursday, also says the number of prisoners held in administrative detention decreased considerably in 2008, from 813 to 546. The Shin Bet refused comment on the claims. B’tselem’s report, which deals mainly with the issue of Palestinian prisoners held in Israel, says the State takes advantage of its legal authority to detain prisoners without indictment. The detainees are permitted to appeal their arrest, but are prevented from seeing the evidence against them. -- See also: Israel holding 42 Palestinians in administrative detention for over two years and Prisoners from Gaza were held in appalling conditions B’Tselem: 548 Palestinians in administrative detention, 455 dead before Gaza war Ma’an News Agency 2/5/2009 Bethlehem - Ma’an- Forty-two Palestinians have been in Israeli custody without charges or being seen by a judge for at least two years, announced the Israeli Human Rights group B’Tselem in their 2008 annual report. Of these men, 23 have been in administrative detention for over two and a half years, including three who have been detained between three and four and a half years, and two over four and a half consecutive years, the report revealed. The vast majority of administrative detainees (372) have been held without charge or trial for at least two consecutive periods. At the time of publication the report held the total number of Palestinians being held without charges in Israeli prison at 548. Six are under 18. This figure is down from 2007, when the organization counted 813 at the year’s end. The total number of Palestinian prisoners and detainees in Israeli custody at the end of December 2008 was 7,904. [? ] -- See also: Israel holding 42 Palestinians in administrative detention for over two years and Prisoners from Gaza were held in appalling conditions Report: Israel removing names of soldiers in Gaza war from legal documents Ma’an News Agency 2/5/2009 Bethlehem – Ma’an – Removing the names of soldiers in the Israeli army from the arrest warrants they signed during the Israeli war on Gaza is proof of the condemnable nature of their actions, said the Palestinian Prisoners’ Studies Center Thursday. Israeli forces detained dozens of Gazans during the war, 41 of which were sent to the Negev prison camp. As they were admitted to the prisons their arresting soldiers signed the Israeli prison forms releasing them from custody. The names have been since blacked out of the records in what appears to be an attempt to hide the identities of soldiers who may face prosecution. The Prisoners’ Center confirmed that reports of the ill-treatment of the Negev prisoners and stressed that the soldiers who mishandled them should be prosecuted. The Israeli daily Haaretz reported that officials have begun removing the names of soldiers. . . Mandela Institute: Israel uses prohibited interrogation means against prisoners Palestinian Information Center 2/2/2009 NABLUS, (PIC)-- The Mandela institute for human rights revealed Monday that Israeli interrogators use prohibited investigation means with the Palestinian prisoners in the Jalame prison including the intensive use of lie detector tests, adding that the prisoners are denied any visits by lawyers and the Red Cross, and some of them are isolated and threatened with punishing and detaining their relatives. In a report received by the PIC, the institute said that the prison administration prevented its lawyer from meeting prisoners Shaker Abu Awwad and Tayseer Nubani at the pretext that their visit was prohibited by the Israeli intelligence and told him that other prisoners had been taken to the Megiddo prison. The report touched on the suffering of prisoner Fadi Al-Barri who had been exposed to various forms of harsh interrogation since his arrest on 12/1/2009. Two Palestinians freed after 18-year terms in Israeli prison Ma’an News Agency 2/4/2009 Bethlehem – Ma’an – Thousnds of Palestinians from the northern West Bank town of Kafr Thulth welcomes two Fatah-affailited prisoners who were released from Israeli prison after 18 years on Tuesday. The two prisoners, Amjad Audah and Theib Audah, were welcomed by relatives and traditional Palestinian songs, a celebration one onlooker described as “like a wedding party. ”Upon arrival, Amjad’s mother hugged him, joining in the singing. Theib headed to the town’s cemetery to visit the graves of his mother, who died in 2002, and his brother, who was killed by Israeli forces during the first Intifada. Thousands of Palestinian citizens from the northern West Bank town of Kafr Thulth along with representative on Monday welcomed two Fatah-affiliated prisoners Amjad ‘Audah and Theib ‘Audah who were released from Israeli jail after serving 18-year sentence. Political prisoners to record experiences under interrogation to help others survive PNN, Palestine News Network 2/4/2009 Gaza -- Palestinian factions are re-accounting the culture of resilience in the cellars of interrogation, says expert on the affairs of political prisoners, Abdel Nasser Ferwana. Through the adoption of a clear strategy with consistent aims, victories could be won by sheer tenacity, Ferwana said today, but preparation is lacking. "At the hands of Israeli interrogators hundreds of cases reveal that there is great steadfastness among those who are subjected to detention or arrest and just as many who falter," said the former Palestinian Authority official. A mistake was made, he said, in emphasizing the culture of fierce resistance and sacrificial operations. Ferwana said this was blown out of proportion in the press due to statements made and written by factions that attempted to make more out of that one aspect of the Al Aqsa Intifada that proportionally was minor. Mandela Institute: Israel uses prohibited interrogation means against prisoners Palestinian Information Center 2/2/2009 NABLUS, (PIC)-- The Mandela institute for human rights revealed Monday that Israeli interrogators use prohibited investigation means with the Palestinian prisoners in the Jalame prison including the intensive use of lie detector tests, adding that the prisoners are denied any visits by lawyers and the Red Cross, and some of them are isolated and threatened with punishing and detaining their relatives. In a report received by the PIC, the institute said that the prison administration prevented its lawyer from meeting prisoners Shaker Abu Awwad and Tayseer Nubani at the pretext that their visit was prohibited by the Israeli intelligence and told him that other prisoners had been taken to the Megiddo prison. The report touched on the suffering of prisoner Fadi Al-Barri who had been exposed to various forms of harsh interrogation since his arrest on 12/1/2009.  Articles
Reconciliation for lack of another option Saleh Al-Naami, Al-Ahram Weekly 2/26/2009 Israel’s right-wing government will accelerate the process of uniting Palestinian factions. A Palestinian girl waiting to cross into Egypt at the Rafah border which Egyptian authorities opened for three daysHamas leader Ghazi Al-Hamed and Fatah Central Committee member Ahmed Qurei were on the phone all through this week discussing how Hamas could accept the Egyptian invitation to dialogue. The major obstacle that was blocking Hamas’s acceptance of the invitation was the presence of Hamas political detainees in Palestinian Authority (PA) prisons in the West Bank. After each of them consulted with their faction’s leadership, an agreement was reached for the PA to release scores of Hamas detainees from prison before the dialogue resumes. Yet Hamas says that the PA is currently detaining 700 of its members in the West Bank, including leading figures. Despite the issue of Fatah holding Hamas activists as prisoners, high level representatives of both movements arrived in Cairo on Tuesday evening and started immediately preparing for a comprehensive inter-Palestinian diaolgue that started on Wednesday. The dialogue involves all the Palestinian factions, organisations and other powers, Egypt’s official MENA news agency reported. Preparatory meetings were presided over by Qurei and Hamas exiled politburo deputy chief Moussa Abou Marzouk. Q&A: ’Hamas Won’t Give In To Blackmail’ Mel Frykberg Interviews Hamas Foreign Minister Ahmed Yousef, Inter Press Service 2/23/2009 RAMALLAH, Feb 23 (IPS) - At the eleventh hour, just as a permanent ceasefire painfully mediated by the Egyptians after weeks of intensive shuttle diplomacy was about to take effect, Israel suddenly changed its preconditions for a settlement with Hamas. This has left the Palestinians, especially Gazans, the Egyptians, the Hamas leadership and even some Israeli analysts wondering just what will happen next. The humanitarian crisis in Gaza remains unresolved and the current tentative ceasefire looks increasingly fragile as intermittent violence continues. IPS spoke to Dr Ahmed Yousef, the Gaza-based Hamas Foreign Minister and political advisor to Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh about the stalemate. IPS: What is your understanding of how the ceasefire should have come into effect? Ahmed Yousef: It is not only our understanding but also that of the Egyptians, the Israelis prior to their about-face, and the Europeans. After weeks of tough bargaining it was agreed with the Israelis that there would be two stages of negotiations. The first stage would involve the permanent opening of some of Gaza’s borders and the implementation of a permanent ceasefire. The second stage would revolve around a prisoner swap and the opening of the other border crossings. The Israelis had previously agreed to this. Selective reporting from Lebanon Nate George, Electronic Intifada 2/13/2009 Bias and selective reporting in favor of Israel is nothing new. We have come to expect sins of omission and commission from the media, and recent weeks proved to be no exception. On 19 December, 18 Israeli soldiers crossed into Lebanese territory and abducted two middle-aged men harvesting olives near the village of Blida. They were taken into Israel where they were interrogated, beaten and tortured. The men were repeatedly bitten by dogs and questioned about a possible connection to Hizballah. They were released the next day around 3am. While the event was widely reported in the Lebanese media, it did not register a blip in mainstream Western outlets. The only significant Western report on this incident appeared on the Agence France-Presse news service and did not attract significant attention. In striking contrast, on 25 December, The New York Times was one of the first news outlets to publish a report on the Lebanese army’s discovery, in the Lebanese town of Naqura, of eight Katyusha rockets "aimed at Israel" (so they were pointed south?). The Lebanese army then dismantled the rockets. Any threat posed by them was neutralized. Notwithstanding the fact that eight Cold War-era rockets do not pose much of a threat to the fourth largest military power in the world, The New York Times and The Chicago Tribune saw fit to publish the story, along with The International Herald Tribune and a number of Australian newspapers. None of these sources mentioned the kidnapping that occurred the previous week. Open letter to UN Secretary-General Angie Tibbs, Middle East Online 2/9/2009 Dear Mr Secretary-General, The United Nations, the world’s preeminent law-making body, together with its Charter, provides the basis for laws and principles; therefore, people of conscience everywhere look to the UN with hope for upholding its Charter and its pledge to end the scourge of war.As the secretary-general, you, sir, are expected to at least speak words that honour this Charter and its principles. However, while people of good conscience world-wide are expressing revulsion at Israel’s terrorist attack on the defenceless in Gaza, you are already seeking to minimize war crimes of monumental proportions while echoing the disinformation of Israel and its supporters. For instance, on 16 January 2009 the headlines read: "Ban urges unilateral ceasefire in Gaza conflict; meets with Palestine leaders". You did not meet with "Palestinian leaders", sir. Palestinian leaders are either detained in Israeli or West Bank prisons, murdered by Israeli assassins, or in Gaza, where the world, in its sick attempts to placate Israel, refused to allow them to govern the people who elected them. Non-Violence? Finkelstein and Gandhi Robin Yassin-Kassab, Palestine Chronicle 2/9/2009 When Western liberals call on the Palestinians to renounce violence and to adopt Gandhian passive resistance instead, I usually become enraged. My first response is, they’ve tried non-violence, and you failed to notice. For the first two decades after the original ethnic cleansing of 1947 and 48, almost all Palestinian resistance was non-violent. From 1967 until 1987 Palestinians resisted by organizing tax strikes, peaceful demonstrations, petitions, sit-down protests on confiscated lands and in houses condemned to demolition. The First Intifada was almost entirely non-violent on the Palestinian side; the new tactic of throwing stones at tanks (which some liberals consider violent) was almost entirely symbolic. In every case, the Palestinians were met with fanatical violence. Midnight arrest, beatings, and torture were the lot of most. Many were shot. Yitzhak Rabin ordered occupation troops to break the bones of the boys with stones. And despite all this sacrifice, Israeli Jews were not moved to recognize the injustice of occupation and dispossession, at least not enough to end it. The first weeks of the Second Intifada were also non-violent on the Palestinian side. Israel responded by murdering tens of unarmed civilians daily, and the US media blamed the victims. Then the Intifada was militarized. Was it really, or only, non-violence which liberated India? In colonized India there were hundreds of thousands of Indians to each British officer, so the cause of independence had sheer numbers on its side as well as time. The British people certainly came to love Gandhi and to respect the moral courage of his non-violent strategy, but the British officials who counted could also see the tide of violent anti-imperialism rising behind Gandhi, a tide that would dominate if Gandhi’s method failed. Likewise in the American civil rights struggle: behind Martin Luther King stood Malcolm X. It’s a lot easier to deal with the nice guy when you see the nasty guy rolling up his sleeves. 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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