Vermonters for a Just Peace in Palestine/Israel
Prisoners Archive - June 2008
Treatment of Prisoners and Detainees by Israel and Others
Prisoners Archive - June 2008
Treatment of Prisoners and Detainees by Israel and Others
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De facto prisoners’ affairs minister condemns continuing detention of Palestinian lawmakers Ma’an News Agency 6/29/2008 Gaza – Ma’an – Dr Ahmad Shweidih, Minister of Prisoners’ Affairs in the de facto Gaza government, said on Sunday that Israel’s ongoing detention of Palestinian lawmakers for over two years proves that the Israeli occupation disrespects all international norms and treaties. Speaking on the second anniversary of the apprehension of many Palestinian lawmakers after Palestinian factions kidnapped Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit in June 2006, Shweidih said: "Palestinian lawmakers are being detained as political hostages in order to blackmail the Palestinian people. There is no legal motive for detaining them, and so Israel detains them under so-called administrative detention without charge or trial. " The minister also explained that the Israeli military courts which pass judgment on Palestinian lawmakers lack legitimacy, and are merely a means to humiliate and punish lawmakers. Elderly Palestinian prisoner in Israeli jails denied medical treatment Ma’an News Agency 6/29/2008 Nablus – Ma’an – Palestinian popular committees issued a statement on Sunday appealing to humanitarian organizations to save Palestinian prisoner Shadi Shalaldah who urgently needs medical treatment. According to the statement, 60-year-old Shalaldah has served 18 years of back-to-back life sentences. He has served the past 14 years in Ramla prison. Shalaldah suffers from several chronic diseases, mainly, diabetes, high blood pressure and asthma. He is on a respirator and takes 26 pills every day in order to maintain control of his health. If Shalaldah is to live much longer, according to the statement, he urgently needs to be hospitalized. However, Ramala prison services refuse to transfer him to hospital. Secretary General of the Palestinian popular committees, Azmi Shuyoukhi appealed to all international humanitarian organizations and international Red Cross to intervene. . . Israeli Soldiers Assault, Abuse and Torture Palestinian Journalist Palestine Media Center 6/29/2008 Award Winning Omer Arrives in Gaza Unable to Speak - The security officials pf the Israeli Occupation Forces (IOF) manning the Allenby border crossing between Jordan and the West Bank assaulted, abused and strip-searched at gunpoint Palestinian journalist and photographer Mohammed Omer, the Gaza correspondent of IPS, joint winner of the 2008 Martha Gellhorn Prize for Journalism and was honored by New American Media as the “Best Youth Voice” for 2006. “Omer returned to his native Gaza Strip on Thursday… literally unconscious and unable to speak after being beaten and tortured by Israeli troops. He is still unable to speak so I was not able to communicate with him,” Steve Amsel of Desert Peace said on Saturday. Omer was on a speaking tour of the United States. PHCR suspects torture of 72-year-old man at Deir al Balah prison Ma’an News Agency 6/29/2008 Bethlehem – Ma’an – A preliminary investigation by the Palestinian Center for Human Rights (PHCR) suggests that the death of Taleb Mohammed Abu Sitta, 72, in the Deir al Balah police station in the central Gaza Strip on Friday was the result of torture. PCHR is calling for a through investigation into the death of the man, and full disclosure of the results. Acording to Abu Sitta’s family, Thursday afternoon police officers entered the man’s home in al-Zawaida village in the central Gaza Strip. Officers had with them Abu Sitta’s son, 26-year-old Mustafa, who had been arrested the day before. Officers searched the house, apparently for drugs. They then arrested Abu Sitta and took him to Deir al-Balah police station. On Friday morning, Abu Sitta’s body was taken by ambulance to the al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital in Deir al-Balah, where he died. Fatah accuses Hamas of detaining 49 of its ’leaders’ in Gaza Ma’an News Agency 6/29/2008 Ramallah – Ma’an – The Fatah movement released the names of 49 of its members on Saturday that it says are imprisoned by the Hamas-led de facto government in the Gaza Strip. Fatah claims that Hamas authorities have forbidden the detainees families and the representatives of humanitarian organizations from visiting Fatah activists in prison. The movement also alleged that Hamas has denied the arrestees adequate medical treatment. The Fatah-dominated Palestinian Authority in the West Bank has also arrested and imprisoned members of Hamas. Hamas has not yet responded to Fatah’s latest charge. Fatah statement named the arrestees as follows:Samir Al-Malfouh, Wael Al-Athamnah, Khadir Shadi, Raed Al-Muqawisi, Ghannam Ahmad, Rafeeq Abu Harbeed, Muhammad Abu Harbeed, Muhammad Shubat, Bilal Al-Athamnah, Diyab Muhammad, Khadir Al-Muqayyad, Muhanna Nasser, Hussein Dhahir,. . . What does it mean? An outline of the prisoner exchange deal Haaretz Service, Ha’aretz 6/30/2008 Following the cabinet’s approval of aprisoner exchange deal with the Lebanon-based guerilla group Hezbollah on Sunday, the government issued an official statement outlining the principles of the agreement:"The government approves the agreement for the release of the soldiers held hostage in Lebanon in accordance with the following:1. The kidnapped soldiers, Eldad Regev and Ehud Goldwasser, will be returned to Israel. A report regarding the disappearance of Israel Air Force navigator Ron Arad will be handed to Israel, in accordance with government decision number 978, taken on November 9, 2003, and the remains of Israeli soldiers killed in the Second Lebanon War that have not yet been handed over will be returned. In return for the kidnapped soldiers, Israel will release prisoners and detainees currently held in. . . Palestinian Journalist beaten to unconsciousness Steve Amsel, Palestine Think Tank 6/28/2008 My dear friend and brotherMohammed Omer returned to his native Gaza Strip on Thursday"¦ literallyunconscious and unable to speak after being beaten and tortured by Israelitroops. He is still unable to speak so I was not able to communicate with him, Iwill be posting updates on his condition in future posts. Mohammed was in Britain, where he was the recipient of a prize for journalism. You can readabout it in a post I wrote earlier in the week. [link below]Mohammed’s ordeal is written about in an Action Alert issued by the Washington Report on Middle East Affairs, a journalin which he appears regularly. Gaza Correspondent Mohammed Omer Home Again in Rafah At a June 16 ceremony in London, Mohammed Omer, author of the regular Washington Report feature “Gaza on the Ground,” received the 2008 Martha Gellhorn Prize for Journalism. . . -- See also: Steve Amsel's previous post and Washington Report on Middle East Affairs Appeal for releasing elderly prisoner bedridden in prison hospital for 14 years Palestinian Information Center 6/28/2008 JENIN, (PIC)-- Prisoner Shadi Shallaldah in the Israeli Ofer prison appealed to human rights organizations to urgently intervene to demand the release of an elderly prisoner bedridden in the Ramla prison hospital for 14 years suffering from deteriorating health condition and living on a respirator. Shallaldah said that prisoner Hussein Ali, 60, who is serving two life sentences, suffers from many diseases notably diabetes, asthma and hypertension and deals with 26 medicine tablets. Meanwhile, the wife of prisoner Adnan Hamarsha, the oldest serving administrative prisoner, also appealed to human rights organizations and the international community to necessarily intervene to put an end to the suffering of her husband who has been administratively detained in the Negev prison for five consecutive years without any charge. Palestinian student released after six and a half years in Israeli prisons Ma’an News Agency 6/28/2008 Nablus/Salfit – Ma’an – Israel released a Palestinian student after six and a half years in prison on Saturday. Rawdi Ma’zouz Yassin, a student at Al-Quds Open University was seized by Israeli special forces from his home in the northern West Bank town of Salfit in 2002. He has been imprisoned by Israel since then. Israel currently holds more than 11,000 Palestinian prisoners, and arrests more during daily raids, mainly in the West Bank. Palestinians view these detainees as political prisoners. [end] Israeli military continues to torture Palestinian children Defence for Children International/Palestine Section - DCI/PS, ReliefWeb 6/25/2008 [RAMALLAH, 26 June 2008] - On the United Nations International Day in Support of Victims of Torture, DCI/PS releases further evidence that Israeli military forces in the occupied Palestinian territories (oPt) continue to abuse, threaten and torture Palestinian children. Today, DCI/PS is releasing two case studies to draw attention to the continuing plight of Palestinian children, in particular, the 700 Palestinian children who are arrested, interrogated and often abused by the Israeli military and police each year. In one case, Israeli interrogators beat 15-year-old Ibrahim S. over the course of several hours. Ibrahim was then threatened with sexual assault for the purpose of extracting his confession. The accusation, which Ibrahim kept denying, was that he had thrown stones at the Israeli army when it invaded his village the day before. Wa’ed Society: '70 detainees died due Israel’s systematic policy of torture'ť Saed Bannoura & Agencies, International Middle East Media Center News 6/27/2008 The Wa’ed Society for Detainees reported on Thursday that 70 Palestinian Detainees died due to torture in Israeli prisons and interrogation facilities since 1967. The statement of the society came as the world in marking the International Day Against Torture. The society added that Israel legalizes torture against the detainees although it is one of the signatories of the 1986 UN document against torture. The agreement came into effect on June 26 1987 and in 1991 the Israeli government officially approved it. Yet, Israel continued torturing and abusing the detainees which led to the death of 70 detainees in addition to more than 120 who died of medical negligence. The society stated that this agreement means that legal measures should be taken against any county that practices torture. "Torture aims at terrifying, framing, harming and hurting the detainees physically and psychologically. . . Wa’ed Society: Israeli authorities have tortured 70 Palestinian detainees to death since 1967 Ma’an News Agency 6/26/2008 Gaza - Ma’an - In a statement issued on Thursday to mark the International Day in Support of Victims of Torture, the Wa’ed Society for Prisoners and Ex-Detainees confirmed that seventy Palestinian detainees have died as a result of torture in Israeli jails since 1967. The society noted that Israel represents a unique case since the Israeli Knesset has passed laws effectively legalising torture, which no other country has done. This legislation was passed in spite of the fact that Israel signed the UN Convention Against Torture in 1986 and ratified it in 1991. This Convention, which entered into force on 26 June 1987, obliges all signatories to "take active legislative, administrative or juridical measures to prevent acts of torture. " "The aim of torture is to confuse and intimidate prisoners, as well as to criminalise them and pressure them for information," noted the society, "and the torture begins from the moment of detention. Prisoner ministry: Israel the only country sanctioning torture under int’l cover Palestinian Information Center 6/26/2008 GAZA, (PIC)-- The ministry of prisoner affairs stated Thursday that Israel is the only country in the world that practices torture under international political and legal cover, pointing out that there are more than 11,700 Palestinians in Israeli jails living in inhuman conditions. In a report issued by the ministry on the occasion of the world day against torture which marks 26 of June, Dr. Ahmed Shweideh said that the IOA has escalated its torture policy against prisoners, where from the first moment of arrest, the IOF troops use tight plastic stripes to shackle their victims and blindfold them before starting to beat them brutally with batons and rifle butts and to trample them underfoot. Dr. Shweideh underscored that the Israeli general committee against torture revealed that there are 90 cases of torture against Palestinian prisoners including children who are supposed to be protected by international law. Wife of the oldest administrative detainee calls for his release Saed Bannoura, International Middle East Media Center News 6/27/2008 Wife of detainee, Adnan Hamarsha, voiced an appeal to Human Rights Groups and the International Community to intervene for the release of her husband who has been imprisoned by Israel under administrative detention without charges for more than five consecutive years. The Israeli Prison Authorities renewed the administrative detention orders against Hamarsha 18 times without pressing charges against him. The wife told the Ahrar Center for Detainees Studies that he was kidnapped by the army on December, 28, 2003, which means that he has been in detention for 54 months. Hamarsha is currently detained at the Negev Detention Camp. He was born on October 5, 1965 and is a father of six children. The Ahrar center stated that there are more than 1000 detainees imprisoned under administrative detention orders, and that the only reason for their continued detention is a claim by the. . . Zahalka: torture of Palestinians in Israeli prisons is the rule, not the exception Amin Abu Wardeh, Palestine News Network 6/26/2008 Nablus -- Palestinian member of the Israeli Knesset, Jamal Zahalka, is using Thursday, the International Day in Support of Victims of Torture, to bring the issue of Israeli torture of Palestinian political prisoners to the table. Zahalka is proposing a full discussion on the report issued by the People’s Committee against Torture in Israel which details the ways in which Israeli soldiers routinely mistreat Palestinians. "The occupation soldiers are trained in the school of sadism; they torture Palestinian detainees and abuse them. "The report referred to how the soldiers deal with the Palestinians after they are handcuffed, shackled and have had their eyes covered. It outlines 90 cases among thousands where political prisoners are subjected to brutal torture by Israeli soldiers. Khudari: Gaza people invented new ways of fortitude against the Israeli siege Palestinian Information Center 6/26/2008 GAZA, (PIC)-- MP Jamal Al-Khudari, the head of the popular committee against the siege, stated the Palestinian people in the Gaza Strip invented new means of steadfastness to confront the bitter reality they are living in and to defeat those who bet on the siege to break their fortitude, adding the Palestinian people will triumph because of the justice of their cause. In a press statement, MP Khudari underlined that Israel’s unjust siege damaged all aspects of life in Gaza and destroyed the national economy and all service sectors. Meanwhile, during a picket organized within the events of the "steadfast despite the siege" camp established by Hamas in Gaza, 170 Palestinian children appealed to the Arab world and the international community to grant them the right to live like the other children in the world, to lift the siege and to get prisoners released from Israeli jails. Guards shoot Palestinian teenager attempting to visit imprisoned brother Ma’an News Agency 6/25/2008 Qalqilia – Ma’an – A 15-year-old Palestinian, Raed Walid Omar, was shot in the face, just under the right eye by guards at Israel’s Shatta Prison, where he was attempting to visit his detained brother, Omar, on Tuesday. Raed’s father Walid Barham said the prison guards prevented his family from entering the prison. When the family protested, the guards opened fire, hitting Raed Walid Omar with five rubber bullets. The family is from the town of Kafr Qaddum, near the northern West Bank city of Qalqilia. [end] Palestinian detainees, abused, tortured and humiliated Saed Bannoura & Agencies, International Middle East Media Center News 6/25/2008 The media office of Asrana (Our Detainees) Center in Jerusalem voiced an appeal to human rights groups, the Red Cross and Arab members of Israelis Knesset, to act for the formation of an international committee to investigate the illegal Israeli practices against the detainees. Head of the office, Monqith Abu Roomy, stated that the army humiliates, tortures and abuses the detainees after their arrests, and also interrogates them even before they are transferred to interrogation centers. "The soldiers are carrying deadly assaults against the detainees", Abu Roomy said, "They do not care whether the detainee is old or young, sick’". Several detainees who were recently released from detention, especially younger detainees, said that they were forced to sign statements which they could not read as they were written in Hebrew. Ailing detainee needs dentist, deprived from medical attention Saed Bannoura & Agencies, International Middle East Media Center News 6/25/2008 The Palestinian Popular Committees reported on Tuesday that a Palestinian detainee from the northern West Bank city of Tulkarem is gradually losing weight as his teeth are falling out, with more than half of his lower teeth and some of his grinders were totally removed. The Committees stated that the detainee, identified as Thabit, is imprisoned at the Ramon Israeli prison since April 4, 2004. He was sentenced to 25 years. He currently cannot talk well, and his health condition is sharply deteriorating due to malnutrition while the prison administration still rejects to allow a dentist to examine him. Moreover, Mithqal Al Najjar, one of the leaders of the Popular Committees voiced an appeal to different human rights groups and the Red Cross to intervene for the release of detainee Hani Abu Reeda, who is also sick and in need of medical attention. IOA transfers arbitrarily female prisoners to notorious Damon prison Palestinian Information Center 6/25/2008 RAMALLAH, (PIC)-- Lawyer Buthaina Duqmaq, the head of the Mandela institution for human rights and political prisoners, said that the Israeli prisons authority has embarked suddenly on the transfer of all female Palestinian prisoners in section 11 in the Talmond prison to the notorious Damon prison in Haifa without giving reasons. Lawyer Duqmaq explained that the Talmond administration declared a state of alert in the prison and hastened to transfer the prisoners without considering the impact of this arbitrary step on the prisoners and their families where the distance to prison doubled and thus the burden on families will increase. She also reported that two female prisoners called Amna Mona and Abeer Amr will be transferred from the Jalama prison to another prison probably Damon during the coming days. The lawyer noted that Damon was built during the British mandate as a repository. . . Report: Soldiers routinely abuse Palestinian prisoners Yuval Azoulay, Ha’aretz 6/23/2008 A report by the Public Committee Against Torture in Israel (PCATI) to be released today claims that Israel Defense Force (IDF) soldiers routinely abuse Palestinian detainees and the army and law enforcement ignores the abuse. The report contains 90 testimonies by Palestinians who were allegedly abused by IDF soldiers after being arrested during and after sweeps for wanted men between June 2006 and October 2007. Many reports state that the alleged abuse occurred while the Palestinians were bound and did not constitute a risk to the soldiers. The report, compiled by attorneys Noam Hofstetter, Eliahu Abram and Dr. Yuval Ginbar, states that the alleged abuse occurs in vehicles transporting the detainees to various detention centers and at the centers. Sick detainee could lose sight while administration still denies him treatment Saed Bannoura & Agencies, International Middle East Media Center News 6/22/2008 For the third year, the Israeli Prison Administration is still denying medical attention and treatment to detainee Allam Hussein Atary, 35, from Arraba town near the northern West Bank city of Jenin. Atary is now facing serious health complications and is gradually losing sight in both of his eyes. "The life of my brother is in danger", his sister Lubna said, "The occupation is responsible for what is happening to him and the suffering her is facing, my brother was never sick before his was kidnapped by the soldiers who broke into our home, kidnapped and interrogated him for several months". Atary was eventually sentenced to 25 years; he was kidnapped on June 17, 2003. The Israeli prosecution claims that he is a member of Fateh movement and that he opened fire at Israeli forces. Now, his condition is worse than before, the high pressure in his left eye affected his other eye but. . . Israeli courts sentenced 14 Palestinians to life in prison so far this year Ma’an News Agency 6/22/2008 Nablus - Ma’an – Israel has sentenced 14 Palestinian prisoners to life in prison since the beginning of 2008, the Nafha Society, a Palestinian human rights organization, reported on Sunday. The Nafha Society said that Palestinians tried in Israeli military courts are often afforded the full right to defend themselvesThe following are the details of sentences:On 1 January, the military court at Ofer prison sentenced five members of Hamas’ armed wing, the Al-Qassam Brigades, to life terms. Two of the defendants, Yousef Qeisiyyeh and Ra’fat Al-Battat, received three life terms each. Haitham Al-Battat received two life terms. The group was charged with carrying out a bombing attack on the Israeli city of Beer Sheba in August 2005. On 5 February, the Central Court in Jerusalem sentenced Bassel Asmar, affiliated to the armed wing of the Popular Front for the Liberation. . . Israeli Prison Authorities are re-interrogating detainees who are about to be released IMEMC News, International Middle East Media Center News 6/22/2008 Attorney Bothaina Douqmaq, head of the Mandela Society which defends the rights of political prisoners, revealed that the Israeli Security Services through the Israeli Prison Administration are re-interrogating detainees who are about to be set free. Douqmaq stated that after she visited Hadarim Israeli prison and met with a number of detainees. She was informed that several detainees who finished they terms and are about to be set free, were moved to Salem prison, near the northern West Bank city of Jenin, and were interrogated there. The detainees are interrogated on charges they already were sentenced for, and are also asked about their opinion on the current political developments in the Palestinian territories. Douqmaq also said that dozens of detainees were interrogated over the past few days in several interrogation centers, especially in Salem prison. IOA adjourns trial of former PA minister Palestinian Information Center 6/21/2008 TULKAREM, (PIC)-- The Israeli occupation authority has adjourned the trial of Palestinian MP Abdul Rahman Zeidan, a former PA minister, to next month and imprisoned his bodyguard under administrative custody. Well informed sources said that Zeidan, who was the public works minister in the tenth PA government under premier Ismail Haneyya, was brought to Salem court on Friday where his trial hearing was deferred to 26/7/2008. They added that his bodyguard Thabet Mubasher was sentenced to six months administrative detention without trial or charge. Mubasher was kidnapped from his home on 3rd June 2008 and taken to Hawara detention camp. Mubasher, 43, was arrested on several past occasions by the IOA and was also frequently detained by the PA security apparatuses the latest was three months ago when he was tortured in the preventive security premises in Tulkarem in a bid to force him to say anything that could implicate minister Zeidan. Legal center appeals for release of oldest serving administrative detainee Palestinian Information Center 6/22/2008 JENIN, (PIC)-- The Ahrar center for prisoners’ studies has urged all legal and human rights organizations to swiftly intervene and demand the release of a Palestinian detainee who has been held under administrative detention for 52 months. The center, in a statement on Saturday, said that Adnan Hamarshe, from Yabad village, Jenin district, was the oldest serving administrative detainee in Israeli occupation jails. He has been held in the Negev desert prison since his arrest on 28/2/2003. Hamarshe, 43, is the father of six children and is deprived of family visits, Ahrar said, adding that his administrative detention was renewed for ten times without charge or trial. It noted that Hamarshe, who suffers hypertension and Asthma, appealed with the Israeli higher court of "justice" but the court refused to release him at the pretext that he posed a "security threat". Israeli non-government organization accuses IOF of abusing Palestinian detainees Palestinian Information Center 6/22/2008 OCCUPIED JERUSALEM, (PIC)-- The Public Committee Against Torture in Israel (PCATI), a non-government organization, has accused the Israeli occupation forces of regularly abusing Palestinian detainees including minors. The PCATI, in its annual report published on Sunday, registered 90 cases of abuse in which violence was used against those detainees either on their arrest, on their way to detention or during incarceration. It said that the abuse was also reported against minors who should enjoy special protection in accordance with the international law, and added, "The soldiers do not treat the minors with care and often, as various reports show, they take advantage of their weakness". "Many reports state that the alleged abuse occurred while the Palestinians were bound and did not constitute a threat to the soldiers," the organization said in its report that covered the period from June 2006 to October 2007. Deportation: brothers, families, torn apart by Israeli military courts Palestine News Network 6/22/2008 Jerusalem / Maisa Abu Ghazaleh -- Alyan Suhayb was offered two choices. He could remain in Israeli prison, or he could be deported to Brazil. The Jerusalem man’s mother is of Brazilian nationality, but holds a Palestinian identity card. The ruling came down from the Israeli military court in Berseba. He can remain out of prison after 14 months if he agrees to leave his homeland. If he does not leave, he will be put back in Israeli prison. His brother, Husam, must stay inside. His brother, Husam, must remain behind Israeli bars breaking the hearts of the family. But the Israeli forces are not pursuing the dreams of Palestinian families. The 21 year old said, "The taste of freedom is invaluable, particularly as I did not expect to be stranded in a desert prison. But after the decision when I was walking to the Beitunia Checkpoint, the crossing gate, I expected at any moment that the gate would be slammed in my face. Israeli troops ’routinely’ abuse defenseless Palestinian detainees, report says Ma’an News Agency 6/22/2008 Bethlehem – Ma’an – Israeli soldiers routinely abuse bound and defenseless Palestinian detainees, a report by the Public Committee Against Torture in Israel (PCATI) says. The report, published on Saturday morning, reveals a widespread pattern of abuse of bound Palestinian detainees, and what the committee says is the "absolute indifference" of the Israeli military, the Israeli ministry of defense and the Knesset towards this problem. The report, titled “No Defense: Soldier Violence against Palestinian Detainees,” focuses on a large number of incidents of violence against detainees after they had been arrested, and could not possibly present a danger to the soldiers. PCATI compiled 90 detailed testimonies between June 2006 and October 2007. According to the report, Israeli troops abuse Palestinians as various junctures: immediately following arrest, in the vehicle transporting. . . Israeli human rights report on torture against Palestinians in Israeli prisons Palestine News Network 6/22/2008 "No Defense: Soldier Violence against Palestinian Detainees" is the title of the report published on Sunday by the Public Committee Against Torture in Israel (PCATI): IDF soldiers routinely abuse bound and defenseless Palestinian detainees. The military and those who oversee it disregard this phenomenon and take no steps to eradicate it. A report by the Public Committee Against Torture in Israel (PCATI) published this morning reveals the widespread phenomenon of violence against bound Palestinian detainees by IDF soldiers and the almost absolute indifference of the IDF, the Ministry of Defense and the Knesset towards the existence of this phenomenon and the need to take action in order to eradicate it completely. The report titled "No Defense: Soldier Violence against Palestinian Detainees" focuses on a large number of incidents of violence against detainees after they had. . . Palestinian prisoner: Release rumors killing us Ali Waked, YNetNews 6/20/2008 Palestinian detainees anxious ahead of possible release in framework of prisoner swap - Palestinian prisoners say they are on edge in the face of rumors regarding their possible release as part of a deal to free Israel’s abducted soldiers, Gilad Shalit, Ehud Goldwasser, and Eldad Regev. The Palestinian detainees are making an effort to elicit any trace of information in the hopes their name will end up on the list of released prisoners. "We watch all television stations in order to gather any piece of information possible," one prisoner told Ynet. "We hear things that sometimes make us happy and other times disappoint us. The entire day we shift from one report to another and from one rumor to the next; it’s killing us. " The prisoner, who is a resident of Nablus, is due to be released only five years from now, but is clinging to hopes for an earlier discharge. Israeli government at odds over release of Samir Al-Quntar Ma’an News Agency 6/20/2008 Bethlehem - Ma’an - The German-brokered prisoner swap deal between Hizbullah and Israel which was due to take place within days is likely to be delayed as Israeli ministers are at odds over the details, the Israeli daily newspaper Ma’ariv reported on Friday. The main difference of opinion is regarding the release of Samir Al-Quntar, who is considered the main bargaining chip in solving the mystery of missing Israeli pilot Ron Arad. The 50-year-old weapons systems officer has been ’missing in action’ since 1986. Many Israeli ministers are demanding information on Arad’s fate before the deal is struck. Israel has indicated Samir Al-Quntar will get his freedom along with other four Lebanese prisoners and dozens of bodies of Hizbullah fighters, killed in the 33-day war between Israel and Hizbullah in 2006. Seven Hizbullah prisoners have been held by Israel and two Israeli soldiers have been in the custody of Hizbullah since the war ended. 30 detainees transferred to administrative detention last week IMEMC News, International Middle East Media Center News 6/19/2008 The media office at the Nafha Society for Defending Human Rights and Detainees Rights reported on Thursday that Israeli Prison Authorities issued 30 administrative detention orders last week. The office added that one of the detainees, Zuhri Lubbada, who is suffering from a kidney failure, is among the detainees who received an extension to his administrative detention orders. Lubbada was kidnapped by the Israeli forces on May 15, 2008, and is currently in a bad health condition at the Al Ramla Prison Hospital. Lubabada was deported to southern Lebanon in 1992, and in 1994 he was kidnapped by the army and was sentenced to two year. The society also stated that detainee Adnan Hamarsha, 37, received three months extension to his administrative detention remand. Hamarsha is the oldest administrative detainees as he was kidnapped by the Israeli forces nearly five years ago and remains under administrative detention without any charges. 30 detainees transferred to administrative detention last week IMEMC News, International Middle East Media Center News 6/19/2008 The media office at the Nafha Society for Defending Human Rights and Detainees Rights reported on Thursday that Israeli Prison Authorities issued 30 administrative detention orders last week. The office added that one of the detainees, Zuhri Lubbada, who is suffering from a kidney failure, is among the detainees who received an extension to his administrative detention orders. Lubbada was kidnapped by the Israeli forces on May 15, 2008, and is currently in a bad health condition at the Al Ramla Prison Hospital. Lubabada was deported to southern Lebanon in 1992, and in 1994 he was kidnapped by the army and was sentenced to two year. The society also stated that detainee Adnan Hamarsha, 37, received three months extension to his administrative detention remand. Hamarsha is the oldest administrative detainees as he was kidnapped by the Israeli forces nearly five years ago and remains under administrative detention without any charges. Adalah goes to court to allow families from Gaza to visit their relatives in Israeli detention Ghassan Bannoura, International Middle East Media Center News 6/18/2008 On Tuesday, 17 June 2008, Adalah, The Legal Center for Arab Minority Rights in Israel filed a petition to the Israeli Supreme Court on behalf of eight family members of Palestinian political prisoners from the Gaza Strip. The Al Mezan Center for Human Rights and the Association for the Palestinian Prisoners demanding that residents of Gaza be permitted to visit their relatives being held in Israeli prisons on a regular basis. The case was filed by Adalah Attorney Abeer Baker against the Defense Minister, the Commander of the Israeli Army for the Southern District and the Interior Minister. Adalah says that since June 2006, following the capture of Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit by Palestinian resistance in Gaza, the Israeli security authorities began to impose even greater obstacles and constraints than in the past on family visits to prisoners from the Gaza Strip. Israeli siege deprives 900 Gaza families from visiting their relatives in jails Palestinian Information Center 6/18/2008 GAZA, (PIC)-- The Red Cross and the Wa’ed society for the defense of detainees stated that the unjust Israeli siege deprives 900 families in the Gaza Strip from visiting their relatives imprisoned in Israeli jails at the pretext of the comprehensive closure imposed on the Strip. The Red Cross called on the IOA to allow Gaza families to visit their relatives in Israeli jails immediately, noting that the Israeli security fears do not justify the total suspension of prison visitation program. The Red Cross also pointed out that such Israeli restrictions exacerbate the daily suffering of the Gaza people and deprive prisoners and their relatives alike from one of the vital component of human life. For its part, the Wa’ed society explained that this Israeli measure against Gaza prisoners and families is contrary to international charters and norms, citing that Article no. IOA decides to deport Palestinian prisoner to Brazil Palestinian Information Center 6/18/2008 NABLUS, (PIC)-- The Israeli occupation authority has decided to deport the Palestinian prisoner Suhaib Ulayan, who is currently held in the Negev desert prison, to Brazil, the Ahrar legal center reported. The center quoted the mother of Suhaib, 20, as saying that her son was kidnapped by the Israeli occupation forces since 14/7/2007. She said that Suhaib, a resident of Einata village in Jerusalem district, was charged with involvement in activities "hostile" to the Hebrew state and since he did not have an ID of a Jerusalem resident and because he holds a Brazilian passport the IOA decided to banish him to Brazil. The mother said that she and her family were shocked at the Israeli judge’s decision, which also included reducing his sentence by six months before deporting him a matter that was rejected by him and his family. Hezbollah swap ’coming together’ Amos Harel , and Reuters, Ha’aretz 6/19/2008 Israel prisoner swapAlthough the outlines of the prisoner swap now being brokered with Hezbollah seems to indicate Israel’s assessment that the kidnapped soldiers Eldad Regev and Ehud Goldwasser are dead, their families have received no official word. Regev and Goldwasser’s parents told Haaretz and other news outlets in recent interviews that they have no new information, and as far as they are concerned their sons are alive unless proven otherwise. In the previous prisoner exchange in 2004, a similar problem arose regarding the fate of the three soldiers abducted at Shaba Farms in October 2000 - Adi Avitan, Benny Avraham and Omar Sueid. Then, too, Hezbollah refused to divulge any information to Israel on the condition of the three soldiers. However, at an advanced stage of talks over a swap, Israel learned that the three were dead and the situation was treated as such. IOA renews administrative detention of Sheikh Farahat for 7th time Palestinian Information Center 6/17/2008 RAMALLAH, (PIC)-- The Israeli occupation authority has renewed the administrative detention, without trial or charge, of Sheikh Farahat Assad, 40, for the 7th consecutive time, the lawyer of Nafha legal society reported on Tuesday. Sheikh Farahat was arrested in his home in southern Ramallah on 25/4/2006 and was held since then in administrative custody. Farahat, a father of three children, had previously spent two years in occupation jails under administrative imprisonment during the Aqsa intifada and was only released few months before his renewed detention. Meanwhile, the same legal society, concerned with defense of human and prisoners’ rights, said that the IOA released Shirin Al-Haj Hussein from Balata refugee camp after spending a year and a half in Hasharon central jail. Shirin, 19, was taken from her father’s home in Balata on 19/6/2006 and was subjected to interrogation for ten days in Jalama and Petah Tikwa detention centers. Two Palestinians from Bethlehem remanded to administrative detention Ma’an News Agency 6/16/2008 Nablus – Ma’an – The Palestinian human rights organization Nafha, which focuses on the rights of prisoners, said that Israeli authorities remanded two female Palestinians to administrative detention, or imprisonment without trial, on Monday. Salwa Salah, a 16-year-old from the village of Al-Khadr, south of Bethlehem, was arrested by Israeli forces from her family’s house on 5 June, and was sentenced on Monday to four months in detention. Sarah Yasser As-Syouri, from the city of Bethlehem, was sentenced to another five months in administrative detention. Under administrative detention, Israel can hold Palestinian prisoners virtually indefinitely without formal charge or trial. Palestinian prisoner suffering skin disease deprived from medical care Palestinian Information Center 6/16/2008 RAMALLAH, (PIC)--The family of prisoner Mahmoud Abu Jneid, who serves five life sentences in the Israeli Jalbo prison, reported Monday that the prison administration refuses to provide appropriate medical care for their son who got infected with a skin disease called vitiligo which needs quick medical treatment. The father of Abu Jneid told the PIC reporter that his son asked the Israeli jailers in the prison to provide him with medicines to prevent the spread of the disease all over his body but they always ignored him. In another context, 47 Palestinian lawmakers and a former minister in addition to dozens of officials of rural and municipal councils are held as administrative prisoners in Israeli jails at the pretext that there are secret files justifying their detention. There are also more than a thousand prisoners administratively detained in Israeli jails without any charges leveled against them. Seven female detainees are currently under administrative detention Saed Bannoura, International Middle East Media Center News 6/16/2008 The Israeli Prison Administration transferred two female detainees who were kidnapped recently by the army in Bethlehem to administrative detention without any charges or trial. The number of female detainees who are imprisoned under administrative detention orders arrived to seven. Recently, the Israeli authorities transferred Salwa Riziq, from Al Khader town near Bethlehem, to administrative detention for four months, and detainee Sara Yasser Al Siniora, 19, from Bethlehem City for administrative detention for five months. Both were kidnapped by the Israeli army two weeks ago. An Israeli military spokesperson claimed that the two detainees are considered "a threat to the security of the region" but did not reveal any further details. The Israeli prosecution claims having a secret file against them, but this file, if really exists, cannot be shown even to the defense attorneys. IOA holds two females, including minor, under administrative detention Palestinian Information Center 6/16/2008 BETHLEHEM, (PIC)-- Two Palestinian female detainees were sentenced to administrative detention after the Israeli occupation authority failed to indict either of them, legal sources reported. The lawyer of Nafha society said that the 16-year-old girl Salwa Salah, who was kidnapped from her family home on 5/6/2008, was sentenced to four months under administrative custody. He added that the other detainee Sara Yousef was sentenced to five months. The lawyer noted that both were from Bthelehm district. Meanwhile, the Qassam Brigades, the armed wing of Hamas, announced in Gaza its responsibility for firing two home made Qassam missiles at Ashkelon city and Netivot settlement in retaliation to the Israeli occupation forces’ crimes against the unarmed Palestinian people. The IOA said that an Israeli was injured when a Grad missile slammed the central market in Ashkelon. Rights group: Shin Bet lied about interrogations Shahar Ilan, Ha’aretz 6/16/2008 A human rights group has accused the Shin Bet of giving false information about its method of interrogating suspects, in order to prevent its procedures from being documented. According to attorney Eliyahu Avram of the Public Committee against Torture, the Shin Bet’s alleged prevarication came to light when one of its officials told the Knesset Constitution, Law and Justice Committee on Tuesday that it carried out its interrogations with police. Prior to this, the security organization had claimed that police were not present during interrogations in order to bypass a law that requires documenting procedures, Avram said. "I was surprised they admitted it," Avram said. "They claimed at an earlier hearing that there were two different stages of interrogation. Now they are saying the opposite: that it’s a joint interrogation. " Israeli authorities release PLC deputy Mariam Salih after seven months imprisonment Ma’an News Agency 6/15/2008 Bethlehem – Tulkarem – Ma’an – Israeli authorities released Palestinian Legislative Council (PLC) member Dr Mariam Salih on Sunday afternoon, after holding her for seven months in administrative detention. The freed detainee was received by her children and a number of Palestinian journalists and citizens at the Jabar military checkpoint south of Tulkarem. Salih told journalists that she carried a message from female Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails demanding intervention for their immediate release. She stressed that her fellow prisoners are eagerly awaiting the moment of their release from Israeli prisons. She added, "Palestinian woman are strong and dignified, and should not be detained as prisoners in Israeli jails. " A member of the PLC representing the Hamas-affiliated "Change and Reform" bloc, Salih is 54 years old. Israeli forces seize Palestinian lawyer in Jenin Ma’an News Agency 6/15/2008 Jenin – Ma’an – Israeli forces seized a Palestinian lawyer from the northern West Bank city of Jenin on Sunday, Palestinian security sources said. The sources told Ma’an’s reporter that more than 15 Israeli military vehicles invaded the city at dawn, shooting into the air and detonating sonic bombs. The soldiers ransacked homes of residents Ghazi As-Sa’di and Tariq Abu Ghalia and several other homes before they seized lawyer Farid Hawwash from his home. Sources said the Israeli soldiers surrounded Hawwash’s house and ordered the family through loudspeakers to leave the house. The soldiers destroyed the interior of the house. Hawwash is a lawyer who works for an office that defends Palestinian prisoners in Israeli prisons and detention centers. Israel releases senior female Hamas official Ali Waked, YNetNews 6/15/2008 Dr. Maryam Salah arrested in December 2007, charged with belonging to terror organization. After being released she calls on Arab, Muslim worlds to help free all female Palestinian prisoners - Seven months after being arrested, Hamas’ representative to the Palestinian Legislative Council, Dr. Maryam Salah, was released from Israeli custody on Sunday afternoon. Salah was jailed after being charged with belonging to a terror organization. Speaking with journalists after her release, Salah called for the release of all Palestinian parliamentarians and all Palestinian prisoners in general. She also called on the Arab and Islamic world to work towards securing the release of female prisoners. The conditions of her imprisonment, she said, were catastrophic. Salah served in the first Hamas government as minister of women’s affairs. Wa’ed: MP Saleh to be released tomorrow after ending her detention term Palestinian Information Center 6/14/2008 NABLUS, (PIC)-- The Wa’ed society for detainees and ex-detainees said that detainee Mariam Saleh, a member of the Hamas parliamentary bloc, is due to be released on Sunday after her extended administrative prison term expired. In a press statement received by the PIC, Abdullah Muslih, one of the defense lawyers of MP Saleh, explained that the lawmaker will have completed her administrative detention term tomorrow according to the last decision taken by the Israeli court which had extended her detention until June 15. Muslih expressed fears that the IOA will change its mind and extend the administrative detention of the lawmaker, saying that the Israeli court had already decided to release her on 18/12/2007 on bail and her family went to receive her at the Tulkarem checkpoint, but the Israeli intelligence refused the ruling and demanded the extension of her detention for three more months. . . Gaza prisoners in bid to lift ban on family visits Donald Macintyre, The Independent 6/13/2008 Palestinian prisoners from Gaza held in Israeli jails have launched a legal battle along with their families to lift a year-long ban on visits organised by the Red Cross. Their legal action, supported by a series of Palestinian and Israeli human rights organisations, is seeking to overturn a decision by the Israeli authorities to bar prison visits while Hamas remains in control of Gaza. One of the Israeli organisations, Hamoked, says there are about 930 prisoners from Gaza held in Israeli jails and the cancellation of regular family visits "constitutes collective punishment and violates international law". In a response to Hamoked, the Israeli authorities said that "since Hamas’ military coup in the Gaza Strip. . . [it is not] possible to co-ordinate passage through the border crossings, which are now under the control of terrorist organisations. Israeli forces storm Jenin and Qabatia, detain civilians in Maythaloun and Burqeen Ma’an News Agency 6/12/2008 Jenin – Ma’an – Israeli forces stormed Jenin, its neighboring refugee camp and the town of Qabatia at dawn on Thursday, and seized two civilians from the towns of Maythaloun and Burqeen in the Jenin governorate. Security sources said that Israeli forces detained 20-year-old Tawfiq As’ad Rabay’a in Maythaloun and Muhammed Qassem Shalameesh in Burqeen. The sources said that Israeli forces invaded the towns of Maythaloun and Burqeen after midnight, storming houses and transferring the two detainees to an unknown location. Local sources also reported that Israeli forces stormed Jenin and the neighboring refugee camp, where military vehicles patrolled the streets, opened intensive fire and released sound bombs. Civilians said that Israeli soldiers caused severe damage and destruction to residential homes as they searched houses with police dogs, claiming they were looking for "wanted" Palestinians. Hamas denounces PA continued detention of freed prisoner Palestinian Information Center 12/6/2008 RAMALLAH, (PIC)-- The Hamas Movement has expressed its condemnation of the PA security apparatuses’ continued detention of Shukri Al-Khawaja in Ramallah shortly after being released from 15 years in Israeli occupation jails. The Movement in a statement on Thursday said that Khawaja had spent his youth in occupation jails and got out of his imprisonment with a number of diseases and poor eyesight. It said that Khawaja was a unity factor whenever political wrangling took place inside the jails. Hamas recalled that the recently released prisoner was summoned for a few hours interrogation by PA security over a month ago but he is still in custody up to the present day. It also said that another young man called Mohammed Al-Katut has been held in PA security jails in Nablus for six months without any charge. Hamas called for releasing all detainees in PA prisons who are not. . . Wa’ed appeals to Red Cross to save Palestinian young man from getting blind Palestinian Information Center 6/11/2008 GAZA, (PIC)-- The Wa’ed society for detainees and ex-detainees appealed Tuesday to the human rights organizations and the Red Cross to intervene with the IOA in order to allow medical treatment for prisoner Hani Abu Reidah, 20, after he lost his sight in the right eye and now became threatened to lose sight in the other eye. In a telephone call with the society, Suha Abu Reidah, the sister of the prisoner, said that her brother was subjected to brutal torture and psychological pressure which led him to lose his sight in the right eye, adding that the Ramla prison administration rejects to transfer him to the prison hospital to follow up his health status. In a new development, the IOF troops stormed amid heavy gunfire the Balata refugee camp, east of Nablus, and went on the rampage through the camp. Palestinian eyewitnesses reported that the invading IOF troops kidnapped two Palestinian. . . Palestinians injured in prisoners’ fight Ma’an News Agency 6/10/2008 Bethlehem – Ma’an – A number of Palestinian prisoners were injured in Israeli Ketziot prison in the Negev desert were injured on Monday when fighting between them, Israeli sources said. According to the sources, a fight erupted between prisoners from the northern West Bank cities of Jenin and Nablus. The prison’s guards intervened and dispersed the fight. The cause of the fight is still not known. [end] Palestinians demand return of loved ones’ remains still held by Israel Ma’an News Agency 6/9/2008 Gaza – Ma’an – The families of Palestinians whose corpses are held by the Israeli authorities announced the formation of a new committee to demand the release of their loved ones’ motral remains on Monday. The families of Gazan "Martyrs" [a term used by Palestinians in reference to those killed by Israeli forces] Nabil Mas’ud,Mu’min Al-Malfouh, Mahmoud Salim, Muhannad Al-Mansi, Tariq Hamid and Na’il ’Umar announced the formation of the committee. Palestinian human rights researcher Nashat Al-Wahidi was elected to lead the committee. According to the group, its tasks will begin on the 78th anniversary of the execution of three Palestinian prisoners, Ata Azzir, Fuad Hijazi and Muhammad Jamjoum at Acre prison during the era of the British colonial rule. Al-Wahidi said that he learned from reviewing literature of Palestinian "martyrs" that "the Israelis used to bury them in. . . Family of detained Palestinians reporter calls for his release Saed Bannoura, International Middle East Media Center News 6/9/2008 The family of Mohammad Athba, a Palestinian reporter and a cameraman, called on the Palestinian Journalists Union to intervene for the release of their son from a Palestinian prison as he is still detained at a Palestinian prison and still under interrogation since more than one month. The family called on human rights groups, political and legal institutions and media facilities to intervene for the release of their son who works as a cameraman with the Associated Press. Athba was arrested by the Palestinian Security services in the northern West Bank city of Qalqilia on May 10. The family stated that it is surprised by the silence of the Journalists Union in the West Bank. The family added that their son is now at a local hospital as he suffered from a heart attack during interrogations and that his mother is also hospitalized due to a sharp deterioration of her health condition. Israeli authorities release Palestinian prisoner after 10-year sentence Ma’an News Agency 6/9/2008 Nablus – Ma’an – The Israeli authorities on Monday released a Palestinian prisoner, 30-year-old Ziad J’ara, from Nablus in the northern West Bank, after he completed a 10-year prison sentence, the Nafha Association for the Defense of Prisoners and Human Rights said. J’ara was detained on 2 August 1998 at Za’tara military checkpoint north of Ramallah in the central West Bank. J’ara called on the Palestinian leadership to focus more the plight of Palestinian prisoners. He said that Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails are counting on Palestinian factions to unite and end the months-long internal political conflict. There are more than 11,000 Palestinians in Israeli prisons. Israeli prison administration censors Al Jazeera: off the air in Al Naqab Palestine News Network 6/7/2008 Naqab (Negev) Desert / PNN -- In the Israeli Al Naqab Prison Palestinians are no longer able to watch the Al Jazeera news. The Centre for the Studies of the Prisoners reported on Monday that Palestinians in Al Naqab are being prevented, as of Sunday, to view the most popular news channel from their cells. The cells in the desert prison are in fact tents. After this act of provocation by the Israeli Prison Administration, Palestinian political prisoners and those who work round the clock to defend them, denounced this latest action. The Israeli Prison Administration gave no explanation when questioned by prisoners’ rights groups, and now the issue is being taken to the airwaves. The Center is demanding free access to mass media and is calling on humanitarian institutions to intervene. The Israeli government has a proven history of repressing the media, not only through. . . ICRC releases report on projects in Lebanon Daily Star 6/7/2008 BEIRUT: The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) provided medical assistance to several hospitals during last month’s deadly clashes between rival political parties in Lebanon, according to ICRC’s April-May report released on Thursday. Over the last two months, the ICRC also completed the rehabilitation of the main water network in the devastated Nahr al-Bared Palestinian refugee camp. Following the outbreak of armed violence in May between opposition and pro-government forces, the ICRC reminded all parties of the need to protect innocnets. "Civilians must be respected and protected, detainees and those who surrender must be treated humanely in all circumstances, and medical missions including the ones using Red Cross and Red Crescent emblems must be respected," a statement issued by ICRC during the clashes said. Female detainees demand feminist groups to intervene against Israeli decision to deport a detainee Saed Bannoura & Agencies, International Middle East Media Center News 6/6/2008 Palestinian female detainees, members and supporters of Hamas movement, imprisoned Israel demanded international and local feminist groups to intervene and practice pressure on the Israeli occupation in order void a deportation order against a female detainee and her six children. The detainees said that they observe with deep concern the Israeli decision to deport detainee Nora Al Hashlamoun, and her six children, to Jordan. They added that they are astonished by the international silence especially the silence of organizations that defend human rights and the rights of women. The detainees sated in a letter which was leaked to the press that "it is now the time for all Arab and Palestinians women, for all women around the globe, to voice their support for the release of Al Hashlamoun, instead of her deportation along with her children". Israel uses term 'unlawful combatant' to justify detention without charges Palestinian Information Center 6/5/2008 GAZA, (PIC)- The ministry of detainees and ex-detainees in Gaza stated Wednesday that the Israeli intelligence apparatus started using the term "unlawful combatant", which has no basis in international law, to justify the detention of Palestinian prisoners for an indefinite period without charge. Riyadh Al-Ashqar, the director of the ministry’s information office, underlined that the use of such a term incurs serious legal and human rights consequences where the IOA uses it to continue detaining Palestinian prisoners without pressing any charges or indictment against them or granting them a fair trial at the pretext that there are secret files which prove that they are "unlawful combatants". Ashqar pointed out that this decision is a gross violation of the minimum standards of human rights and international humanitarian law especially the fourth Geneva convention on the protection. . . Mothers of the imprisoned: we want them to know that we have not given up Palestine News Network 6/3/2008 Gaza / PCHR - Every Monday morning a crowd of women gather in the courtyard of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) in Gaza city. Most of the women arrive carrying a framed photograph of one or two men. When journalists start to arrive at around 10am, the women ask them to take pictures, and to film the vigil. "Some of us have been waiting more than six years to visit our sons in Israeli prisons," says one woman. "And we have all been forbidden to visit the prisoners in Israel for a year now. So we want our jailed husbands, sons and daughters to see us in newspapers and on television. They will then know that we haven’t given up." This vigil first started thirteen years ago in 1995, when two women, Um Jaber (Mother of Jaber) and Um Ibrahim stood together outside the ICRC, holding photographs of their imprisoned sons. Political arrests continue on daily basis Palestine News Network 6/2/2008 West Bank / PNN - Palestinian security sources confirmed Israeli reports that occupation forces arrested five Palestinians during early Monday invasions throughout the West Bank. The population of Palestinians in Israeli prisons hovers at 11,000. Israeli Army Radio said that the Israeli military were after five Palestinians on the "wanted" list in both Bethlehem and Beit Awa further south in the West Bank’s Hebron. All five people were taken to interrogation centers where the Palestinian Prisoner Society reports that torture is routine. Palestinians are targeted based on political affiliation, non violent resistance activities such as in southern Bethlehem’s Umm Salamuna and western Ramallah’s Bil’in Vilage, and also for affiliation with the armed resistance, however legitimate under international law. U.S. imam fighting deportation talks of torture in Israeli detention The Associated Press, Ha’aretz 6/3/2008 A popular Muslim leader facing deportation asked that his children be removed from the New Jersey courtroom Monday before he broke into tears while describing graphic torture he said he was subjected to in Israeli detention. The issue of torture is at the heart of the deportation proceedings against Mohammad Qatanani, a Palestinian who has been the mosque leader of the Islamic Center of Passaic County in Paterson since 1996. It is one of the largest mosques in the northeastern state. The United States government has rejected his bid for permanent U. S. residency, saying Qatanani failed to disclose a 1993 arrest and conviction in Israel for being a member of Hamas on his green card application. Qatanani denies the charges, saying he was detained, not arrested, by the Israelis along with many Palestinians at the time. Administrative detention of Palestinian prisoner extended 22 times Ma’an News Agency 6/2/2008 Hebron – Ma’an – A Palestinian prisoner in an Israeli jail announced on Monday that he will refuse to appear again in an Israeli court after the period of his administrative detention was extended for the 22nd time. 48-year-old Mahmoud Al-Masalma from the village of Beit ’Awwa south of Hebron in the southern West Bank, telephoned Ma’an from the Negev prison, saying "I have decided to boycott the Israeli courts." Al-Masalma is married with five children. He has been in Israeli custody for 53 months without charges or trial. Israeli intelligence claims that his case is secret and they are refusing to give any details of the case to either him or his lawyer. "I feel as if I am serving a life sentence and will never leave this detention centre because administrative detention has no time limits. It seems I have been sentenced to a lifetime of administrative detention," Al-Masalma added. Prison sentences for five charged with plotting against de facto government in Gaza Ma’an News Agency 6/2/2008 Gaza - Ma’an - The military court established by the de facto government in the Gaza Strip on Monday sentenced five civilians to prison terms on charges of forming an illegal organization. The court, headed by Colonel Ahmad ’Atallah, sentenced Nasser Mohammad Ahmad Muhanna to two years in prison for "setting up an illegal organization that negatively influences the public", ’Abdallah Ibrahim Al-Moqayyad was sentenced to a year, Hussein Mahmoud Daher to three years, and Mahran Ahmad An-Nashawi and Isma’il As’ad Al-Qreinawi to eight months each on the same charges. According to the court, Muhanna formed an organization called the "Samih Al-Madhoun groups," aimed at working against the de facto Palestinian government in July 2007. Muhanna was head of the group, the court said. The court heard that the group used to meet in the residence of former colonel and chief of intelligence in the northern governorates Mohammad ’Ali Shabat. A female detainee rejects Israeli offer of deportation instead of imprisonment Saed Bannoura, International Middle East Media Center News 6/2/2008 The Palestine News Network reported on Sunday that Palestinian female detainee, Noura Al Hashlamoon, 37, from the southern West Bank city of Hebron, rejected an Israeli suggestion of 3-year deportation to Jordan instead of imprisonment under administrative detention. The Israeli security services presented the offer through the prosecution and said that Al Hashlamoon can choose to be deported to Jordan and can also take her children with her, otherwise she will remain under administrative detention without charges until further notice. Al Hashlamoon told lawyers of different Human Rights Groups that she rejects this offer as it is illegal and violates the international law. She added that she should be set free as she remains under administrative detention without any charges since she was kidnapped by the Israeli forces in August 2006. Israeli forces release female Palestinian detainee from Nablus Ma’an News Agency 6/1/2008 Nablus – Ma’an – The media department of the Nafha Association for Defending Prisoners and Human Rights stated on Sunday that the Israeli authorities have released a female Palestinian detainee from Nablus in the northern West Bank. Hanadi Samir Kan’an was released on bail of 5,000 NIS after being held for 40 days at the Petah Tikva interrogation centre. Hanadi Kan’an, 26-years-old, was seized from her home in the centre of Nablus on 27 March 2008. She told the Nafha Association via telephone that Israeli interrogators had abused her and threatened to deport her because she does not hold a Palestinian identity card. They also threatened to send her to administrative detention if she did not cooperate with them. Separately, Israeli authorities released Palestinian detainee Khalid Da’oud Nofel from Qalqilia on 29 May 2008, after holding him in administrative detention for 17 months. Nafha Association: Israeli authorities issued 183 administrative detention orders in May Ma’an News Agency 6/1/2008 Nablus – Ma’an – The media department of the Nafha Association for Defending Prisoners and Human Rights said on Sunday that Israeli authorities issued 183 administrative detention orders against Palestinians during May 2008. The orders imposed detention periods ranging from two to six months, and included both extensions of existing detention orders and first-time orders for recently detained prisoners. Palestinians in Israeli administrative detention are held without charges or trial for renewable terms, and neither they nor their lawyers are permitted to know the evidence against them. Amongst those whose administrative detention was extended was Walid Khalid, director of the ’Palestine’ newspaper in the West Bank. He has been detained in the Ramleh prison since 18 May 2007, and his detention period has been extended three times. 2 Palestinian illegal aliens escape from detention facility Tova Dadon, YNetNews 6/1/2008 Two Palestinians detained for illegally entering Israel escape while being taken in for questioning. Police, Border Guard deploy forces, roadblocks to locate escapees - Two Palestinians who were arrested for illegally entering Israel Sunday morning escaped from a Border Guard detention facility near Beit Guvrin, in the Lakhish Region (some 33 miles southwest of Jerusalem). The circumstances of the two’s escape have yet to be determined. Caught during morning hours, they were scheduled to be questioned Sunday evening, but were able to slip away while being transported to the interrogation facility. Police and Border Guard troops have deployed in the area, setting up roadblocks and using helicopters in order to locate the detainees and prevent them from fleeing into Palestinian Authority territory. PLC speaker to appear before court Palestinian Information Center 6/1/2008 RAMALLAH, (PIC)-- The PLC speaker, Dr. Aziz Dwaik, who has been kidnapped from his home and charged with being a leading member in the Hamas Movement, is scheduled to appear before the Ofer military court on Sunday. MP Samira Al-Halaika was quoted by Wa’ed legal center for prisoners’ affairs as saying that Dwaik, who has been held in Israeli jails for almost two years, would stand trial in Ofer near Ramallah on Sunday morning. The center said that the trial fell in line with the Zionist theatrical play that started with kidnapping Dwaik and other Palestinian MPs in June 2006. It pointed out that the 51 detained Palestinian lawmakers do not recognize legitimacy of the Israeli court or its right to prosecute them.  Articles
Israeli forces harvest British seeds of violence in Palestine Jake Norris, Palestine News Network 6/29/2008 The military moves into a Palestinian village, demolishing whole areas of housing as a way of collectively punishing inhabitants accused of harbouring "terrorists." Villagers are arrested without explanation and taken to military prisons, while others are forced to ride on the front of trains to test the tracks for mines. This description could easily be mistaken for one of the daily raids carried out by the occupying Israeli forces in the West Bank and Gaza Strip.In fact, it is an example of the tactics employed by British soldiers during the Palestinian Thawra Al Kubra (Great Revolt) of 1936-1939. In Nablus alone, the last week has seen Israeli forces carrying out a number of invasions of the city, with two Palestinians assassinated on Tuesday and two more detained at dawn on Thursday. Meanwhile, some 70 years previously, British Mandate forces were employing exactly the same methods to control the Great Revolt, with Nablus once again suffering heavily as one of the centres of the resistance. Preferring Hamas and Hezbollah Zvi Bar'el, Ha’aretz 6/29/2008 it is impossible not to be impressed by the skilled work that we have witnessed in recent weeks. A German mediator ran between Israel and Hezbollah; an Egyptian mediator came and went between Hamas and the government of Israel. A taboo subject was broken and oaths evaporated. It appears that the official agreement between Israel and Hezbollah on how prisoners and captives will be exchanged will be signed today. An agreement on a package deal for the release of Palestinian prisoners in exchange for Gilad Shalit is also on the verge of being concluded (verbally) - and in both these deals public opinion is fully involved. The Internet and television are full of views on the deals, T-shirts are being printed with photos of the abducted soldiers, rallies are held, Shalit’s book is being sold, stickers are stuck on motorbikes and public service announcements... ...But the closeness, which is very focused and therefore highly effective, distorts the background from which it emerged. First of all, it distorts the fact that Israel is negotiating with groups and not states. The Palestinian Authority, like the Lebanese government, had nothing to do with these negotiations. They watched from afar how those groups, Hamas and Hezbollah, are taking onto themselves the authority of states and holding negotiations that are not only about the release of prisoners. Every such negotiation has diplomatic and political aspects. After all, if only Hezbollah. not the government in Beirut, can gain the release of Lebanese prisoners, and if only Hamas and the rest of the Palestinian factions have the power to bring about the collapse of Israel’s policy of sanctions and opening the crossings into the Gaza Strip - what’s left for the state above them to do. No Defense: Soldier Violence against Palestinian Detainees Public Committee Against Torture in Israel (PCATI, Palestine Monitor 6/22/2008 A report by the Public Committee Against Torture in Israel (PCATI) published this morning reveals the widespread phenomenon of violence against bound Palestinian detainees by IDF soldiers and the almost absolute indifference of the IDF, the Ministry of Defense and the Knesset towards the existence of this phenomenon and the need to take action in order to eradicate it completely. The report titled "No Defense: Soldier Violence against Palestinian Detainees"ť focuses on a large number of incidents of violence against detainees after they had been arrested, bound, and no longer present a danger to the soldiers. Abuse occurs at various junctions - immediately following arrest, in the vehicle transporting the detainees, and during the time they are held in IDF military camps prior to their transfer to interrogation and detention facilities. At times abusive practices involve dogs that are employed by the military forces during arrest operations and transported in vehicles along with Palestinian detainees. On certain occasions, the ill treatment of Palestinian detainees is highly violent resulting in serious injury. At other times, abuse manifests itself in a routine of beating, degradation and additional abuse. Minors, who must be granted special protection under both Israeli and International Law, are also victims of abuse. The soldiers who carry out arrests do not treat minors with special care and at times - as revealed by various testimonies - exploit their weakness. Israeli forces terrorize Deheisheh refugee camp Dr. Marcy Newman writing from Deheisheh refugee camp, occupied West, Electronic Intifada 6/20/2008 It started out as a normal Saturday morning. We were hanging out in Ibdaa Cultural Center in Deheisheh refugee camp in Bethlehem. I had plans to leave later to visit friends in Jerusalem and was hanging out with friends here. We were all sitting in the cafe at Ibdaa, which is on the fourth floor and has windows around three sides of the building. We were drinking coffee, chatting, watching television and all of a sudden there was a loud sound like a grenade or a bomb. We rushed to the window and all we could see at first was smoke rising up from the street about a block away. One by one we watched Israeli Occupation Forces (IOF) invade the street surrounding Deheisheh and then across the street in the Doha neighborhood where a few of the IOF jeeps parked in front of a house and then went inside, to arrest someone from the Abu Akar family (fortunately, he escaped). Much of this was obscured from our view. We could only see the soldiers enter and then park their jeeps out front. Then several of these tanks and jeeps came down the main Jerusalem-Bethlehem road and stopped in front of Deheisheh. The youth started throwing stones at the Israeli army jeeps and then the shooting started. For five hours the youth threw stones at the jeeps and the occupation soldiers fired live ammunition, including steel rubber-coated bullets (which can be just as lethal as the regular kind) and tear gas grenades, all of which injured five people from the camp. In the middle if all this a huge Caterpillar bulldozer came down the road and went up towards the house in Doha, which we thought was going to be used to demolish the house (thankfully, it did not). But the soldiers were in there for the entire five-hour period and they took some political prisoners away. Palestinians prisoners in Israel isolated from outside world Press Release, Al Mezan, Electronic Intifada 6/19/2008 On 17 June 2008, Adalah filed a petition to the Israeli high court on behalf of eight family members of Palestinian political prisoners from the Gaza Strip, the Al Mezan Center for Human Rights (Gaza) and the Association for the Palestinian Prisoners demanding that residents of Gaza be permitted to visit their relatives being held in Israeli prisons on a regular basis. The case was filed by Adalah attorney Abeer Baker against the defense minister, the commander of the Israeli army for the southern district and the interior minister. Since June 2006, following the capture of Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit, the Israeli security authorities began to impose even greater obstacles and constraints than in the past on family visits to prisoners from the Gaza Strip. These restrictions culminated in a decision by the Israeli army in June 2007 to place a total ban on visits by the families of prisoners from Gaza, alongside the severe restrictions imposed on all residents of Gaza. Prohibiting family visits in practice means that Palestinian prisoners are prevented from receiving basic necessities in prison, including clothing and money, as visits are the prisoners’ sole means of contact with the outside world. The transfer of money to a prisoner’s account necessitates the presence of a member of the prisoner’s family in the prison. Palestinians prisoners in Israel isolated from outside world Press Release, Al Mezan, Electronic Intifada 6/19/2008 On 17 June 2008, Adalah filed a petition to the Israeli high court on behalf of eight family members of Palestinian political prisoners from the Gaza Strip, the Al Mezan Center for Human Rights (Gaza) and the Association for the Palestinian Prisoners demanding that residents of Gaza be permitted to visit their relatives being held in Israeli prisons on a regular basis. The case was filed by Adalah attorney Abeer Baker against the defense minister, the commander of the Israeli army for the southern district and the interior minister. Since June 2006, following the capture of Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit, the Israeli security authorities began to impose even greater obstacles and constraints than in the past on family visits to prisoners from the Gaza Strip. These restrictions culminated in a decision by the Israeli army in June 2007 to place a total ban on visits by the families of prisoners from Gaza, alongside the severe restrictions imposed on all residents of Gaza. Prohibiting family visits in practice means that Palestinian prisoners are prevented from receiving basic necessities in prison, including clothing and money, as visits are the prisoners’ sole means of contact with the outside world. The transfer of money to a prisoner’s account necessitates the presence of a member of the prisoner’s family in the prison. Israel’s very own Guantanamos Khaled Amayreh in occupied East Jerusalem, Al-Ahram Weekly 6/19/2008 The "death ride" -- welcome to 21st century torture. Israeli maltreatment of Palestinian captives and political prisoners has reached unprecedented levels of brutality, according to lawyers, human rights groups and newly-released prisoners. There are currently as many as 12,000 Palestinian detainees languishing in Israeli detention camps, many of them without charge or trial. They include hundreds of university professors, engineers, school teachers as well as religious and civic leaders, students, resistance fighters and women activists. Two years ago, the Israeli occupation authorities abducted hundreds of democratically- elected officials, including mayors, members of local city councils, law-makers, and cabinet ministers, many associate with Hamas’s political wing. Israel employs a set of draconian laws, some dating back to the British mandate era, to torment Palestinian prisoners. The same laws are also used to lend a façade of legality to other harsh treatment of Palestinians, such as house demolitions, land confiscation and deportation. Israel’s very own Guantanamos Khaled Amayreh in occupied East Jerusalem, Al-Ahram Weekly 6/19/2008 The "death ride" -- welcome to 21st century torture. Israeli maltreatment of Palestinian captives and political prisoners has reached unprecedented levels of brutality, according to lawyers, human rights groups and newly-released prisoners. There are currently as many as 12,000 Palestinian detainees languishing in Israeli detention camps, many of them without charge or trial. They include hundreds of university professors, engineers, school teachers as well as religious and civic leaders, students, resistance fighters and women activists. Two years ago, the Israeli occupation authorities abducted hundreds of democratically- elected officials, including mayors, members of local city councils, law-makers, and cabinet ministers, many associate with Hamas’s political wing. Israel employs a set of draconian laws, some dating back to the British mandate era, to torment Palestinian prisoners. The same laws are also used to lend a façade of legality to other harsh treatment of Palestinians, such as house demolitions, land confiscation and deportation. Israeli authorities imprison Palestinian women even after their death Iqbal Tamimi, Palestine Think Tank 6/17/2008 Israeli occupation forces have arrested more than 10,000 Palestinian women of various backgrounds and ages since 1967. 720 Palestinian women were arrested during the Al-Aqsa Intifada, 102 of them are still detained to this date. Arresting mothers, wives and sisters of wanted persons or detainees is one form of collective punishment, and it is aimed at forcing Palestinian men to confess or surrender under pressure. In many incidents Palestinian women were threatened in prisons to detain their children in order to force the mothers to cooperate. A report by the Public Committee Against Torture in Israel (April 2008) reported 6 cases of Israeli forces threatening Palestinian prisoners to detain their family members this year. There are documented reports of detaining members of families of Palestinian prisoners without any valid legal reason to do so. This report has been submitted to the Knesset. The president of the Israeli International security service (Shin Bet) confirmed that one incident at least was confirmed by the Investigation Unit during the hearing of the case. A Trip Down Gaza’s Deadly Tunnels Paul Martin, MIFTAH 6/17/2008 Again and again the Gaza Strip is described as a prison. Israel controls access, and thanks to its long-running confrontation with groups like Hamas, it has made it near impossible for Gazans to come and go from the tiny strip of territory. But there is a very unofficial and well-known way in and out - the tunnels. The network is dug deep into the soft sand and runs under the border with Egypt. They are used to smuggle in everything from cigarettes to food to weapons. I have come to know some of the men who dig Gaza’s tunnels, and in so doing I have gone underground to explore their dark and dangerous world. The most disconcerting thing about crawling on hands and knees through these tunnels is the steady drip, drip of soft soil that keeps falling on you. You start to wonder just how soon it will be before the whole thing collapses. Usually it does not, in fact, collapse - despite the fact that many of the tunnels do not have anything to support the roof. Olmert has to go, but the impact may be substantial Yossi Alpher, Daily Star 6/11/2008 There is a broad consensus among non-political officials with frequent access to the Israeli Prime Minister’s Office that since the July-August 2006 Lebanon war Ehud Olmert has been an efficient and effective prime minister. Some would say that even initiating and balancing no fewer than five diplomatic negotiating processes at one and the same time is no mean feat. Israel is currently directly talking to the West Bank-based Palestinian leadership on two fronts: the Livni-Qorei final status talks and the Barak-Fayyad "road map" phase I contacts. And it is engaged in indirect negotiations with Syria (over peace), Hamas (over a cease-fire, a prisoner exchange, and over Gaza crossings) and Hizbullah (over prisoner exchange). Arguably, this is far too much. Olmert’s predecessors found that even parallel negotiations with the Palestinian Liberation Organization and Syria put too much strain on the system; when they did pursue both tracks simultaneously it was usually for tactical reasons, for example to signal the Palestinians that if they were not more forthcoming Israel had better things to do. Breaking the rules Saleh Al-Naami, Al-Ahram Weekly 6/5/2008 Hamas is pushing ahead in Gaza, trying to force an end to the siege while conditions appear favourable, writes Click to view caption A Palestinian girl holds the photo of one of her relatives jailed in an Israeli prison during a protest at the Red Cross offices in Gaza Israeli army commander of the southern region General Yuav Galant was on his way home to attend a family celebration last Friday afternoon when senior officers told him to immediately return to the southern Gaza Strip. There, tens of thousands of Hamas activists were marching towards the Sufa commercial crossing on the Gaza-Israel border in protest of the ongoing siege. The Israeli army’s leadership was not taking any risks, dealing with the situation as though the protesters aimed to cross the border. Thousands of soldiers were called up for deployment along the border under cover of Apache helicopters and unmanned drones. Israeli army leaders confirmed that although Hamas has threatened several times to go to the border and attempt crossing it, they had not expected that Hamas could succeed in organising such a large demonstration only 500 metres from the border in an area considered highly sensitive due to its proximity to several Israeli settlements east of the border. Although the demonstration was broken up, the message was delivered and the Israeli army has begun to deal with Hamas’s threats to penetrate the border seriously... 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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