Vermonters for a Just Peace in Palestine/Israel
Prisoners Archive - May 2008
Treatment of Prisoners and Detainees by Israel and Others
Prisoners Archive - May 2008
Treatment of Prisoners and Detainees by Israel and Others
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Palestinian detainee in a critical health condition IMEMC News, International Middle East Media Center News 5/30/2008 One of the lawyers of the Nafha Society for Defending Human Rights and Detainees Rights managed to visit detainee Zuheir Lubbada, 54, who is currently at the Al Ramla Prison Hospital and suffering from kidney failure in addition to several other health issues. The lawyer stated that Lubbada is in a critical health condition as he was kidnapped by the Israeli army on May 25, 2008, and was interrogated and tortured before he was moved to the Al Ramla Prison Hospital which lacks the basic equipment. Lubbada also suffering from a virus in his liver and his only medication is painkiller pills. He was kidnapped the first time in 1994 and spent two years in prison before he was released to be kidnapped against in 2008. The Nafha Society voiced an appeal to the Red Cross and several human rights groups to intervene and save the life of Lubbada in order to enable him perform a kidney transplant. . . Al-Aqsa brigades member appeals for release after 5 months in jail Ma’an News Agency 5/30/2008 Nablus – Ma’an – A member of Fatah’s Al-Aqsa who has been held in jail for five months has appealed to Palestinian officials to secure his release. 35 year-old Fatah leader Ja’far As-Samhan called on the Coordinating Committee factions in Nablus and all Palestinian officials to intervene to find a solution to the problem Palestinian prisoners who Israel describe as ’wanted’. As-Samhan told Ma’an’s Nablus correspondent that he entered the Al-Junied prison under an agreement between the Palestinian Authority and the Israeli side. He was supposed to serve three months but five months later he still has not been released. He says he has met all the conditions that were imposed by both the Palestinian and Israeli sides but still he remains in prison. 25 members of the Al-Aqsa Brigades men are being held in Al-Juneid prison, west of Nablus, awaiting a decision from Israel. . . A detainee from Gaza behind bars since 25 years IMEMC News, International Middle East Media Center News 5/30/2008 Palestinian researcher, specialized in detainees’ affairs at the Census Department of the Palestinian Ministry for Detainees, Abdul-Nasser Farawna, stated on Thursday that detainee Saleem Ibrahim Al Kayyal, 56, has been imprisoned by Israel since more than 25 years. Farawna added that there are 14 Palestinian detainees who have been imprisoned since more than 25 years, eight of them are from the West Bank, three are Arab residents of Israel, one from Jerusalem and one from the Gaza Strip in addition to the Lebanese detainee Sameer Al Quntar. Farawna also stated that detainee Al Kayyal, from the Gaza Strip and was born in 1952, was kidnapped by the Israeli forces on May, 30, 1983. He is a member of Fateh movement, married and has one daughter. Al Kayyal is currently imprisoned at the Nafha detention camp and suffers from several health issues including diabetes and high blood pressure. Israeli military court sentences Palestinian to 15 years for brigades affiliation Ma’an News Agency 5/27/2008 Tulkarem - Ma’an - The Israeli Military Court in Salem on Monday sentenced 23-year-old Ahmad ’Ezzat Abu Tabeekh from Tulkarem to fifteen years in prison on charges of being affiliated to the Al-Aqsa brigades, Fatah’s military wing. Abu Tabeekh was arrested on 3 Novemeber 2006 in Tulkarem. He is currently being held in Majiddo prison. Israeli military court extends detention of Palestinian prisoners Ma’an News Agency 5/27/2008 Jenin – Ma’an – The Salem Israeli military court has extended the detention period of six prisoners from Jenin, Qalqilia and Tulkarem districts on charges of affiliation to Islamic Jihad, a lawyer from the Jenin office for following up on prisoners affairs said on Tuesday. The office said in a statement that the detention of Abdullah ’Ubaid from Jenin was extended to July 16 2008; that of Luay Sati from Tulkarem was extended to July 29 2008. The detention of Qusay Wishahi from Jenin, Tal’at Shawahna from Silat Al-Harithiyy and Majd Hourani from Qalqilia was extended to July 12 2008. The detention of Muhammad Abu ’Uda from Qabatia was extended to July 21 2008. Rights commission presses Abbas on torture, other concerns Ma’an News Agency 5/27/2008 Hebron - Ma’an – The Palestinian Independent Commission for Citizens’ Rights is concerned about the growth of what it calls a "police system" in which security concerns outweigh human rights in the Palestinian Authority (PA), the commission’s thirteenth annual report says. The commission delivered its report to the Palestinian President, Mahmoud Abbas, on Tuesday morning. The General Commissioner of the organization, Dr. Mamdouh Al-’Eker discussed the concerns raised in the report with Abbas. Al-’Eker also talked about the increase in arbitrary detentions and military trials of civilians, a practice he says contravenes the Palestinian Basic Law and other Palestinian laws. Al-’Eker also expressed concern regarding the increasing number of reports of torture and abuse in the Palestinian Authority’s detention centers. ISRAEL: New law threatens to imprison refugees Tamar Dressler/IRIN, IRIN - UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs 5/28/2008 JERUSALEM, 27 May 2008 (IRIN) - The Israeli Knesset has approved the draft of a new law, which will make infiltration into the country a criminal offence, punishable by up to seven years in prison. It will also apply to refugees and asylum-seekers. The draft was passed on 19 May by a majority of 21 legislators to one opponent, DovHanin from the Hadash party, who questioned the logic of sentencing refugees to prison for trying to flee persecution. If it passes the next stage of legislation, the bill will allow the Israeli authorities to imprison people who enter the country, generally through the porous border with Egypt, for up to five years. If the "infiltrators", as they are called, are from "enemy states", which includes countries such as Sudan, the punishment will be seven years. Sudanese make up a large portion of the total refugee population in Israel, including hundreds from the war-torn Darfur region. Gaza: ICRC calls for immediate resumption of family visits to detainees in Israel International Committee of the Red Cross - ICRC, ReliefWeb 5/26/2008 Jerusalem / Tel Aviv (ICRC) – The Israeli authorities must take immediate measures to allow Palestinian families from Gaza to resume visits to their relatives detained in Israel, the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) said today. The family visits organized by the ICRC since 1967 had to be suspended on 6 June 2007 following a decision by the Israeli authorities. As a result, the parents, wives, husbands, sisters, brothers and children of more than 900 detainees have been deprived of direct contact with their detained relatives for almost one year. Detainees depend on these visits not only for psychological support but also for material assistance such as clothes and blankets. "This measure is depriving both detainees and their relatives of an essential life line," said Christoph Harnisch, head of the ICRC’s delegation in Israel and the occupied territories. Red Cross urges Israel to reinstate family visits for Gazan detainees Ma’an News Agency 5/26/2008 Jerusalem – Ma’an – International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) called on Israel to immediately allow Palestinian families from the Gaza Strip to visit their relatives detained in Israel. The family visits organized by the ICRC since 1967 had to be suspended on 6 June 2007 following a decision by the Israeli authorities. As a result, the parents, wives, husbands, sisters, brothers and children of more than 900 detainees have been deprived of direct contact with their detained relatives for almost one year. The ICRC says that detainees depend on these visits "not only for psychological support but also for material assistance such as clothes and blankets." "This measure is depriving both detainees and their relatives of an essential life line," said Christoph Harnisch, head of the ICRC’s delegation in Israel and the Occupied Territories. Israel/Gaza: 23 years’ solitary for a detainee’s wife International Committee of the Red Cross - ICRC, ReliefWeb 5/26/2008 Thanai is one of hundreds of Palestinian wives whose husbands are held in Israeli prisons. For the past 23 years, she has had to raise their six children alone. In June 2007, the Israeli authorities suspended all family visits; she is desperate to see him once again. Thanai fears she will never see her husband again. They have lived apart for 23 years, after he was captured in Gaza by Israeli forces and later detained in Israel, leaving behind a pregnant wife and five children. The prison sentence he received will ensure that he remains behind bars for the rest of his life. Shortly after the capture of her husband, she gave birth to a little girl, the sixth child in the family. "Today she is 23 years old and has just had a baby herself. My husband has become both a father and a grandfather while in prison. But we don’t know if he ever will be able to see his grandchildren," she says. Israel arrested more than 2,700 Palestinians in 2008, report says Ma’an News Agency 5/26/2008 Gaza – Ma’an – Israel has arrested more than 2,700 Palestinians, most of them in the West Bank, so far this year, the Palestinian Ministry of Prisoners and Former Prisoners Affairs in the Hamas-run de facto government in the Gaza Strip said on Monday. In a report about detainees, the de facto government said that 255 children under age 18 have been arrested as well as 14 women. There were medical patients, senior citizens, national movement leaders and mayors among those arrested. The Hebron district of the southern West Bank, the report says, claimed the singe largest share of the arrests, with 700 people detained in 2008. Six hundred of the detainees came from the Gaza Strip. Director of the information department in the de facto Prisoners Ministry, Riyad Al-Ashqar says that 28 Israeli jails and detention centers are full of Palestinian prisoners. Israel releases deputy mayor of Qalqilia after two years in prison Ma’an News Agency 5/25/2008 Qalailia – Ma’an – Israeli authorities released deputy mayor of Qalqilia Hisham Al-Masri after two years in prison on Sunday. Al-Masri was seized in 2006 ago during a series of arrests of Hamas lawmakers and other officials. [end] Palestinian Prisoner Society visits minors in northern West Bank Palestine News Network 5/25/2008 Bethlehem / PNN -- Among the thousands of Palestinians in Israeli prisons there are hundreds of minors. The Palestinian Prisoner Society visited a few of them in Salem where there are 44 detainees. They are not charged with any crime, but are held under Administrative Detention. In order to be released they must pay exorbitant fines which help fund the Israeli prison system. Sameh Magid Saber is a 17 year old student from Nablus. Israeli forces arrested him on the 22nd of last month. The Salem Military Court will release him if he pays 5,000 shekels. A PPS lawyer also met with three boys from Salfit, nearby the northern West Bank’s Nablus. Seventeen year old Mahmoud Yousef Habaz can go home if he pays 10,000 shekels. Two other 17 year olds are facing similar situations there. The Palestinian Prisoner Society also met with 19 year old Mahmoud Khaddour from Jenin, 20 year old Hatem. . . Prisoner club: A contagious virus infects Ramla prisoners, hospital hides facts Palestinian Information Center 5/25/2008 NABLUS, (PIC)-- The Palestinian prisoner’s club revealed Sunday that two Palestinian prisoners in the Israeli Ramla prison are infected with a contagious virus and are being quarantined in the prison hospital which is trying in turn to conceal the facts about the gravity of this infection. In a statement received by the PIC, the lawyer of the prisoner’s club stated that the manager of the Ramla hospital told him that the two prisoners did not carry a contagious disease and their disease could be transmitted to others only if there were wounds in the body or the person had no immunity. The lawyer added that the manager inconsistently advised at the same time that visiting the two quarantined prisoners was not preferable and the visitors could talk to them from outside closed doors. The lawyer said that after he waited long time to be allowed to visit the prisoners in the quarantine. . . Palestinian prisoner Mahmoud Azzam: 10 years captive in Israeli prisons without trial Iqbal Tamimi, Palestine Think Tank 5/25/2008 Nafha Society for the Defence of Human Rights in Palestine sent an appeal to help the Palestinian prisoner "Mahmoud Saeed Azzam" from the town of Seelet Al Harthiya in Jenin district. This appeal came after a visit to Shatta prison where he is detained. The Palestinian prisoner "Azzam" has been arrested from his home by Israeli authorities, after being raided and searched, and then he was transferred to the Centre prison of Jalamah. During his imprisonment in the cells of Jalama, he was tied up to a small chair bounded by his hands and legs. His head was covered with a stinking smelly bag, and he was threatened that he will never see his home again. Then he was transferred to an isolation cells for 50 days, and deprived of his right of seeing a lawyer for 3 weeks. Despite the long period of detention at Jalama prison, Israeli authorities did not make any charge against him,. . . IOF troops kidnap Hamas leader in Jenin only one month after PA releases him Palestinian Information Center 5/22/2008 JENIN, (PIC)-- The IOF troops kidnapped at night Wednesday Sheikh Ibrahim Jabr, 45, one of the prominent Hamas leaders in the Jenin refugee camp, just one month after he was released from the PA intelligence jails in Ramallah. Palestinian local sources told the PIC reporter that a large number of IOF troops stormed the camp, and surrounded and ransacked the Sheikh’s house before kidnapping him. In another context, the Palestinian families of prisoners in occupied Jerusalem appealed to all human rights and legal institutions to urgently intervene to put an end to the arbitrary measures taken by the Israeli courts against their sons. The Jerusalemite families stated that the Israeli courts issue unfair high sentences against their sons at the pretext of committing "treason" against the security of Israel, adding that one of the arbitrary measures is that these courts impose hefty fines up to $1,500 and sometimes more than that on their sons. Israeli soldiers severely beat three men near Bethlehem Ma’an News Agency 5/18/2008 Nablus – Ma’an – Israeli soldiers pulled several Palestinians from their car and beat them severely near the West Bank city of Bethlehem on Sunday. Among those who were attacked on Sunday was Munqith Abu Rumi, the head of the information department at Asarna (Our Prisoners), a Jerusalem-based organization that advocates on behalf of Palestinian prisoners. Asrana said that the Israeli soldiers forced Abu Rumi and two companions to get out of the car and remove their clothes. They were then beaten in front of passersby. The statement added that Abu Rumi was injured in the head. The other two victims in the attack were Nassre Muhammad, from Al-’Izariyya, in East Jerusalem, and Ammar Al-Arameen, from Sa’ir, north of Hebron. New bill would sentence migrants and refugees to five years in jail Shahar Ilan, Ha’aretz 5/20/2008 The Knesset yesterday approved the first reading of a bill to prevent illegal entry into the country. The draft law, passed by a vote of 21-1, would impose a sentence of up to five years in prison on people who cross the border illegally, including refugees and labor migrants, while infiltrators from enemy states, such as Sudan, could be sentenced to as much as seven years behind bars. The bill also authorizes the state to hold illegal entrants, including refugees, for up to 18 days without bringing them before a judge for arraignment. In addition, it would legally authorize "hot returns" of infiltrators back to Egyptian territory, a practice that endangers their lives. MK Dov Khenin (Hadash), the sole dissenter in the plenum vote, called the bill draconian, while refugee rights organizations said it contained a number of "terrible" provisions. Ex-detainee: Palestinian women are living in tragic conditions in Israeli jails Palestinian Information Center 5/18/2008 GAZA, (PIC)-- The newly-released prisoner Samar Subeih revealed that the imprisoned women in Israeli jails are living in heartbreaking living, health and psychological conditions, adding that the Israeli jailers put the Palestinian women in small humid cells underground that are full of cockroaches and rats. In an interview with the Palestinian center for the defense of prisoners, Subeih explained that the cells inside the Ramle prison are dark and the sunbeams cannot find their way to prisoners, adding that the chambers which the imprisoned women along with children are locked in were actually stables for horses and are unfit for human living. The ex-detainee said that the women prisoners are subjected to the Israeli policy of isolation for months on end, pointing out that one of the most workable ways to force the Israeli prison administration to end prisoners’ isolation is hunger strike. Palestinian detainees hold a hunger strike in commemoration of the Nakba IMEMC Staff, International Middle East Media Center News 5/16/2008 Spokesperson of the Wa’ed Society for Detainees and Freed Detainees,Abdullah Abu Qandeel, stated on Thursday that the detainees in all Israeli prisons and detention facilities announced a hunger strike and refused to leave their room in commemoration of the sixtieth anniversary of the Nakba. He added that the detainees, in spite of the ongoing violations and harsh conditions they face, are determined to prove that their imprisonment and years behind bars will not affect their steadfastness. Qandeel added that the detainees "are the candle that lights the path of freedom", and that they managed always to prove that they will remain steadfast until liberation and independence. [end] Israeli authorities release East Jerusalem resident after 15 years imprisonment Ma’an News Agency 5/15/2008 Gaza - Ma’an - The Israeli authorities freed Hamas affiliate Bader Hassen Al-Herbawi, a Jerusalem resident, on Thursday, after 15 years of imprisonment. The Wa’ed prisoners’ society said that Al-Herbawi was seized by the Israeli army when he was a 22-years-old university student and living in the Al-Thuri neighborhood near the Al-Aqsa Mosque in East Jerusalem. On his release Al-Herbawi called for more efforts to be undertaken on the issue of freeing Palestinian prisoners especially those of East Jerusalem. [end] Palestinian prisoner held in occupation jails for 10 years without trial Palestinian Information Center 5/15/2008 JENIN, (PIC)-- Mahmoud Azzam has been held in Israeli occupation jails for more than ten years without trial or charge after Jordan refused to allow him into its territory, legal sources said on Thursday. The lawyer of the Nafha society defending Palestinian prisoners’ rights recalled that Azzam was arrested from his home on 29/10/1997 and was held in Jalama detention center for interrogation. He added that the detainee was tortured during the 50 days of interrogation rounds and was denied access to his lawyer for three weeks. Nothing was proven against him, which prompted the Israeli occupation authority (IOA) to order his deportation to Jordan, the lawyer said, adding that after two months in Jalama he was told of his deportation to Jordan which he refused in the beginning but was forced to accept on 28/12/1997 where the Jordanian authority refused to allow him into Jordan saying that he was Palestinian and not Jordanian. Representatives of Palestinian factions to meet again in Cairo over ceasefire Rami Almeghari, International Middle East Media Center News 5/14/2008 The ruling Hamas party in Gaza said on Wednesday it received an official invitation from Cairo for a new round of ceasefire talks after Israel responded yesterday to Egypt-mediated Hamas ceasefire offer. Hamas’s spokesman in Gaza, Fawzi Barhoum, told IMEMC that his party’s position regarding potential ceasefire or ’Tahdiya’ with Israel is clear; Hamas considers the Shalit case as a separate issue and should be sorted out within a prisoners swap deal. " as usual, Israel this time repudiates from any commitments towards a genuine ceasefire and end of its hostilities and siege against the Gaza Strip. However, we have been in relentless contacts with the Egyptian brothers for reaching a ceasefire". A Hamas delegation is set to head for Cairo next week for the new talks as other factions will join the meetings as well. Protestors deplore PA security for kidnapping wives of Palestinian prisoners Palestinian Information Center 5/13/2008 JABALIYA, (PIC)-- During a massive angry march organized Monday evening in the Jabaliya refugee camp by the Hamas Movement in protest at the kidnapping of Palestinian prisoners’ wives by the PA security apparatuses, the protesters strongly denounced this behavior and considered it a cowardly act and departure from the ethics and traditions of the Palestinian people. In a speech on behalf of the protesters, Mohamed Askar called on the Palestinians people in the West Bank to move to lift the injustice inflicted on the Palestinian women in the PA jails and to release them. In another context, Nafid Azzam, a prominent Islamic Jihad leader, expressed his dismay at the political arrests and pursuits carried out by the PA security apparatuses against the Movement’s carders in the West Bank. In a press release to the Quds Press, he highlighted that the resistance weapon is scared and. . . Release 11.000 Palestinians in Israeli jails!!! Please sign this petition Iqbal Tamimi, Palestine Think Tank 2/29/2008 please sign and support these political prisoners! Disgrace for Democracy, Israel is detaining right now 40% of the Palestinian MPs who represent the people - Sponsored by: Creator of Palestinian Mothers Network - Disgrace for Democracy: 51 Palestinian MPs and Ministers are Detained in Israeli prisons along with 11. 870 Palestinian citizens - A serious crime and new political slap in the face for democracy is committed by the Zionist system against representatives of the Palestinian people by the abduction of the Palestinian ministers and MPs. The latest of which was the arrest of MP Ahmed al-Haj from the city of Nablus on 16/12/2007. Al-Haj is over Seventy-years old. Earlier on the 10th MP Dr. Maryiam Saleh Minister for Women in the Palestinian government has been abducted too. Dr Mariyam is a member in the Legislative Council from Ramallah governorate. Freed Palestinian prisoner begins hunger strike for female inmates Ma’an News Agency 5/12/2008 Jerusalem - Ma’an - Forty-five-year-old Omar Abdel-Hamid Al-Aramin, a freed Palestinian prisoner, has began a hunger strike to protest Israel’s policy of isolation, deprivation and detention of Palestinian women and girls in the Israeli prisons. Al-Aramin called on international organizations to work towards the relese of young female prisoners. The director of the Asarna media office, Munketh Abu Rumi, said that Al-Aramin was arrested several times. He said Israeli forces had recently demolished his house in At-Tur neighborhood of Jerusalem, and had detained his sons for 40 days. Abu Rumi applauded the protest. [end] Hamas denounces PA security for kidnapping wives of Palestinian prisoners Palestinian Information Center 5/11/2008 NABLUS, (PIC)-- The Hamas Movement strongly denounced the PA security apparatuses in the West Banks for kidnapping at night Saturday two wives of Palestinian prisoners from their homes in Nablus, considering it a despicable behavior outside the traditions of the Palestinian people. In a statement, Hamas stated Sunday that the PA security apparatuses had stormed the houses of two prisoners in Israeli jails, namely, Riyadh Al-Nadi and Ahmed Abu Al-Izz in the Ein refugee camp in Nablus and took their wives by force in front of their children and the camp refugees to their headquarters as the IOF troops had done before with the fathers Nadi and Izz. The Movement also considered this act a new crime and dangerous behavior demonstrating further moral decline and lack of ethics of these security apparatuses which are under the command of PA chief Mahmoud Abbas and his unconstitutional government. Palestinian Journalists Bloc calls on PA to release detained journalists Ma’an News Agency 5/10/2008 Gaza - Ma’an – The Palestinian Journalists Bloc called on the Palestinian Authority (PA) on Saturday to release a number of journalists it says were detained by the Palestinian security forces in the West Bank. The group said that the PA’s forces arrested two journalists last night, Mohammad A’thabah, and Nimir Al-Hindi from the West Bank town of Qalqilia. The Journalists Bloc also decried the ongoing imprisonment of journalist Mus’ab Qatluni in the PA’s Jneid prison near the city of Nablus. Palestinian woman held for 45 days for supposed 'Security Investigations'¯ International Solidarity Movement 5/9/2008 Nablus Region - On the 7th of May 2008 at 3. 30pm Hanadi Kanaan, a young woman from Nablus, was released from Telmond women’s prison after being held for 45 days for supposed security investigations. Hanadi Kanaan, an engineering student within 1 month of graduating, communicated how she did not know why she was arrested and tells of the inhumane conditions she was kept in. She explained that when she was arrested she was held in a room just 2m by 2m, that she was given food that made her sick and how she was provided with no breaks during her 45 day imprisonment. She also described how she was continuously interrogated for 20 hours while she was in prison. The reason for Hanadi’s imprisonment for these 45 days were labeled as ’security investigations’ and Hanadi went onto to explain that the prison is full of women in the exact same position as she was. Mandela Institute Lawyer visits several detainees in Ayalon Israeli prison Saed Bannoura & Agencies, International Middle East Media Center News 5/9/2008 Lawyer Bothaina Doqmaq of the Mandela Institute which defends Palestinian detainees imprisoned by Israel, managed to visit on Thursday several detainees imprison in Ayalon Israeli prison who told her about the harsh treatment they face , in addition to medical negligence and bad food. Doqmaq stated that there are 100 detainees in section 18 of the prison, including 11 from Jerusalem and five from the Gaza Strip. Detainee Kamal Abu Shanab, representative of the detainees in section 18 stated that the detainees are facing several issues including medical negligence and bad food. He added that they cannot receive canned food unless needed and that if they receive any canned food they should open it immediately in front of the prison administration in order to return the cans to them. Several representatives of the detainees met with the prison warden and agreed that the detainees would return the empty cans three hours after receiving them. 146 Patients killed by Israeli siege of Gaza, Palestinian officials say Ma’an News Agency 5/7/2008 Gaza – Ma’an – A 49-year-old Palestinian woman died of a preventable kidney failure on Tuesday because she could not leave the Gaza Strip for medical treatment, sources in Gaza said. Samira Sabe, from Rafah, was the 146th person to die after being denied the permits required to leave the Gaza Strip, said Rami Abdo, the spokesperson of the Popular Committee Against Siege in Gaza. Israel sealed the Gaza Strip after Hamas took full control of the territory last June. Since then only a tiny number of Palestinians have been allowed to leave. Israel has also limited shipments of vital supplies to the strip, including medicine and medical equipment. Abdo added that Samira’s son Mahmoud Sabe has been in an Israeli prison for six years, serving a 15-year sentence. For two years Israel had also denied her the necessary permits to visit her son in prison. Two detainees in need of direct medical attention, surgeries IMEMC News, International Middle East Media Center News 5/7/2008 Um Ismail, the wife of detainee Jom’a Ismail Mousa, voiced an urgent appeal to human rights and legal groups to ensure that her husband is medically examined due to a sharp deterioration in his health condition. Another detainee, Mahmoud Da’ajna, needs an urgent open-heart surgery. Um Ismail said that he husband is imprisoned at Al Ramla Prison Hospital, which lacks the basic medical equipment, after his health condition had sharply deteriorated. She added that Mousa suffered recently from a skin condition which makes him itchy the whole time, in addition to his diabetic situation, high blood pressure, Asthma, and a heart condition. She said that when she visited her 69 year old husband at Al Ramla Prison Hospital she found out that the current condition of her husband had worsened when a physician injected him incorrectly in his arm. Palestinian Author confined under administrative detention Saed Bannoura, International Middle East Media Center News 5/6/2008 The Ofer Israeli military sentenced a Palestinian writer from Al Yamoun village, near the northern West Bank city of Jenin, to six months under administrative detention without any charges. The Ahrar Center for Detainees’ Studiesreported that the prison administration responded to a request by the prosecution to keep author Ibrahim Abu Al Haija under administrative detention as "he resembles danger to the Israeli public", according to the prosecution. The judge then decided to sentence Abu Al Haija to six months under administrative detention orders. The lawyer of Abu Al Haija demanded the court to reveal the "secret file" against his client and stated that the detainee and his lawyer have the right to know on what basis the detainees is being imprisoned. Israel inherited the administrative detention from the British Mandate. No prison visits for Palestinians until further notice Palestine News Network 5/6/2008 Jenin / Ali Samoudi - An official at the International Red Cross reported Tuesday that the Israeli authorities decided to suspend all visits to Palestinians in Israeli prisons and detention centers. This is includes those who have been sentenced with ’secret evidence’ in military courts, as well as the hundreds being held without charge or trial under ’Administrative Detention’ and children. The Israeli authorities and the prison administration informed the Red Cross that the suspension of all visits begins today and is in effect until further notice. [end] Palestinian female detainee sentenced to six years imprisonment IMEMC News, International Middle East Media Center News 5/6/2008 The Israeli Central Court in Jerusalem sentenced on Tuesday detainee Nada Idrees, from Al Esawiyya town near Jerusalem, to six years imprisonment. Lawyer of the Palestinian Prisoner Society reported that Idrees was kidnapped by the army more than two years ago. The Israeli prosecution said that Idrees participated in resistance activities against the occupation. [end] Three Palestinians released from administrative detention Ma’an News Agency 5/6/2008 Nablus - Ma’an – Israeli authorities released three Palestinian prisoners who had been held in without being charged with any crime on Monday, the Nafha society for the defense of prisoners’ rights said. The three newly-released detainees were Jenin resident Lu’ai Muhammad A’rqawi, held since 5 March, Nablus resident , Tayel As’ad Ibrahim, held since 4 January, and Mujahid Saleh Noufel, detained since January 2007. The Nafha society said that Israel as remanded 50 Palestinians to administrative detention since the beginning of the month. Under administrative detention, prisoners can be held without charge or trial virtually indefinitely. There are currently more than 11,000 Palestinians in Israeli jails and prisons. 93 Palestinians, including 9 children siezed by Israeli forces in Hebron district in April Ma’an News Agency 5/6/2008 Hebron - Ma’an - A report issued by the Hebron branch of the prisoners’ society on Tuesday revealed that 93 Palestinians were arrested, including nine children, in the West Bank district of Hebron during the month of April. The report said that "the number of the arrestees from the Hebron district during April amounted to more than 93 civilians from the village of Bani Na’eem, Al-Fawar refugee camp, the city of Hebron, Beit Ummar, Dura, Al-A’rub, including 24 school children and university students. The Israeli soldiers have been targeting the students. Since the beginning of 2008, 110 schoolchildren and university students have been seized." The report said that by arresting children the Israeli authorities had violated international human rights law. The society also stated that "these arrests were accompanied by intentionally ransacking the contents of homes. ICRC activities in Israel and the occupied and autonomous territories: Mar 2008 International Committee of the Red Cross - ICRC, ReliefWeb 3/31/2008 In Israel and the occupied and autonomous territories, the ICRC works towards ensuring the application of International Humanitarian Law (IHL), especially the Fourth Geneva Convention, which protects civilians during armed conflict and occupation. The ICRC continues to follow up closely on the humanitarian consequences of the recent military operations in Gaza, intervening for the respect of civilians and the medical mission during combat operations. It continues to monitor the health system, with a particular focus on Gaza. In Israel, the Occupied and Autonomous Territories, the ICRC regularly visits detainees falling under its mandate in order to monitor the conditions of their detention and their treatment. Its observations and recommendations are submitted confidentially to the authorities in charge. Detainees visitations suspended until further notice IMEMC News, International Middle East Media Center News 5/5/2008 An official at the International Red Cross stated on Monday that all visitations for Palestinian detainees imprisoned by Israel were suspended until further notice. The official added that the Israeli Authorities and the Israeli Prison Administration informed the Red Cross of this decision which will be effective on Tuesday until further notice. [end] IOA deprives Palestinian prisoner from seeing her relatives for 3 months Palestinian Information Center 5/4/2008 NABLUS, (PIC)-- The Israeli prison authority in Hasharon jail has imposed a fine of almost 100 dollars on prisoner Amal Fayez Juma and deprived her of family visits for three months. Juma, 25, is serving an 11-year-term and was fined for "trivial, incorrect reasons", her lawyer of the Nafha society said. He said that Juma’s family had repeatedly asked a number of legal institutions to pressure the Israeli prisons authority to allow treatment of their relative because of her health condition that is constantly worsening. Juma, who is from Asker refugee camp in Nablus, suffered from rheumatism before her arrest on 5/4/2004 and her condition deteriorated because no medical treatment was accorded to her. She is also suffering at present from kidney inflammation and hair loss and her teeth are dropping. The Ahrar Center for Detainees’ Studies demands the release of six detained reporters Saed Bannoura & Agencies, International Middle East Media Center News 5/3/2008 On the World Press Freedom Day, May 3, the Ahrar Center for Detainees’ Studies demanded Reporters Without Borders Organization and the International Journalists Union to defend six Palestinian reporters imprisoned by Israel. The Center added that most of the detained reported are under administrative detention orders without charges or trial. Fuad Al Khuffash, head of the center, said that on this day "we should all remember those reporters who are capturing the suffering of the Palestinian people and the truth; they all ended in prison for that". Al Khuffash stated that six reporters are still imprisoned by Israel. He identified the six detained reporters as Sami Al Assy from Nablus, Waleed Khalid from Salfit (the Editor-in-chief of Palestine Newspaper), Tareq Abu Zeid, Mohammad Al Halaiqa, Jihad Daoud, and Nizar Ramadan (he is also a legislator). The Israeli army attacks a local NGO in Jenin and confiscates property Ghassan Bannoura, International Middle East Media Center News 5/1/2008 The Israeli army attacked on Thursday morning Anssar Al Sagien, a local NGO located in the northern West Bank city of Jenin. Local sources reported that Israeli troops invaded the city of Jenin and surrounded the building were the society offices are located. Soldiers then searched the offices and confiscated documents and computers that belong to the organization. Anssar Al Sajeen is a local Palestinian NGO that deals with the Political Palestinian Prisoners detained by the Israeli army, by providing them with training courses, education, and aid work. [end] Independent committee confirms Hamas’s charges on Barghouthi’s death Palestinian Information Center 4/30/2008 RAMALLAH, (PIC)-- A neutral investigation carried out by the Independent Palestinian Bureau for Citizen’s Rights to vet reasons behind the death of Majd Al-Barghouthi asserted that he was tortured to death at the hands of the PA intelligence in Ramallah city. Al-Barghouthi was an Imam of a local mosque before he was arrested by the PA intelligence and confined in the PA prisons. The man was also a well-known reformist, and known to be a cadre of Hamas Movement in the city. According to the report of the bureau, Al-Barghouthi was severely tortured and wasn’t accorded proper judicial procedures, including denying him an attorney to defend him, that, according to advocates, gravely violates the PA basic law. Signs of beating and torture were very clear on Barghouthi’s body although the PA intelligence department tried to hide the truth about Barghouthi’s real cause of death. Two detainees to file a complaint of abuse to the Israeli High Court of Justice Saed Bannoura, International Middle East Media Center News 5/2/2008 Monqith Abu Roomy, director of the Media Office at the Asrana (Our detainees) Center, stated that he was contacted by two detainees who informed him of torture and abuse during interrogation at the Al Maskobiyya Israeli detention center in Jerusalem. The two detainees, Hasan Omar Al Arameen, and Dirgham Omar Al Arameen, stated that interrogators at the interrogation facility were very harsh in dealing with them, tortured them, practiced psychological pressures on them by threatening to harm them in different ways, and continuously insulted them. They added thatthe Israeli interrogators also had with them Arab interrogators, apparently from Jerusalem, who also threatened to harm them and violated their rights. The two detainees said that they have the names of the Arab interrogators but opted not to reveal their names as they intend to file a complaint to the Israeli High Court. . . Murdered Palestinian intelligence officer buried Ma’an News Agency 5/1/2008 Ramallah – Ma’an – The family of a Fatah-affiliated Palestinian intelligence officer who was abducted and killed in Gaza City two weeks ago, agreed finally to bury his body after being requested to do so by the Fatah leadership. 35-five-year-old Sami Khattab, from Deir Al-Balah, was found dead near the abandoned Israeli settlement of Netzarim on April 15. Medics at Ash-Shifa Hospital in Gaza City said the body showed signs of torture. His family had refused to bury the body until the details of his murder and the perpetrators were made public. Fatah spokesperson in the Palestinian Legislative Council (PLC) Azzam Al-Ahmad on Thursday appealed to the Khattab family to go ahead with the funeral, saying "The details of the murder are evident, especially that signs of torture were detected on the body." Khattab’s family had previously accused the Palestinian internal security services of murdering him.  Articles
The Ministry of Prisoners Iqbal Tamimi, Palestine Think Tank 5/30/2008 In the UK, where I am living, there is a Ministry of Justice, but in Palestine, where my home country is, there is a Ministry of Prisoners. Does this make any sense? Well, it seems that it does, after all, states create Ministries to solve the problems affecting a large sector of their citizens. It is common sense to have a Ministry of Education because almost half of the country will be students at different levels, and many people work in the education system. This sector faces many obstacles that need to be resolved, and that’s why there is a ministry of Education in every country. But why is Palestine is the only country in the universe that has a Ministry of Prisoners? When you read about a Ministry of Justice you will feel hope, it tells you that there is justice, and there are laws, and being requested to report there for any reason does not make you a criminal, it is just a system that investigates to find out the truth, there is even no indication of punishment when you read its name. Prescription for disaster Lily Galili, Ha’aretz 5/30/2008 There is nothing joyful about Peace Now’s 30th anniversary; the fact that it exists is proof that peace continues to evade us. Similarly, there is little reason to celebrate the 20th anniversary of Physicians for Human Rights (PHR): Its success should be measured, if anything, by a dwindling dependence on it. Instead of being marginalized by the advent of other successful health providers, PHR has only gained momentum, spreading to new destinations and communities - and not only those beyond the Green Line. The organization has never seemed so necessary. A pleasant hubbub surrounded the human-rights group this week as it moved to new offices in the heart of Jaffa. But the temporary signs put up in various rooms there were chilling: "Occupied Territories," "Israeli Residents Department," "Prisoners Department," "Migrant and Undocumented Peoples Department". We fought apartheid; we see no reason to celebrate it in Israel now! 17 May 2008, Palestine Monitor 5/17/2008 We, South Africans who faced the might of unjust and brutal apartheid machinery in South Africa and fought against it with all our strength, with the objective to live in a just, democratic society, refuse today to celebrate the existence of an Apartheid state in the Middle East. While Israel and its apologists around the world will, with pomp and ceremony, loudly proclaim the 60th anniversary of the establishment of the state of Israel this month, we who have lived with and struggled against oppression and colonialism will, instead, remember 6 decades of catastrophe for the Palestinian people. 60 years ago, 750,000 Palestinians were brutally expelled from their homeland, suffering persecution, massacres, and torture. They and their descendants remain refugees. This is no reason to celebrate. When we think of the Sharpeville massacre of 1960, we also remember the Deir Yassin massacre of 1948. When we think of South Africa’s Bantustan policy, we remember the bantustanisation of Palestine by the Israelis. After 6 years in Israeli prison, major armed resistance figure talks about the failures and future Najib Farrag, Palestine News Network 5/19/2008 Bethlehem -- Among the most prominent and important leaders of the Al Aqsa Brigades, Nasser Awais, has been in Israeli prison since 2002. He was sentenced to 14 lifetimes and is behind wire in the central Israeli prison of Hadarim. He told PNN that despite internal differences, the Al Aqsa Brigades remain the armed resistance wing of Fateh and was founded by the decision of the cadres along with the support of the leaders of the movement. They form its overall policy and have drawn criticism for what he referred to as "negligence" for their treatment of "its sons" and the resistance fighters in particular. PNN asked, "Over the past six years of your imprisonment how do you assess the condition of Palestinian political prisoners in Israeli jails?" Awais replied, "Since 2002, the prison authorities began to escalate their actions to undermine the achievements and gains of the prisoner movement, which coincided with the continuing aggression against our people, and attempts to destroy the Intifada and resistance. The occupation authorities and prisons have used a series of actions, first and foremost to separate sections within the same prison, with the aim of weakening the unity of the prisoner movement, and intensified this separation between the sections, especially between Fateh and Hamas prisoners, after the coup by Hamas in Gaza. They used the policy of solitary confinement on a large scale, with lengthy time periods. Some are in solitary for seven years.... Crossing the Line interviews author Phyllis Bennis Podcast, Electronic Intifada 5/15/2008 This week on Crossing The Line: Former US President Jimmy Carter met with the political head of Hamas in Syria while insisting that Hamas must be included in any future Israeli-Palestinian peace negotiations. The visit has drawn criticism from both the US and Israel which until now have refused to take part in any official negotiations with the Hamas government. What does Carter’s meeting with Hamas mean? Is it as "historic" as some are calling it? Host Naji Ali speaks with author on Middle East issues, Phyllis Bennis about Carter’s controversial visit to the Middle East. Next, the UN agency for Palestine refugees, UNRWA, has suspended food shipments into the Gaza Strip as a result of fuel shortages brought on by the ongoing Israeli siege of Gaza since June 2007. Ali speaks with UNRWA spokesperson in Gaza, Adn Abu-Hasna about the impact of the fuel shortages and aid to the people in Gaza. Last in the program, incarcerated Palestinian political prisoner Dr. Sami Al-Arian ends his 57-day hunger strike that he began to protest continued harrassment and abuse of power by the US Justice Department. Ali speaks with Dr. Al-Arian’s daughter, Laila, about his health and his family’s struggle to be reunited with their father. We remain Mustafa Barghouti, Al-Ahram Weekly 5/15/2008 Nothing can annul the legitimacy of the Palestinian struggle for justice and self-determination. Sixty years on what Palestinians refer to as the Nakba -- the catastrophe -- but what might be more accurately termed the inauguration of the ethnic cleansing of Palestine, one is struck by a remarkable irony. Both Palestinians and Israelis appear engaged in a neck-and-neck contest to enter the greatest number of precedents in the Guinness Book of Records. Palestinians in Bethlehem created the largest key in the world, to symbolise the right to return, and the largest flag in the world, to symbolise the Palestinians’ thus far denied right to self-determination. And they wrote the longest protest letter ever, on behalf of thousands of Palestinian political detainees and in defence of the cause of freedom. The Israelis, meanwhile, cooked the largest ever dish of hummus, symbolising their resolve to appropriate Palestinian culture after having seized most of Palestinian land and appropriated Palestinian political rights. Shame, Sorrow and Revolt Tariq Ramadan, Middle East Online 5/13/2008 At the Turin Book Fair, Israel and freedom of expression are the victims. The Palestinians have ceased to exist, their oppression, their suffering erased. Gaza is being stifled, blockaded, transformed into an open-air prison, a ghetto; starvation stalks the land. What do we hear? Nothing. The Turin Book Fair opened, against a background of bitter dispute. Israel is this year’s guest of honor. We are told: “Culture and politics must not be mixed.” “To boycott the Fair is to deny Israel’s existence, to seek its destruction and disappearance.” We’ve heard it all before. In response to the boycott appeal, the President of Italy opened the Fair in person on Thursday, May 8. It was not a political but a cultural gesture, we are told. Of course! Meanwhile, the accusations fly, hot and heavy. Israel’s ambassador to Italy has saluted the President’s action as a refusal to knuckle under to the diktat of those who, in boycotting the Fair, “seek to deprive Israel of its legitimacy.” In posing as victim, the ambassador may well be the only one to grasp the true political implications of the President’s decision. Dark irony, indeed. 350 Palestinian children are suffering inside Israeli prisons Iqbal Tamimi, Palestine Think Tank 5/12/2008 The Palestinian Prisoners’ Support and Human Rights Centre, ADDAMEER, declared that the Israeli Zionist forces have arrested almost 6200 Palestinians since the last Intifada started in September of 2000. 350 of those languishing in prison are children who, against international conventions, are still imprisoned in Israeli jails and detention centers. Those youngsters undergo severe punishment and mental stress, living an extremely horrifying health and mental situation. Being subjected to torture, interrogation, beatings, humiliation, insults, degradation, and regular terrorizing, "such conditions will affect their mental well being forever, and will accompany them through their adult life,"¯ the report said. The report published by the Palestinian centre on Friday 9 May 2008 revealed that hundreds of children were arrested while they were quite young, and detained in prisons. -- See also: ADDAMEER From darkness into light Daphna Golan, Ha’aretz 5/7/2008 Again we celebrated the holiday of freedom while Gilad Shalit remained in captivity. We spoke of going from darkness into a great light, but left the talks about releasing the abducted soldiers in the dark. We have become accustomed to let our future depend on Shin Bet people who negotiate covertly, and we have stopped asking what we could do to release the abducted soldiers. Why not talk with all our neighbors, Hamas, Fatah and Hezbollah, the presidents of Syria and Egypt and the Arab states, about releasing the abducted soldiers, about stopping the Qassam fire, about reconciliation? We boast of Israel’s democracy and freedom of information, but let the Shin Bet security service direct our reality, although they act in darkness. We have no idea what our future map is, but we have been asked for years not to ask too many questions. Since 1967, Israel has imprisoned more than 700,000 Palestinians, about one-fifth of the Palestinian population. According to the last United Nations report, Israel is holding behind bars more than 11,000 Palestinian prisoners, including 118 women and 376 children, who are incarcerated - in violation of international law - outside the occupied territories. The Shin Bet decides which prisoners are to receive visits and which family members will be barred from entering Israel. 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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