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| Human Rights |
| courtesy The Electronic Intifada |
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Vermonters
for a Just Peace in Palestine/Israel |
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The
Treatment of Prisoners and Detainees by Israel and Others |
Prisoners Archive - March 2006
Actors at an Israeli court demonstrate Israel’s torture methods used against Palestinian detainees as described by witnesses. Source: Miftah
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Israeli Military Court extend detention period against Palestinian Prisoners Ma'an News 3/31/2006 Jenin- Maan- Israeli Military Court of Jalamah decided to extend the imprisonment of several Palestinian Prisoners. Palestinian Prisoners Society said that the court extended the imprisonment of four Palestinian prisoners to 16 days to complete interrogation. The society added that the same court decided to extend the detention of another four prisoners to 23 days for the same reason. Another three prisoners were to stay between 7 and 11 days for interrogation, the society reported. [end] Hamas takes over, aid dries up International Middle East Media Center 3/30/2006 Hamas formally took power yesterday, with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas swearing in 24 cabinet ministers, including 14 who had served time in Israeli prisons. Within hours, Canada cut off aid to the cash-strapped Palestinian Authority. Other nations are expected to follow. With Hamas at the helm, the Palestinian government faces a crippling international economic boycott. It may run into trouble next week when some 140,000 government employees expect their March salaries. The Palestinian Authority gets much of its annual budget -- $2. 2 billion Cdn -- from overseas. Without money from the Arab world, Europe and the United States, it would be nearly broke. Extension of Administrative Detention against Palestinian prisoners Ma'an News 3/28/2006 Tulkarm-Maan- The Israeli Occupation Authorities renewed the Administrative Detention for another six months against prisoner Jamal Abdul'lah Hadaiy'da from Tulkarm Refugee Camp Northern the West Bank; this is the sixth successive time the authorities took such a decision. In the same sequence, the Israeli Occupation Authorities renewed the Admin. Detention for the prisoner Muhammad Anbas also from Tulkarm Refugee Camp for the period of three months," this is the sixth time". The Israeli Military Court of Salim judged against Palestinian prisoner Mohammed Hamdan 23 years, from the Bal'a Town eastern the city of Tulkarm, eight and half years imprisonment, he is now in Jalbou's jail. [end] Adalah to Israel Prison Service: Stop Flagrant Violations of Prisoners’ Rights during Transportation in “Posta” Prison Vehicles Adalah 3/1/2006 Adalah's Newsletter- March 2006 -- On 17 January 2006, Adalah sent a letter to the head of the Israel Prison Service (IPS), Yaakov Ganot, demanding that he uphold and guarantee the rights of prisoners during their transportation in IPS vehicles, known as “Postas. ”Several prisoners have recently approached Adalah complaining of the humiliating conditions to which they are subjected during transportation from one prison to another or from prison to court: during transportation outside of prison facilities, which can last for up to 12 consecutive hours, prisoners are made to sit inside prison vehicles without being allowed to eat or use a toilet. In the letter, Adalah Attorney Abeer Baker argued that it is the duty of the IPS to uphold the safety, dignity and health of all prisoners in its custody whether inside or outside of a prison building. Saadat: I don't recognize Israeli court YNet News 3/27/2006 PFLP Chief Saadat refuses to identify himself before military court, which rejects his appeal against extension of custody. Wife of one of Zeevi's killers: Mofaz should be on trial -- Popular Front Secretary General Ahmed Saadat, who planned the murder of Tourism Minister Rehavam Zeevi will remain in custody, after a military court rejected his appeal Monday. Saadat refused to identify himself before judges and declared that he does not recognize the authority of the military court to try him. The appeal of another assassin, Majid Rimawi, was also turned down. Saadat and four other Palestinians behind Zeevi's murder were arrested by Israel two weeks ago following a large-scale military operation and siege at the Jericho prison, where the men were held in recent years. Israeli court denies Ahmed Saadat bail AlJazeera 3/27/2006 A manacled Saadat was produced in court on Monday -- An Israeli military court has turned down a request for bail by Ahmed Saadat, a Palestinian resistance fighter snatched earlier this month from a Palestinian prison. Led past reporters into court, manacled hand and foot, Saadat raised his hands in a gesture of defiance and shouted in Arabic, "I am fighting occupation!" before he was silenced by guards and led into the closed courtroom. Saadat is a leader of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine.... At his brief court appearance Saadat refused to recognise the military tribunal's authority to try him and the judge, in turn, refused to hear his bail application. Ministry of Detainees Affairs: Above 9,400 Prisoners Still in Israeli Jails International Press Center 3/26/2006 GAZA, Palestine, March 26, 2006 (IPC) - - The Ministry of Detainees' Affairs announced that above 9,400 prisoners and detainees are still in 28 Israeli prisons as well as detention camps. A statistical report, a copy of which was made available for IPC, pointed out that Israeli occupation forces (IOF) arrested more than 650,000 prisoners since 1967 until now, which represents 20% of the total population in the Palestinian territories. The report made clear that 550 prisoners were arrested before the current Al Aqsa Intifada; they represent 5. 9% of the total number of prisoners. Moreover, 369 prisoners were arrested before the establishment of the Palestinian National Authority (PNA); represent 3. 9% of the total number of the prisoners. Transcript: The Program of Hamas Government Palestine Chronicle 3/23/2006 "The government shall deal with the signed agreement with high sense of responsibility in a manner that protects the highest interests of the people. "-- The program of the next Palestinian government is as follows: 1- Removal of occupation and building the independent Palestinian state with full sovereignty with al-Quds (Occupied East Jerusalem) as its capital and to support the steadfastness of Palestinian people and reject partial solutions and the status quo policy. 2- To cling to the right of return for the Palestinian refugees to their homes and properties since this is an individual and general right that cannot be conceded. 3- To work on releasing the prisoners and confronting the occupation measures on the ground in terms of assassinations, arrests and incursions.... Syria re-arrests dissident writer AlJazeera 3/24/2006 Syrian security forces have arrested a dissident writer after at least four other people including his son were detained for speaking out against the government, rights activists say. Both the Syrian Human Rights Organisation and Anwar Bunni, a human-rights lawyer, said Ali Abdullah, who spent five months behind bars last year, had been arrested at his home for "unknown reasons". "The pursuit of this campaign of political arrests will cause more suffering," the group said, calling on the government to free all political detainees. Abdullah was last arrested in May 2005 for reading a message by a Muslim Brotherhood leader during a political discussion at the Atassi salon, a venue devoted to reform in Syria. In Honor of Mother’s Day in Palestine Palestine News Network 3/23/2006 In honor of Mother’s Day in Palestine this year, the “Never Forget” Organization in Jenin Refugee Camp opened a handcrafts bazaar. Hundreds gathered for the opening with the National Song, a brief reading from the Qur’an, and speeches regarding the role of women, the sacrifices of the mothers. The aim was toward those with husbands and children in Israeli prisons. An open call was issued to women world-wide to support the struggle of Palestinian women as they fight for their rights from occupation and within their own society. Work to improve the status, conditions, and positions of importance outside the home has already begun inside the northern West Bank refugee camp. Courses, workshops, and computer literacy classes are all part of the work, which includes a new computer center donated by the French Solidarity Organization. PA Interior Minister knows nothing about anything Ma'an News 3/22/2006 Maan - Editor in Chief – Why couldn’t the Interior Ministry protect the Palestinian prisoners ? If this is so, why they are arresting them? Why the signing of humiliating agreements? Why the Security Men went out naked with their hands over their heads? Who gave them orders to surrender? Who is responsible?. These questions and other questions such as, did the Israeli forces siege the prison before the US and UK guards leave the jail? Why was the timing of the attack on the jail with the absence of the PA officials out of the country? What did the Minster of Interior do after receiving the guard's letter and their threat to withdraw? What decisions did he give to the Security Men before they leave the jail? The Palestinian Minister of Interior Mr. Nasser Yousef was asked these questions by the PLC members in Wednesday session... Documents quote U.S. man as saying he funneled cash to militants Ha'aretz 3/22/2006 A man accused of laundering money to finance terrorist operations by the Palestinian militant group Hamas gave Israeli police a detailed account of his shadowy life in the underground when arrested in 1993, according to documents. Muhammad Salah told how he was recruited into the Muslim Brotherhood by the leader of a Chicago-area mosque, sought out recruits for militant activity in Israel and engaged in secret transfers of large sums with a Mideastern money changer, according to documents released Tuesday.... Salah's attorney, Michael E. Deutsch, sought to bar release of the documents, saying his client made the statements after his January 1993 arrest in Israel only because he was tortured and later tricked by Israeli authorities. Hunger-striking Saudi prisoner in Israeli Jails force-fed International Middle East Media Center 3/21/2006 Israeli Authorities working in the Israeli prison department force fed a Saudi prisoner in order to stop his hunger strike, a strike which has not been made public, and which prison authorities refuse to admit when it began. Abd Al Rahman Ayouti, 36, was arrested by the Israeli Authorities for illegally staying in Israel and was taken to Ramlah Jail. Israeli media sources claim that the Israeli authorities are keeping the man in custody for his own protection, due to a death threat against him in his home country of Saudi Arabia. [end] Palestinians to probe Jericho raid By Khalid Amayreh, AlJazeera 3/22/2006 The Palestinian Legislative Council will form a panel to investigate last week’s Israeli raid on a Jericho prison. The committee will submit its findings to the parliament within 10 days. Israeli troops, backed by tanks and a helicopter gunship, raided the prison complex last week and seized top Palestinian fighter Ahmad Saadat and 32 others before leaving the normally quiet border town. Two Palestinian police officers and two prisoners were killed, including one who died from his injuries on Monday. The Palestinian public was incensed by scenes of Palestinian policemen forced by Israeli troops to strip down to their underwear in front of television cameras. Palestinian officials condemned the Israeli raid and were unanimous in supporting an investigation. Adalah Demands Cancellation of Illegal Decision Banning Arab Lawyer from Entering all Prisons in Israel Adalah 3/15/2006 On 3 March 2006, Adalah sent a letter to the head of the Israel Prison Service (IPS), Yaakov Ganot, and the head of the State Attorney? s Office, Osnat Mandel, demanding the cancellation of a decision preventing Attorney Hanan Khatib, an Arab citizen of Israel, from entering all prisons in Israel, with immediate effect. Attorney Hanan Khatib works as a defense lawyer for Palestinian political prisoners incarcerated in Israeli prisons. On 21 February 2006, she received a letter from the authorities at the Sharon prison informing her that she had been prohibited from entering the prison. She received a second letter on 6 March 2006 from the District Prison Commander for the Sharon Section... in which he stated that the decision had been made to prevent her from entering all prisons in Israel. Palestinian mother either a wife of a prisoner or a mother of a killed child Ma'an News 3/21/2006 Maan- March the 21st is the day of women, this great human creature who participated in the development of the world. In Palestine men remembers the Palestinian women and specifically the mothers as partners in the struggle against Israeli occupation. The mothers in Palestine are either mothers of a prisoner in the Israeli jails, injured men or killed children by a barbarian Israeli soldier. Mothers in Palestine are different from other mothers in the world; they have lived only sadness and suffering for more than forty years of dark years of occupation. Dozens killed as rebels storm Iraqi jail The Guardian 3/21/2006 Up to 100 militants armed with automatic rifles and rocket-propelled grenades stormed the judicial compound in Muqdadiya, a Sunni heartland about 60 miles north-east of the capital. The assault began after the attackers fired a mortar round into the police and court complex, police Brigadier Ali al-Jabouri said. Officials said all 33 prisoners had been freed and 10 of the attackers killed in the early-morning battle, along with at least 17 police and a courthouse guard. Another 13 policemen and civilians and 15 gunmen were wounded in the attack. After burning the police station, the insurgents detonated a string of roadside bombs as they fled, taking the bodies of many of their dead comrades with them, police said. Palestinian President: Attack on Jericho prison shames Israel and international community International Middle East Media Center 3/20/2006 In a press conference Sunday at the Rafah border crossing in the southern Gaza Strip, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas stated that the Israeli attack on the Palestinian Prison in Jericho was an Israeli aggression and a shame on Israel and the international community. He added that the Palestinian Authority will not accept for the seized prisoners to remain in Israeli prison, particularly Ahmad Saadat, the head of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine Party, and a member of the Palestinian Legislature, and Fuad Ash'shobaki. President Abbas also commented, during the press conference, that Israeli forces must reopen the crossings they have held closed for weeks, especially the Rafah crossing, which is the main artery between Gaza and Egypt. Israeli intelligence urges the Knesset to make amendments in laws regarding detainees Ma'an News 3/20/2006 Bethlehem- Maan- Palestinian Prisoners Society "PPS" reported that high ranking officials of the Israeli Shabak are pressing the Law and Constitutional Committee in the Israeli Knesset to approve the amendments and change the law of "Criminal Law Coordination" which elements the rights of the security detainees. In a statement issued by lawyer of the PPS Adel Khalay'lah it said that that the current law considers the security detainees as more than normal detainees. It allows the interrogators to bring none security detainee to stand before the judge 24 hours after his arrest and after 48 hours if he is a security detainee. Sa’adat Lawyers to Sue British Foreign Office over Prison Raid Palestine Media Center 3/19/2006 British lawyers representing the leader of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP), Ahmad Sa’adat, are considering suing the British Foreign Office over its decision to withdraw monitors from a West Bank jail minutes before Israeli occupation troops stormed the compound and detained the Palestinian leader. Two Palestinian security guards were killed and 26 others wounded, five of them critically, in the Israeli raid, which drew rebuke from the Palestinian Authority, Arab League and the Organization of Islamic Conference. Citing Sa’adat, Daniel Machover, of the London solicitors Hickman and Rose, said the monitors had indicated several times in the past that they would withdraw and had made clear that if they did the lives of the prisoners would be at risk. B'Tselem and PHR: Parading of naked prisoners in Jericho violated International Humaniatrian Law B'tselem 3/16/2006 B'Tselem: the Israeli Information Center for Human Rights in the Occupied Territories, and Physicians for Human Rights - Israel, wrote today to the IDF Judge Advocate General (JAG), to demand that the military police investigate the violation of the dignity of the detainees in the IDF's operation in Jericho. In the course of the operation, following the surrender of the individuals who had barricaded themselves inside the prison, Israeli soldiers forced the detainees to undress and led them out clad only in their underwear. Images of the naked detainees were broadcast in the electronic media, and published widely in the press in Israel and throughout the world. In testimonies given to B'Tselem, detainees stressed the humiliation they felt as a result of their naked images appearing in the media. Saadat: Palestinian Officer met the Israelis an hour before the attack, never return Ma'an News 3/17/2006 Bethlehem-Maan- Lawyer Mahmoud Hassan visited Sadat in his Jerusalem jail said that the Palestinian leader refused to answer the Israeli interrogator questions. Hassan said that Saadat told him that I will not deal or answer any Israeli interrogator questions or court because I am not a prisoner or an accused person, I am a hostage and a kidnapped person. Saadat was asked many questions by the Israeli interrogators related to the killing of former Israeli minister, the lawyer said. The Israelis committed the crime after.. a green light by the USA and the UK, Saadat told his lawyer, and burden responsibility on the PA for not taking the suitable procedures and measures to protect him and his comrades. Israeli court extends detention of 60 Palestinian prisoners held without charges International Middle East Media Center 3/17/2006 Over the last several days, Israeli Authorities have ruled to extend the administrative detention of more than 60 Palestinians in the Negev Prison Camp, a camp made up mainly of tents in the Negev desert in southern Israel. Prison sources said that Israeli authorities handed over decisions for 31 Palestinian prisoners in the jail on Thursday. On Sunday such orders were handed to more than 10 others and on Monday another twenty prisoners were notified of the decision. The 'administrative detentions' are used by Israeli authorities to hold Palestinians without trial or charges, generally for a six-month period. After six months, a panel of security forces review the case and decide whether to extend the detention for another six months. Palestinian human rights lawyer testifies in Hamas trial in U.S. Ha'aretz 3/15/2006 A human rights lawyer described an Israeli prison system that uses abusive interrogation techniques - including a cell so tiny it's called "the cupboard" - to illicit confessions from Palestinian detainees accused of taking part in terrorist activities. The lawyer, Jonathan George Kuttab, testified for the defense in a pretrial hearing connected to a terrorist money-laundering case. Defense attorneys are seeking to bar confessions defendant Muhammad Salah made after being arrested in Israel in 1993, but federal prosecutors want to use the statements as evidence against him. The hearing, which last week featured Israeli agents testifying under disguise and fake names in a closed courtroom, is to help U.S. District Judge Amy St. Eve determine whether to allow the confession. IDF preparing for PFLP revenge attacks in wake of Jericho raid Ha'aretz 3/17/2006 The Israel Defense Forces is preparing for possible revenge attacks by the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine following Israel's removal of five senior PFLP members from the Jericho jail on Tuesday. The army fears Palestinian terror groups may attempt to abduct Israelis in an attempt to exchange prisoners, Israel Radio reported Friday. Nonetheless, potential Fatah attacks top the list of IDF concerns, with Fatah apparently set to take over terror attacks from Hamas. A senior General Staff officer told Haaretz on Thursday that Fatah and Hamas had recently switched roles. According to the officer, Hamas is currently refraining from attacks, and its leaders have even rejected operatives' proposals for revenge attacks following the Jericho raid. Palestinians may sue Britain over storming of Jericho jail The Independent 3/18/2006 The British government is facing possible legal action over its decision to withdraw monitors from the Jericho prison that was stormed by Israeli forces this week. British lawyers representing Ahmed Sadaat, the leader of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine who is accused by Israel of ordering the assassination of its Tourist Minister Rehavam Ze'evi in 2001, will discuss options for action under the Human Rights Act next week. They are considering a case against the Foreign Office, arguing that it failed in its duty to ensure Mr Saadat was safely released from "arbitrary" detention. Unlike four of the other five prisoners who surrendered with him to the Israelis after a nine-hour armed siege on Tuesday, Mr Saadat was never subject to legal proceedings over the killing. FM: Abbas is responsible for his powerlessness Ha'aretz 3/18/2006 Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni on Thursday brushed off criticism voiced by Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas (also known as Abu Mazen) against Israel following Tuesday's raid on the PA's prison in Jericho. Israel has said that five of the men seized in the Tuesday raid were involved in the 2001 assassination of Tourism Minister Rehavam Ze'evi. The sixth is the suspected financier of an illegal weapons shipment to the Palestinian Authority several years ago. Upon his visit Wednesday to the site of Tuesday's Israel Defense Forces operation, Abbas said "what happened is an ugly crime that cannot be forgiven and a humiliation for the Palestinian people and a violation of all the agreements. ""[The prisoners'] arrest by Israel is illegal," he told reporters. Abbas delays visit to Egypt: MENA Xinhua 3/17/2006 CAIRO, March 17 (Xinhuanet) -- A senior Palestinian official said that Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas has delayed his visit to Egypt from Saturday to a later date, Egypt's official MENA newsagency reported Friday. According to the report, Palestinian presidential spokesman Nabil Abu-Rdeineh revealed the postponement of Abbas' Cairo tour in statements to MENA. Abu-Rdeineh was quoted as saying that Abbas was supposed to wrap up his recent foreign tour with his Cairo visit, but he had to cut the tour short and returned home on Wednesday following the Israeli raid on the Palestinian-controlled Jericho prison on Tuesday. U.N. stymied on reacting to Jericho raid YNet News 3/17/2006 Security Council's efforts to draft statement on Israel's raid of Jericho prison halted after Palestinians offer last minute amendmentReuters U. N. Security Council efforts to produce a statement on Israel's raid in Jericho this week came to an abrupt halt on Thursday when Palestinians offered a last minute amendment, a British diplomat said. Israel seized six men from prison during the operation in the West Bank on Tuesday, five of them belonging to a terror group thatclaimed responsibility for killing Israeli cabinet minister Rehavam Zeevi in 2001. The sixth is accused of organizing an arms shipment. The draft council statement, negotiated over three days, called on Israel to withdraw all forces from Jericho. U.S. may veto bid for UN condemnation of jail siege Ha'aretz 3/15/2006 The threat of a U.S. veto hovers over planned closed-door deliberations Wednesday over Qatar's bid for a UN Security Council to condemn Israel's Jericho jail siege and its capture of the killers of former cabinet minister Rehavam Ze'evi. A draft statement by Qatari Ambassador Abdulaziz Al-Nasser, representing Arab nations, would have condemned "Israel's violent incursion" in besieging the Jericho jail, and would have demanded that Israel return the prisoners it seized "and to return the situation to that which existed prior to the Israeli military attack. "Security forces went on high alert Tuesday fearing Palestinian reprisal attacks after Israel Defense Forces troops laid siege to the Jericho prison and arrested six wanted inmates. Palestinian Authority mulls responses to Jericho jail raid By Amira Hass, Ha'aretz 3/17/2006 Declaring Palestinian sovereignty in the West Bank and Gaza Strip, dismantling the Palestinian Authority, and petitioning the International Court of Justice against the "criminal abduction" of the six Palestinians from Jericho Prison - these are the ideas that have circulating among associates of PA Chairman Mahmoud Abbas over the past two days. PA sources admitted yesterday that the first idea was not serious, primarily because it would play into Israel's plan to establish "a temporary Palestinian state" for an unlimited period of time. But it shows that the PA is closer to concluding that the United States and Britain support Israel's policy of unilateral steps, while violating signed agreements that U.S. and Russian representatives witnessed. Administrative detention against more than 60 Palestinian prisoners Ma'an News 3/17/2006 Bethlehem- Maan- Israeli Authorities decided to extend the administrative detention of more than 60 Palestinians in the Negev Prison. Prisoner's sources said that Israeli authorities handed over decisions of extension of these detentions to 31 Palestinian prisoners in the jail. Last Sunday such orders were handed to more than 10 others and on Monday another twenty prisoners were notified of the decision. Weekly Report: On Israeli Human Rights Violations in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, 09 - 15 March 2006 Palestinian Centre for Human Rights 3/16/2006 Israeli Occupation Forces (IOF) Continue Attacks on Palestinian Civilians and Property in the Occupied Palestinian Territory (OPT) -- IOF stormed Jericho Prison: IOF arrested Ahmed Sa'adat, his comrades, Fu'ad al-Shoubaki, a number of political and criminal prisoners and a number of members of Palestinian security forces; and two Palestinians were killed and at least 50 others were wounded by the IOF gunfire*IOF continued to shell Palestinian areas in the Gaza Strip; 3 Palestinian civilians were inured in Beit Hanoun. *IOF conducted 34 incursions into Palestinian communities in the West Bank. *Houses were raided and 65 Palestinian civilians, including 6 children, were arrested by IOF. *9 houses were transformed by IOF into military sites. *IOF have continued to impose a total siege on the OPT; a Palestinian woman gave birth at Qalandya checkpoint near Ramallah; and IOF arrested 6 Palestinian civilians at checkpoints in the West Bank.. Army invades Jericho, storms PA prison; kills a prison guard and an inmate; injures 50 people... International Womens' Peace Service 3/14/2006 Human Rights Report No. 240 - At about 9:20 in the morning of the 14 march 2006, the British monitoring group left the PA prison in Jericho, where PFLP leader Ahmad Saadat and other prisoners wanted by Israel where held according to an Israeli-Palestinian agreement. Only minutes later the Israeli army moved in and surrounded the prison compound. At this point about 300 prisoners guard, security forces and civilian workers were inside the compound. Most of them followed the call to come out to the building and, upon their surrender were forced to strip to their underwear and then blindfolded and handcuff. The army further infringed on their rights by exposing them to the media in this humiliating situation. Britain and US complicit in Jericho raid, says Abbas The Independent 3/16/2006 Mahmoud Abbas, the President of the Palestinian Authority, condemned the armed Israeli raid on Jericho's prison as an "ugly crime that cannot be forgiven" yesterday and strongly implied Britain and the US had been complicit in it. Touring the ruins of the devastated jail less than 24 hours after the surrender of six wanted Palestinians after a day-long siege, Mr Abbas said their arrest had been "illegal" and that the raid by troops, bulldozers and tanks had been a "humiliation for the Palestinian people and a violation of all the agreements". The Israeli acting Prime Minister, Ehud Olmert, said yesterday that the six men would be indicted according to Israeli law and they will be "punished as they deserve. " We warned of prison attack, says Israel The Guardian 3/16/2006 Abbas: "I'm giving the facts. They [the monitors] left at 9. 20am and the Israelis came in at 9. 30am. How can we explain that? " he asked. -- Days before Israel's military assault on Jericho prison it warned Britain and America that it would seize Palestinians held there under an international agreement for killing an Israeli cabinet minister if the two countries withdrew their monitors. Dov Weisglass, the most influential of the Israeli prime minister's advisers, told Britain and the US last week that it would be better for international supervision at the prison to continue. But he said that if they carried through a threat to pull out British and American monitors because of "security concerns" then Israel would act to bring the wanted men to justice. Israeli forces to step up targeted killings: Mofaz Xinhua 3/16/2006 JERUSALEM, March 16 (Xinhuanet) -- Israeli Defense Minister Shaul Mofaz instructed forces on Thursday to step up targeted killings and anti-terror operations in the West Bank. Mofaz told a security meeting in Tel Aviv that the Jericho operation sent a clear message to the other side that Israel will not compromise when it comes to its national security principles. On Tuesday, Israeli forces raided Palestinian prison in the West Bank city of Jericho and took six wanted Palestinians to an Israeli prison. Due to intelligence indicating terror groups were planning attacks against Israel, Mofaz decided that closure imposed on the West Bank over the Purim holiday would continue until the beginning of next week. State prosecutor: Ze'evi killers to face trial in Israeli court Ha'aretz 3/16/2006 State prosecutor Eran Shendar on Thursday said Israel would be capable of trying four of the six suspects in the assassination of tourism minister Rehavam Ze'evi in October 2001. According to Shendar, Attorney General Menachem Mazuz will determine whether to try them in a civilian or military court. Earlier Thursday Mazuz said "Israel has a clear interest to try the murderers of an Israeli minister in an Israeli court in the State of Israel. "The six Palestinian inmates were seized Tuesday in a raid by the Israel Defense Forces on the Palestinian Authority prison in Jericho, where they have been held in the last four years. Two of the six inmates will definitely face trial in Israel since they were imprisoned by the PA without undergoing legal proceedings: Ahmed Saadat... and Fuad Shubaki... Erekat warns of crisis in Palestinian ties with US, UK China View 3/16/2006 Special Report: Israeli raid on prison: GAZA, March 16 (Xinhuanet) -- Chief Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat said Thursday that there is a crisis in Palestinian-American and the Palestinian-British diplomatic ties after Israeli raid on Palestinian prison in West Bank town of Jericho Tuesday. Erekat told the Voice of Palestine radio that if the American and British monitors at the Palestinian-controlled Jericho jail didn't pull out, then the Israeli attack was not going to be carried out. Asked if relations with the two countries would get into acrisis after the Jericho raid, during which Israel captured Secretary General of the Popular front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) Ahmed Saddat, Erekat responded there is already a crisis. PCHR Condemns the Detention of the PFLP Secretary-General and his Colleagues Palestinian Centre for Human Rights 3/15/2006 The Palestinian Centre for Human Rights (PCHR) condemns the Israeli Occupation Forces (IOF) crime in the Jericho central prison on 14 March 2006. This crime resulted in the death of 2 Palestinians and in the detention of the Secretary-General of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) and scores of political prisoners, criminal prisoners, and members of the Palestinian Security Forces. PCHR’s initial investigation indicates that at approximately 19:00 on Tuesday, 14 March 2006, IOF completed its large-scale military operation that started in the morning hours of the same day.... This operation was initiated 15 minutes after the sudden withdrawal of American and British monitors charged with guarding Saadat, in accordance with an agreement, drafted mainly by the United States. 400 Palestinian children imprisoned in Israeli jails without the most basic human rights Palestine News Network 3/14/2006 Additional reports of intense suffering are coming from Israel’s Telmond Prison where several Palestinian children are imprisoned in Department Seven. -- In a interview with PNN, one of the children reported, “Most of the time we do not find food to eat. We try to buy our own food from the Cantina in the prison; that is where most of our money goes as the prison administration does not give us adequate quantity or quality of food. We are almost always hungry. ”Hussam Al Taeh, a child from Nablus City, who is imprisoned as per the Israeli Salem Military Court having been charged with possession of a gun, told PNN Tuesday, “We do not find in our department the food because of the lag in provisions for us to buy in the Cantina for two days at a time. We sleep and are hung[ry]... " Photos of the March 15 attack on the Jericho jail by Israeli forces Rafah Today 3/16/2006 16 March 06: Click here to see photos of the March 15 attack on the Jericho jail by Israeli forces. / 15 March 06:A blitz of foreign kidnappings and furious attacks on Western interests erupted in the Palestinian territories after Israeli troops raided a West Bank prison deserted by British monitors. At least nine people were still kidnapped in the Gaza Strip after the massive Israeli raid ended in the oasis town of Jericho with the arrests of Palestinian militants wanted for the 2001 assassination of an Israeli minister. The abductions followed hot on the heels of warnings from militants for all British and US nationals to quit the West Bank and Gaza Strip "immediately. Hamas threatens to abduct soldiers, PFLP vows retaliation Palestine News Network 3/15/2006 Islamic Resistance Movement, Hamas, announced that it will abduct Israeli soldiers in retaliation to the arrest of, Ahmad Sa'adat, Secretary General of the leftist Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, (PFLP). The PFLP military wing launched the “Red Arrow” operations in retaliation to the arrest. Hamas member of the Palestinian Legislative Council (PLC), Fathi Hammad, stated that the movement will retaliate to the arrest, and military operation in Jericho, against Sa'adat, who is also a newly elected member of the PLC,“This crime, this attack, will cause retaliation”, Hammad said, “Our people will rescue all of the detainees, they will rescue Sa'adat”. “The Zionist enemy chose to arrestSa'adat, and his comrades, we will abduct soldiers toswap them with Palestinian detainees”. Saadat from his jail consider the US and UK of being part of the conflict Ma'an News 3/16/2006 Ramallah- Maan- Ahmad Saadat called for Palestinian People not to count on the American role in the future as it is a one sided role. In a letter to the Palestinian People from his jail in Jerusalem, through Dameeer Society Saadat said that the Quartet is forming a cover to Israel, what happened in Jericho made of the US and UK part of the conflict. Saadat burden responsibility on both America and Britain and accused them of collusion with the Israelis, also blamed the PA for not releasing the prisoners in Jericho Jail. Saadat greets the Palestinian People and said that he has great confidence in the Palestinian people and called for the Palestinian friend through the world and the Arab and Islamic countries to support Palestinian People in their struggle. Security Council to discuss condemnation of Israeli siege Ha'aretz 3/15/2006 The United Nations Security Council will convene Wednesday to hear a second draft presidential statement submitted by Qatar condemning Israel for Tuesday's siege of a Palestinian prison in Jericho. The council issued a statement Tuesday afternoon seeking the release of foreigners kidnapped in retaliation for the siege, but appeared unlikely to come down hard against Israel as Qatar proposed. Top UN officials, meanwhile, warned that the latest violence in the West Bank only heightened tensions in the region and urged both sides to defuse the crisis. "Israel's violent incursion - as well as the Palestinian actions carried out in response - risk destabilizing even further the already tense situation in the Middle East," Ibrahim Gambari, the UN undersecretary-general for political affairs, told the Security Council in an emergency meeting on Tuesday. Jericho raid boosts Israeli PM's election campaign The Independent 3/17/2006 The storming of the Jericho prison by Israeli forces this week has brought an increase in the popularity of the government of the acting Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, according to the first opinion poll taken since the raid. The findings for Army Radio less than two weeks before the Israeli general election follow widespread Israeli media acclaim for the raid and show a rise of five seats to 43 for the Kadima Party. They have yet to be corroborated by other polls to be taken in the wake of the prison siege. The poll also shows an unexpected rise of two seats to 16 for Benjamin Netanyahu's right-wing Likud Party, whose strategists are reportedly worried that the Jericho raid will boost Kadima's fortunes at their expense. It shows Labour slipping to third place with 14 seats, although other polls have shown it at about 20. Saadat in Maskoubiah Ma'an News 3/16/2006 Maan- Acquainted sources told the Prisoners Media center that Ahmad Saadat and several comrades of his are now in the Maskoubiah Jail in the city of Jerusalem. Dameer" conscience" Society sources confirmed to the Media center that lawyer of the society Mahmoud Hassan visited Saadat in his jail Wednesday. Ahed Gholmah and Majdi Al Rimawi also were visited by the lawyer the society said, the lawyer was not able to visit Fuad Shobaki or to confirm if he was in the same jail in Jerusalem or not. Globes-Smith Survey: Kadima climbs back Globes 3/16/2006 Kadima up to 36-37 Knesset seats; Likud-15 seats and Labor-18 seats. -- The IDF operation at Jericho prison has halted the prolonged slide of Kadima in the polls and for the first time, it has increased by 2-3 Knesset seats, according the latest “Globes Smith” survey conducted by Rafi Smith. The survey indicated that Kadima rose from 34-35 Knesset seats last week to 36-37 seats this week. Likud fell from 17-18 to 15 seats this week while Labor has 18 seats, compared with 18-19 seats last week. Yisrael Beitenu, headed by Avigdor Liberman, has continued to strengthen, holding steady this week at 10 Knesset seats. The National Union-National Religious Party and Shas have also remained unchanged with 9-10 seats. EU struggles with Palestinian dilemma BBC 3/15/2006 The attacks on EU offices in Gaza have sharpened the European Union's dilemma over whether to continue funding the Palestinian Authority under a Hamas-led government. The EU has been the biggest single donor to the Palestinian Authority (PA), but Hamas is on its list of terrorist organisations. It cannot support terrorism, but neither does it want to trigger the PA's financial collapse. The violence that followed Israel's raid on the Jericho prison on Tuesday makes the problem even more hard to handle. As external affairs commissioner Benita Ferrero-Waldner said on Tuesday, it "puts us all in a very difficult position. She told reporters that the Palestinian President, Mahmoud Abbas, whom she met briefly in Strasbourg before he rushed home to deal with the crisis was "absolutely aware" of this. Palestine on Strike After Jericho Raid Palestine Chronicle 3/16/2006 The strike was ordered during emergency talks in the Gaza Strip to protest Israel's raid on the Jericho jail to arrest PFLP leader Ahmad Saadat. -- GAZA CITY - The Palestinian territories ground to a halt under a general strike Wednesday, called by all factions to protest against a massive Israeli army raid on a West Bank prison one day earlier. Businesses remained shuttered and schools closed across the Gaza Strip and West Bank, reported Agence France-Presse (AFP). The strike was ordered late Tuesday, March 14, during emergency talks in the Gaza Strip to protest Israel's raid on the Jericho jail to arrest the leader of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) Ahmad Saadat. Israeli attack on Jericho jail sparks uprising in Gaza and West Bank The Independent 3/15/2006 Six Palestinian prisoners, including a militant accused of the murder of an Israeli government minister in 2001, surrendered last night after a nine-hour armed siege that began when British monitors abandoned the jail where the men were being held. The siege had triggered a wave of protest attacks and abductions directed against foreigners across Gaza and the West Bank and there were heavy exchanges of fire outside the Jericho jail which claimed the lives of two Palestinians. Militants stoned and set fire to the British Council Militants stoned and set fire to the British Council building in Gaza as foreigners began to flee from the Strip last night to avoid further reprisals. Israel's raid in Jericho deals blow to isolated Palestinian Authority president The Daily Star 3/16/2006 Analysis - Hisham Abdallah -- RAMALLAH, West Bank: Israel's raid in Jericho has left beleaguered Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas eyeballing diplomatic disaster and exacerbated his increased isolation after the election victory of Hamas. The capture of detained leader Ahmad Saadat and five cohorts from a Palestinian prison underscored Abbas' weakness and unpopularity as Israel put its relationship with the administration on a new footing, analysts said. The Abbas camp was the first to admit the Jericho raid had been a public relations disaster for the Palestinian Authority as their president rushed back to manage the crisis, cutting short a key European tour. Palestinian prisoners at risk of being killed by Israeli forces Amnesty International 3/14/2006 Amnesty International is deeply concerned about the safety of Palestinian detainees in Jericho Prison. The prison is currently surrounded by Israeli forces who have threatened to kill detainees who refuse to surrender to them. The detainees most at risk are Ahmad Saadat, leader of the Palestinian Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP), and four other Palestinians who have been detained at Jericho Prison since 2002 despite a court decision ordering their release. While detained under the jurisdiction of the Palestinian Authority (PA), Ahmad Saadat and his four co-detainees have been held under the supervision of guards provided by the UK and US in accordance with an agreement reached between these states and Israel and the PA. Kidnapped foreigners released International Middle East Media Center 3/16/2006 Palestinians released on Wednesday the last four of 11 foreigners abducted the previous day in retaliation for an Israeli raid on a Palestinian prison in Jericho, the Palestinian interior ministry said. The four - a Canadian, two French nationals and a South Korean journalist - who had been abducted from a hotel in Gaza city, were brought under police escort to the Palestinian Preventive Security headquarters. Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas cut short a trip to Europe because of the Israeli action, called the prison storming an 'unforgivable crime' and 'insult' to the Palestinian people. 'There was coordination, it was pre-planned and everyone should understand that,' he told reporters in Jericho Wednesday, echoing accusations by other Palestinians that Israel had coordinated the raid with Britain and the United States, whose guards had left the prison minutes before the Israeli tanks and troops stormed it. Jail siege ends as PFLP chief Sa'adat, 5 others surrender Ha'aretz 3/15/2006 Security forces went on high alert Tuesday fearing Palestinian reprisal attacks after Israel Defense Forces troops laid siege to the Jericho prison and arrested six wanted inmates. A tense, gunfire-punctuated nine-hour IDF siege of a Jericho prison complex ended after dark on Tuesday with the abrupt surrender of Ahmed Sa'adat and five other Palestinian militants. Sa'adat, leader of the Popular Front for Liberation of Palestine, is believed to have ordered the assassination of cabinet minister Rehavam Ze'evi in a Jerusalem hotel in 2001. Palestinian territories to remain isolated until Saturday International Middle East Media Center 3/16/2006 The Israeli army has decided to extend the closure imposed on the Palestinian territories until next Saturday. Army claims receiving several warnings of possible attacks against Israeli targets. The Palestinian areas were completely sealed off last Saturday while Israel celebrated the Purim Jewish feast which ends on Wednesday at night. Initially Israel was planning to lift the closure on Thursday morning but it decided to extend the full closure after its operation in the West Bank city of Jericho and arresting the Secretary General of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, Ahmad Sa'adat. Following the arrest of Sa'adat and his comrades in addition to dozens of political prisoners in the Palestinian Jericho prison, several Palestinian factions vowed retaliation. Foreigners wary of Palestinian anger BBC 3/15/2006 Black smoke poured from the burning British Council building in Gaza City, an HSBC branch was vandalised in Ramallah, and eleven foreigners were seized across the Palestinian territories. The violence against Westerners in the wake of the British and American decision to withdraw their monitors from the Jericho prison is the latest in a series of attacks on foreign workers and Western targets. Just a year ago, violence towards foreigners was almost unheard of in the Palestinian territories, but now the attacks are becoming commonplace. The trend started in Gaza last summer where there was a spate of kidnappings of foreigners. 8 Qassams fired at Negev YNet News 3/14/2006 Palestinians fired 8 rockets at Israeli communities near Gaza border; no damage or injuries reported; Israel raises alert level expecting attacks to avenge Jericho siegeYnet reporters Revenge for Jericho? Eight Qassam rockets were fired Tuesday night at Israeli territory from the northern Gaza Strip, but all landed in open areas and caused no injuries or damage. The rockets were launched both during and after the standoff between IDF forces and Palestinian detainees at the Jericho prison that ended with the surrender of Popular Front Secretary General Ahmad Saadat and other top prisoners. Israel captures jailed Palestinian militants The Guardian 3/14/2006 Palestinian militants set fire to a vehicle at the British Council in Gaza City. Photograph: Ali Ali/EPA Palestinian militants in a Jericho prison surrendered tonight after a raid by Israeli troops using tanks and bulldozers that sparked widespread unrest and kidnappings of westerners in Gaza and the West Bank. A radical Palestinian group said Israel would pay dearly for the captures, while London and Washington were accused of colluding in the attack after they withdraw human rights monitors from the prison half an hour before the raid. The Israelis arrested 21 prisoners, after a 10-hour raid in which a prisoner and two guards were killed. Occupation Troops Storm West Bank Prison Palestine Chronicle/Arab News 3/14/2006 US officials told Reuters Washington had given Israel a copy of a March 8 letter it sent to Abbas saying monitors could be withdrawn at once unless security conditions were met. -- GAZA CITY - Israeli forces yesterday raided a Jericho prison, killed two Palestinians and arrested a jailed resistance leader after US and British monitors withdrew from the jail. Ahmed Saadat, leader of Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) accused by Israel of involvement in the 2001 killing of an Israeli Cabinet minister, surrendered with his hands up after a daylong siege during which tanks and helicopters shelled the prison and bulldozers tore down part of it.... “The governments of Britain and the United States bear direct and serious responsibility for what happened in the prison and escalating what took place later,” said a statement from the Organization of the Islamic Conference (OIC). What I saw in Jericho Or Olmert’s Election Campaign By Neta Golan, International Solidarity Movement 3/15/2006 All for the sole purpose of Olmert’s election Campaign -- Jericho Tuesday March 14th- After a four hour walk around two Israeli checkpoint and an Israeli settlement we arrived in Jericho to find that the neighborhood around the compound surrounded by Israeli jeeps and Palestinian children throwing stones at them. We asked the kids for directions. After sizing us up for a while a young Palestinian guided us through the side streets to the closest point to the compound as possible where journalists where filming the attack. As Chris from Britain, C. from IWPS and I were approaching the city we could here shelling and a helicopter from a long way away. When we got to the site of the prison and governmental compound we saw that the it was “U” shaped and the external building that was visible to us was burning and completely destroyed. Avneri likens Ze'evi death to [Israeli Army] killings; 'Yassin outranked Ze'evi' Palestine Monitor/Haaretz 3/15/2006 Attacking the [Israeli Army] siege of the Jericho prison as a campaign ploy by Acting Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, leftist activist and ex-MK Uri Avneri Tuesday termed the 2001 assassination of cabinet minister Rehavam Ze'evi a targeted killing, and said that slain Hamas founder Sheikh Ahmed Yassin "was certainly of a higher rank" than Ze'evi. "This was an almost-uncamouflaged campaign ploy by Olmert, prepared in a cabal with the British and the Americans," Avneri said of the [Israeli Army] operation, in which a nine-hour siege ended with the surrender of Ze'evi's killers. Avneri spoke as far-left activists demonstrated in Tel Aviv against the [Israeli Army] raid, calling it a flagrant violation of agreements under which Ahmed Sa'adat, head of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, and five other Palestinian militants were held under the auspices of American and British monitors. Britain accused after day of chaos and kidnaps in Gaza The Guardian 3/15/2006 Britain was accused of colluding with an Israeli military assault on a Palestinian jail yesterday that prompted the widespread kidnapping of foreigners in the occupied territories and the sacking of UK and EU offices. The army's day-long siege of Jericho prison ended with the surrender of five men accused by Israel of the 2001 assassination of a cabinet minister, Rehavam Zeevi, in Jerusalem. But at least six foreign aid workers and journalists were still being held by Palestinian armed groups. Ahmed Saadat, the leader of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, and four other members have been held for the past four years in Jericho under British and American supervision. Blair defends withdrawal of monitors from Jericho jail The Guardian 3/15/2006 Tony Blair today laid the blame squarely at the door of the Palestinian Authority for yesterday's outbreak of violence across the Gaza Strip and the withdrawal of British monitors from a prison in Jericho. The prime minister told the Commons that he had personally warned the Palestinian president, Mahmoud Abbas, that the British personnel would be withdrawn unless security agreements were met. During prime minister's questions, Mr Blair said there could be no long-term peace in the region until the Palestinian authorities were able to maintain law, and the incoming Hamas government recognised Israel's existence and put an end to violence. Jordan king warns strike on Iran catastrophic for region The Daily Star 3/16/2006 Abdullah slams israeli raid on West bank prison -- AMMAN: Jordan's King Abdullah II warned on Wednesday that a strike on Iran would cause the region "to explode" and deplored Israel's raid on a Palestinian prison. "A strike against Iran would cause the whole region to explode," the Jordanian monarch told AFP in comments on the crisis between the West and Tehran over its nuclear activities. "The threat to regional security and stability will be grave if force is utilized to resolve this problem. Dialogue, patience and diplomacy are the only solution," he added. He likewise deplored Israel's raid Tuesday on a Jericho prison to seize prominent Palestinian prisoners wanted over the 2001 murder of Israeli Tourism Minister Rehavam Zeevi. In Tel Aviv Israeli Activists Protest the Raid on Jericho Jail International Solidarity Movement 3/14/2006 “Mofaz, how many prisoners will you kill today? ” chanted by Israeli non-violent demonstrators -- At 7pm Tuesday evening, approximately 100 Israeli activists held a non-violent demonstration in front of the Ministry of Defense in Tel Aviv. The protest was called in response to today’s siege on a Jericho prison and called for the release of all political prisoners. 20 Israeli police officers and 8 soldiers stood across the street from the peaceful demonstrators. Next to them, 2 counter protesters from a right wing political party held signs and yelled anti-Arab statements. Many drivers screamed racist comments as they drove past the demonstration. Palestinian resistance shells military post near the Sofa border crossing International Middle East Media Center 3/15/2006 The national resistance brigade, the armed wing of the Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine (DFLP), and the Al Aqsa martyrs brigades, the armed wing of Fatah, claimed responsibility for firing four homemade shells toward the military post at the Sofa border crossing, east of Khan Younis in the Gaza strip, Wednesday at dawn. The press release issued by the two groups stated that this attack comes as a response to the Israeli army attack on Jericho prison and the arrest of Ahmad Sa'adat, the general secretary of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine on Tuesday. [end] A sudden exit, a jail is stormed - and Israel's long wait is over By Chris McGreal, Palestine Monitor/The Guardian 3/15/2006 Departure of UK monitors triggers raid on suspects · Armed Palestinians respond by snatching foreigners -- With explosions and gunfire echoing across Jericho yesterday, Colonel Ronnie Blekin finally got the men for whom he and his army had waited for four years: the Palestinians accused of one of the most audacious political killings in Israeli history - the assassination of a cabinet minister in a Jerusalem hotel in 2001. After British monitors quietly pulled out of the Jericho jail at which they were supervising the prisoners' confinement under an agreement between Israel, the Palestinians and the international community, Col Blekin said: "I was ready for more than four years for somebody to break the agreement. Today they broke the agreement. I was ready. " After demolishing the Police Headquarter Sadat was arrested Ma'an News 3/14/2006 Jericho –Maan- Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine General Secretary and Palestinian Legislative Council Member Mr. Ahmad Sadat wa arrested Tuesday evening after Israeli forces raided the Jericho jail. Before the arrest of Sadat, dozens of Palestinian security men surrender to the Israeli forces when the Israeli bulldozers started demolishing the building of the police headquarters over the heads of the prisoners and the security people in front of the whole world and cameras of the media. Sadat accused the US and Britain of collusion with Israel to raid the Jericho Jail. In pictures: Jericho prison raid BBC 3/14/2006 PHOTOS - 9: 1) Palestinian inmates and guard are detained by Israeli troops -- Hundreds of Palestinian guards and inmates surrendered at a prison compound in the West Bank town of Jericho, after it was stormed by Israeli troops. Likud heads rattled by IDF's popular Jericho raid Ha'aretz 3/16/2006 With two weeks to go before election day, senior sources in the Likud believe the party is being rattled by its failure to woo back voters, especially following this week's raid of the Jericho Prison. Tuesday's raid has stolen the show from the election campaign, and diverted public attention from the Likud's assault on Olmert's "dangerous" withdrawal plan, according to the sources. The sources said that party leader Benjamin Netanyahu looked pressured and worried Wednesday, following the latest polls. Until Wednesday, Netanyahu has displayed confidence that the polls would change direction, and that the rise in support of the Likud would continue until election day. Action Alert: Jericho prison under violent siege International Solidarity Movement 3/14/2006 At this moment, large numbers of Israeli Occupation Forces (IOF) have invaded Jericho and are surrounding the prison and governmental compound of the Palestinian Authority (PA) with tanks, jeeps and Apache helicopters. They are demanding the surrender of six members of the PFLP (Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine) who are imprisoned for the assassination of Israeli minister of Tourism Rehavam Zeevi in 2001. One of the prisoners is Ahmad Sa’adaat, the secretary-general of the PFLP. One Palestinian prison guard and a prisoner from the Al-Aqsa Martyr Brigades have already been killed in the siege and eight other prisoners are wounded. Israel threatens to kill detained PFLP members if released Palestine Monitor 3/12/2006 JERICHO, West Bank—Israel is prepared to assassinate four Palestinians accused in the 2001 murder of an Israeli tourism minister if they are released from jail, Israeli television reported. Security forces and the army are prepared to take immediate action to either "eliminate or arrest" the militants if Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas organizes their release from theWest Bank's Jericho prison, Israel's second television channel said. The report recalled that Defense Minister Shaul Mofaz has already warned several times that Israel would not allow the four, who are part of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP), to live in freedom. Israeli forces blocking hundreds of Palestinian families at the Qalqilia Crossing Ma'an News 3/13/2006 Qalqilia- Maan- Israeli forces blocked hundreds of Palestinian prisoners relatives of Qalqilia and Salfeet areas at the Qalqilia Crossing after visiting the prisoners in Israeli jails. In a telephone call with one of the Palestinians at the crossing he said that the Israeli forces are closing the crossing and prevented the citizens from passing through. The reserved people called for the International Committee of Red Cross to act and interfere so as to allow them return to their homes. [end] Detainee supporters see Hizbullah as best hope Daily Star 3/14/2006 BEIRUT: The families of those detained and unaccounted for in Israeli prisons protested on Monday as a show of support for "the resistance," sending a message to "some of the politicians" in the national dialogue who are pushing for the disarmament of Hizbullah. "Without the resistance, any hope for the release of our detainees will be lost forever," said Bassam Kantar, the brother of Samir Kantar, who has been held in an Israeli prison for almost 27 years - longer than any other Lebanese detainee - and who is known as the "dean" of the detainees. "We heard that Lebanese Forces leader Samir Geagea has asked to look over the file of those detained in Israel... which is truly strange coming from him," said Kantar who, along with about 30 protesters, demons. Strike supporting Palestinians prisoners in Hebron Saturday Ma'an News 3/10/2006 Hebron- Maan- Palestinian Prisoners Society in coordination with families of the prisoners to organize a set down strike Saturday in Hebron. The strike will be held opposite to the ICRC in Ein Sarah area in Hebron city. PPS said that many of the families will be attending the strike accompanied with Palestinian faction representatives. [end] Lawmaker Prisoner Moved To Majedo and another Deputy to Administrative Detention International Press Center 3/9/2006 GAZA, Palestine, March 9,2006 (IPC) - -Israeli Prison Authority moved the lawmaker Dr. Azam Al Tamimi from Ofra jail to military Majedo jail, few days before ending his court proceedings. The detainees of Ofra jail, north of Rammallah city told Al Assra Information Center that the Israeli occupation authorities transferred Dr. Al Tamimi to Majedo prison after two days of a lame attempt to move him to the notorious desert Negev prison, where the prison administration refused to receive him. MP Al Tamim was arrested on 25 September 2005 in Hebron, even though he was elected as a deputy of Nablus province in the Palestinian legislative council. Israeli officer condemned for sexually harassing and humiliating Palestinian girls working in Israeli settlement Palestine News Network 3/9/2006 An Israeli officer at a settlement inside the West Bank who forced Palestinian girls to dance for him, imitate animals, and endure sexual harassment was sentenced to six and one half years in Israeli prison. The Israeli Ma’ale Adumim Settlement is inside the West Bank, and blocks the West Bank from Jerusalem to the northeast. It is considered part of the “Jerusalem Envelope. ” Both Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon and Israeli military minister Shaul Mofaz have openly stated that despite international law to the contrary, this settlement and several other major Israeli settlements inside the West Bank will never be removed. Child's finger cut off during interrogation International Middle East Media Center 3/8/2006 Family of child detainee Qassam Abu Baker, 15, from Yabod village, near the West Bank city of Jenin, filed a complaint to the Complaints Committee in Jerusalem against interrogators in Ofer Israeli detention facility after the figure of their child was chopped during interrogation. The family said that one of the interrogators threatened to cut the figure of their child if he does not admit that “he was throwing stones at the soldiers”, but the boy denied the charge. The interrogator forced the child to put his hand between the hinges of the door and slapped it closed resulting in the cutting on one of the boy's fingers. The boy was transferred to Affoula hospital for treatment. Abu Baker was arrested earlier this month when the soldiers invaded the village and operated there; Abu Baker and another child identified as Murad Kilani were arrested. Israeli authorities of Eshel jail attack Palestinian prisoners International Middle East Media Center 3/8/2006 Palestinian sources said that authorities of Eshel Jail in the Beir Sheva area attacked Palestinian prisoners in the Israeli Eshel prison facility on Wednesday afternoon. The sources said that the soldiers were trying to force Palestinian prisoners who are members of the Hamas party into isolation when the confrontations started. Israeli soldiers used rubber bullets and tear gas, injuring three Palestinian prisoners, according to local sources. [end] U.S.: Discrimination, corruption in Israel YNetNews 3/8/2006 State Department issues annual human rights report, finds Israel guilty of severe violations including harassing Arabs, discriminating against women and Arabs, abusing women and foreign workers; but overall Israel ‘respects its citizens’ rights’ -- WASHINGTON - “Trafficking in and abuse of women and foreign workers, discrimination against persons with disabilities, and government corruption,” read just a few of the criticisms of Israel made in the United States State Department’s annual human rights violations report. The reports, published every year since 1977, track democracy and human rights in 196 countries. The authors report “serious abuses by some members of the security forces against Palestinian detainees; poor conditions in some detention and interrogation facilities; institutional, legal, and societal discrimination against the country's Arab citizens; and societal violence and discrimination against women ” in Israel. Leftist PFLP says waiting for Abbas to order the release of Saadat Palestine News Network 3/8/2006 The leftists Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) reported that it is waiting for the Palestinian President, Mahmoud Abbas, to order the release of the PFLP secretary general, Ahmad Saadat. Saadat is imprisoned in a Palestinian Prison guarded by British and American troops in Jericho. He was accused of planning the assassination of the Israeli Minister of Tourism, Rahba'am Zeevi, who was assassinated at a Jerusalem hotel in 2001. Abbas said that he does not object the release of Saadat but will not release him until he receives guarantees from the Political Bureau of the PFLP that he [Abbas] will not be blamed to any harm Saadat may face, especially if Israel assassinates him. Israeli troops invaded Nablus, armed clashes erupted in the city Ma'an News 3/6/2006 Nablus –Maan- Israeli forces invaded the city of Nablus Monday afternoon and surrounded one of the houses in Jabal Shamali area. Maan area reporter said that an Israel force of six vehicles entered the city from Beit Eba Direction West of Nablus, the forces besieged the house of the Prisoners Support Society Head Mr. Sa'ed Yassen in Jabal Shamali area. The Israeli forces evacuated a neighboring family from their house and that clashes erupted between armed Palestinians and the Israeli troops Maan reporter added. [end] Mashaal: If Israel withdraws to pre 1967 borders, we will take serious steps towards peace International Middle East Media Center 3/6/2006 Khaled Mashaal, head of the political bureau of the ruling Islamic Resistance Movement Hamas party said in an interview with the Al-Arabiya satellite channel that Hamas will be willing to take serious steps towards peace if Israel does that. Mashaal added that the international community should not ask Hamas and the Palestinian People to take steps such as recognizing Israel or adopt the road map at a time Israel never approved it, and the American administration backed on it. "If the International community pressures Israel to withdraw from all the Palestinian land occupied in 1967 including Jerusalem, recognizes the right of the Palestinian refugees to return to their land and releases all the Palestinian prisoners from their jails, Hamas and all the Arabs will be ready to take serious steps towards peace," Mashaal told the Saudi-based Al-Arabiya channel. Jailed Hamas leader transferred to notorious Negev Prison Camp International Middle East Media Center 3/6/2006 Israeli authorities transferred Sheikh Hassan Yousef, one of the West Bank's most prominent leaders and a Member of the Legislative Council, from Askalan prison to the Negev Prison camp, where prisoners are kept in tents in the desert, exposed to the elements and subject to abuse by Israeli guards. Sheikh Yousef, 53, was carried from the isolation wards in Askalan to the Negev after having been held for five months in the Askalan facility. His incarceration conditions in Askalan were similar to hundreds of other Palestinian prisoners who experience harsh health and humanitarian conditions that lacked the simplest level of human rights. do not comply with even the most basic tenets of human rights regulations. Palestinian detainee released after 42 months of being held without charges International Middle East Media Center 3/6/2006 The Israeli army released on Monday Raslan Thoukan, 33, from Balata refugee camp in the West Bank city of Nablus, after 42 months of administrative detention. Thoukan was arrested during an army invasion of the city on the 13th of November 2002, allegedly for being a Hamas member, local sources reported, but he was never given any charges during the entire 42 months he spent in Israeli prison. Administrative detention is a policy by which the Israeli authorities can keep any Palestinian in custody for an unlimited period of time with no given charges Palestinian prisoners in Jalbou'a Prison called for the formation of parliamentary committee Ma'an News 3/6/2006 Nablus- Maan- Palestinian National and Islamic Factions in Jalbou'a Central Prison recommended that the issue of the Palestinian prisoners should be given a top priority on the national and political levels. In a statement issued Monday they confirm that it is very important to look at this issue as an important one and called for the formation of a parliamentary committee to follow up the prisoner's issue. [end] Haniah : the prisoners issue will be a top priority Ma'an News 3/6/2006 Gaza- Maan- Designated Prime Minister Mr. Ismael Haniah confirmed he is going to support the Palestinian Prisoners issue. The statement came during the weekly strike held in Gaza city to support Palestinian Prisoners issue. Haniah participated along with other Hamas leaders, Mahmoud Zah'ha, Sami Abu Zuhri and others, also participated in the strike the minister of prisoner's affairs Mr. Sofian Abu Zaidah. Haniah said that his government will cooperate with the ministry of prisoner's affairs to concentrate on this issue. [end] Haniah met ICRC representatives Ma'an News 3/6/2006 Gaza- Maan- Designated Palestinian Prime Minister Mr. Ismael Haniah met with members of the International Committee of the Red Cross. The meeting discussed the human activities of the ICRC in the Gaza Strip and the West Bank. Haniah praised the role of the committee and confirmed his interest to facilitate their services and activities in Palestine. He called for the representatives of the ICRC to play a more powerful role so as to ease the Palestinian prisoners suffering in the Israeli jails. The ICRC confirmed to Haniah the commitment of the ICRC of the international human law and agreements. [end] Hamas ready to extend cease-fire Daily Star 3/4/2006 Hamas has promised at landmark talks in Moscow to maintain a year-old cease-fire if Israel refrains from force, but maintained it will not reach peace until the Jewish state withdraws from occupied Palestinian territories. "Hamas confirmed its readiness not to leave the agreement on the cease-fire adopted in March 2005 on the understanding that Israel will also refrain from violent actions," the Foreign Ministry said after talks in Moscow with Hamas leaders. A senior Hamas official in Moscow, Izzat al-Resheq, said the group would look positively on an extension of the cease-fire, but only if Israel "ended its aggression, assassinations and arrests and freed Palestinian prisoners. " "The ball is now in Israel's court," he told Reuters. Multiple Najah University candidates nominated for positions in new government Palestine News Network 3/2/2006 Sources close to the Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas) told PNN that many Professors from Najah National University have been nominated for positions in the new government to be formed in the coming weeks. According to the sources, candidates were put forward in Hamas’ current consultations regarding the formation of the government. Dr. Nasser Addin Ashaer, who was released two days ago from Israeli prison, has been nominated for Ministry of Information. Other candidates include: Dr. Khader Soundak to the Ministry of Waqf and Religious Affairs, Dr. Samir Abu Easheh and Dr. Abdul Satar Qasem. Over 200 Palestinian Children Arrested in Two Months International Solidarity Movement/Defence for Children International 3/3/2006 Israeli occupation forces are arresting scores of Palestinian children each week, bringing the number of juveniles currently held in appalling conditions in Israeli detention centres and prisons to new record levels. Information gathered by the DCI/PS Research & Information and Legal Units shows that since the start of 2006 over 230 Palestinian children have been arrested, with the Israeli army appearing to target in particular youths from the Bethlehem Nablus and Jenin areas of the West Bank. The scale of arrests over the past two months brings the number of Palestinian children in Israeli custody to almost 400. --See also: Defence for Children International - Palestine Pentagon Releases Names of Gitmo Inmates The Guardian 3/4/2006 GUANTANAMO BAY NAVAL BASE, Cuba (AP) - After four years of secrecy, the Pentagon handed over documents Friday that contain the names of detainees held at the U.S. military prison at Guantanamo Bay. The release resulted from a victory by The Associated Press in a Freedom of Information Act lawsuit. The Bush administration had hidden the identities, home countries and other information about the men, who were accused of having links to the Taliban or al-Qaida. But a federal judge rejected administration arguments that releasing the identities would violate the detainees' privacy and could endanger them and their families. Shebaa Farms take center stage in Lebanese dialogue Daily Star 3/4/2006 Despite reports otherwise, participants have yet to reach final decision on Lebanese identity of land -- BEIRUT: The second day of Lebanon's national dialogue kicked off much the same way as the first, and despite reports that Lebanon's top leaders agreed to end the debate over the presidency issue and to establish the Lebanese identity of the disputed Shebaa Farms, Speaker Nabih Berri said they had not reached a final decision regarding these issues. "We discussed UN Security Council Resolution 1559 in its different clauses including the presidency issues, Lebanese detainees, Israeli attacks on Lebanon, demarcating the borders and Shebaa farms," said Berri, at the final briefing of the day. Audio - Guantanamo man tells of 'torture' BBC 3/3/2006 A Kuwaiti man being held at Guantanamo Bay has told the BBC in a rare interview that the force-feeding of hunger strikers amounts to torture. Fawzi al-Odah said hunger strikers were strapped to a chair and force-fed through a tube three times a day. A senior US official denied the use of torture in Guantanamo Bay. Mr Odah's comments, relayed by his lawyer in answer to BBC questions, came as another inmate launched a legal challenge to the force-feeding policy. The case is being brought on behalf of Mohammed Bawazir, a Yemeni who has also been held there since 2002. Audio Hear the interview Libya frees all jailed Muslim Brotherhood members Middle East Online 3/2/2006 Celebrations in front of prison in Tripoli after release of all 84 jailed members if banned Muslim Brotherhood. -- TRIPOLI - Libya on Thursday released all 84 jailed members of the banned Muslim Brotherhood movement who had been held in the country since the late 1990s, official sources said. "All the 84 members of the Muslim Brotherhood were released today... amid celebrations in front of the prison in Tripoli in the presence of their families," an official source said. Over 200 Palestinian children arrested in two months ReliefWeb/Defence for Children International/ 3/2/2006 Israeli occupation forces are arresting scores of Palestinian children each week, bringing the number of juveniles currently held in appalling conditions in Israeli detention centres and prisons to new record levels. Information gathered by the DCI/PS Research & Information and Legal Units shows that since the start of 2006 over 230 Palestinian children have been arrested, with the Israeli army appearing to target in particular youths from the Bethlehem Nablus and Jenin areas of the West Bank. The scale of arrests over the past two months brings the number of Palestinian children in Israeli custody to almost 400. This represents a significant increase on the already-inexcusably high numbers of recent years and marks a further indication of the scant regard Israeli pays to Palestinian children's rights and to international legal instruments. Hamas spokesman criticizes the arrest of two PLC members Ma'an News 3/1/2006 Gaza- Maan- Dr Salah Bardawil spokesman of Hamas block in the PLC confirmed that his movement accepted Abbas call for Hamas to form the new government, and that there is no problem in this regard. Speaking to Maan via telephone Bardawil denied the news published in the media about the severance of relations between Hamas and the PA President Mr Mahmoud Abbas. About the Israeli threats to the Palestinian political prisoners in Jericho jail, Bardawil said that what was said by the Israel officials is a political rudeness, when they threat people and that they might kill them , this is political rudeness and we cant accept it at all. Jordan inmates release hostages AlJazeera 3/1/2006 Jordanian prisoners loyal to al-Qaida have released seven policemen, including a prison chief. The hostage-taking took place after Jordanian troops clashed with prisoners in three major prisons when they went in to move high-security detainees, security sources said. The policemen were freed after inmates were promised they would not be punished for the hostage-taking. The fighting, which involved 150 inmates, were the most serious in Jordan in recent years and underscored a high-level of coordination among the political prisoners and their ability to rally together almost instantaneously, security experts said. |
Israel's Jericho raid was business as usual By Buthaina Shaaban, The Daily Star 3/24/2006 Where was the "international community" when Israeli troops stormed the Jericho prison? The American and British monitors, for one, had left by then, making way for the Israeli aggression. Another episode in the systematic belligerence and humiliation inflicted on Palestinians. And another "international" empty call for both parties to practice "self-restraint." The Palestinians should have taken heed and silenced their cries and complaints against that flagrant international crime. The international media coverage was rather illuminating. There was plenty of information about the history of the prison, its successive wardens, the prospective Hamas loose control over the inmates, the security of the American and British monitors and so on and so forth. There was also, of course, the usual xenophobic alarm of potential angry Palestinian reactions against foreigners in Palestinian lands. Few spared a line to ponder where the Israeli raid scored on the scale of international criminal acts. The measurements did not apply to crimes against Arabs and Muslims. The raid on Jericho prison is not an isolated incident in the history of Israeli occupation. Every passing day, Israeli forces murder Palestinian civilians, rape Palestinian women at checkpoints and strip Palestinians naked to humiliate them in front of their relatives. A daily fact of life confirmed by Checkpoints Watch, an Israeli organization founded by 400 Jewish women to observe Israeli soldiers' behavior at checkpoints. Adi Dagan, the organization's spokeswoman, said that "approximately two million Palestinians are subjected to very ugly suffering, and the Israeli public doesn't know about it." Obviously, neither does the "international community.
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Adalah 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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