Vermonters
for a Just Peace in Palestine/Israel
Prisoners Archive - July 2007
Treatment of Prisoners and Detainees by Israel and Others
Prisoners Archive - July 2007
Treatment of Prisoners and Detainees by Israel and Others
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for a Just Peace in Palestine/Israel Prisoners Archive - July 2007 Treatment of Prisoners and Detainees by Israel and Others |
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Palestinian prisoner dies in Israeli prison Palestinian Information Center 7/31/2007 GAZA, (PIC)-- Shadi Sa’eed Al-Sa’ayda, 27, a Palestinian prisoner in Israeli occupation jails has died in the Israeli Nafha desert prison due to medical neglect after suffering several cruel torture rounds. The lawyer of the Mandela institution catering for Palestinian prisoners’ affairs, Buthaina Dakmak, who visited Shadi several times, said that he was suffering seizures since his arrest on 30/7/2005 and was the target of torture for several times with no treatment accorded to him. Sa’ayda, a resident of Maghazi refugee camp in central Gaza, was known for participation in the Ein Uraik raid west of Ramallah on 19/2/2002 that killed six Israeli soldiers and wounded others. Mandela sources said that Sa’ayda used to work as an officer in the PA national security apparatus before his arrest. Families demand medical care for Palestinian prisoners Ma’an News Agency 7/31/2007 Tulkarm - The families of a Palestinians imprisoned by Israel held a demonstration in front of the offices of the International Committee of the Red Cross Tuesday, demanding immediate intervention to save prisoners who they say have been denied medical treatment. Holding the action in the West Bank city of Tulkarem, the families extended their appeal to international legal institutions, and the local and international Red Cross to compel Israeli prison administrators to provide adequate medical care for prisoners. The family of one prisoner, Luay Banan Sawan, say their son has suffered from an ulcer for four years, and now because of medical negligence, he is "bleeding from the mouth." [end] Israeli authorities ’sowing division’ among Palestinian prisoners Ma’an News Agency 7/31/2007 Jenin - A Palestinian prisoner in an Israeli jail is accusing the prison administration of using factional divisions to play Hamas and Fatah affiliated prisoners off one another. The prisoner, Jamal Howel said in a letter obtained by Ma’an that authorities at Al Naqab prison in the Negev desert, has dispersed about 120 Fatah men throughout the prison, after separating them from Hamas. After factional fighting broke out in the Palestinian territories this year, Israeli authorities began to separate Hamas and Fatah from one another in the prisons. Now, Howel claims, they have begun to use the divisions to split up even those who belong to the same movement. He said these practices have in fact increased tensions between Hamas and Fatah members inside the prison. Howel wrote, "The Department seeks in the Palestinian tragedy, to attack and weaken the movement..." 14th Palestinian prisoner dies since 2000; PLC prisoner committee calls for international intervention Ma’an News Agency 7/31/2007 Bethlehem – A Palestinian prisoner, Shadi Said, aged 28, died on Tuesday in Nafha prison, located in Israel’s Negev desert, after his health deteriorated. Israeli sources said that the man was rushed into Soroka hospital in Be’er Sheva, also in the Negev desert, where he died. Said was sentenced to eight consecutive life sentences for participating in a military operation in Ein Arik, west of Ramallah, during which six Israeli soldiers were killed. He was arrested in July 2003, more than a year after the operation which took place on February, 19th, 2002. Prior to his incarceration, he was living in Al Maghazi refugee camp in the central Gaza Strip. Palestine Legislative Council (PLC) member and head of the Prisoners Committee of the PLC, Issa Qaraqi’e, called for the formation of an international committee to investigate the death of Said and other prisoners... Palestinian security prisoners’ matriculation exams halted Jonathan Lis, Ha’aretz 8/1/2007 The Israel Prisons Service (IPS) announced on Tuesday that it would discontinue administering the Palestinian matriculation exams to security prisoners due to misconduct on the behalf of exam supervisors provided by the Palestinian Authority. The IPS revealed Monday that exam supervisors, granted special entry into the prisons specifically to administer the exam, allowed dozens of prisoners to take the exams under other prisoners’ names, some of which had already been released. The IPS said that the supervisors had also been caught smuggling letters and pictures from the prisoners’ families into the jails. Some 4000 prisoners were supposed to take the exams, which began a week ago and were scheduled to be completed this week. "The Palestinian matriculation exams have become a joke, and we won’t be a part of that," the IPS central district chief said. Prisoners supporter’s organization calls for release of PFLP leader Ahmad Sa’adat Ma’an News Agency 7/29/2007 Gaza – Ma’an – The Palestinian prisoners supporter’s organization has condemned the military trial of the secretary-general of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP), calling the trial "illegal" and "against democracy". In a statement received by Ma’an, the organization called for the immediate release of Ahmad Sa’adat, and the all other political leaders held as political prisoners by Israel. They also asked Palestinian civil societies to support prisoners, and put Israel under pressure, "in order to reveal its crimes which are committed against Palestinian prisoners." They also confirmed that they will keep campaigning for the release of Marwan Al Barghouthi and Abed Al Aziz Ad Dwaik. [end] Salem and Ofer Israeli Military Courts extend prison sentences for Palestinians Ma’an News Agency 7/29/2007 Jenin – Ma’an – The Palestine Prisoner Society (PPS) reported that the Israeli military courts in Salim and Ofer extended the detention of several prisoners; extensions vary between 8 to 22 days. The PPS issued a statement saying that Ofer court decided to extend the prison sentences of Baha Salah, from Kafr Dan, and Naim Mahmoud, for a further 22 days. The same court ruled that five others should be detained longer as well; three will have to remain in jail for another 8 days, one had his sentence prolonged by 15 days, another by 10 days. The court of Salem extended the sentence of Ahmad Abu Zalate from Qabatia with five days; Wisan Khzaimiya will be incarcerated for another 13 days; Alaa Rashad got his sentence extended for another 8 days. Female Palestinian prisoners launch appeal to President Abbas Ma’an News Agency 7/28/2007 Nablus – Ma’an – Palestinian female prisoners at the Israel jail of Hasharon, in northern Israel, on Saturday launched an appeal for President Mahmoud Abbas to note their "miserable conditions in detention" during presidential meetings. Following a visit to the prisoners, attorney of the Nafha society for the defence of human and prisoners’ rights stated that female prisoners are suffering in conditions that involve medical negligence, humiliation, solitary confinement and collective punishment. The prisoners issued a statement declaring that "the Palestinian government headed by Salam Fayyad is responsible for monitoring prisoners’ affairs and exerting efforts that go beyond mere dialogue." The prisoners added that "the government gave false hope to prisoners, in the prisoners swap negotiations, that they would be freed without exceptions. The wife of a Palestinian prisoner asks the Red Cross and Arab MKs for help in order to visit her husband Ma’an News Agency 7/25/2007 Jenin – Ma’an – The wife of Hamza Sam Ka’kour from Jenin, who is currently serving an eight year sentence in Jalbou’ prison, has asked the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) and the Arab members of Israel’s parliament, the Knesset, to put pressure on Israel to allow her to visit her husband. For the past two years, Israeli authorities have prevented her and her one and a half year old son, from visiting Ka’kour. According to Tha’er Abu Baker from the Ministry of Prisoners Affairs, Ka’kour has suffered from health problems since his incarceration two years ago. He has an eye infection, as well as an infection in his stomach. Baker claims that the prison staff has refused him medical treatment. [end] Committee of Prisoner Affairs in Israel organises demonstration in support of PFLP secretary-general Ahmed Sa’adat Ma’an News Agency 7/25/2007 Jerusalem – Ma’an – The Committee of Prisoner Affairs in Israel has called a demonstration which will be held next Sunday morning in front of the Oufar prison, west of the West Bank city of Ramallah. The demonstration is being organised in support of Ahmed Sa’adat, who on Sunday will appear for the Israeli military court at Oufar prison. Ahmed Sa’adat is the secretary-general of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine. [end] Israeli military court sentences three Islamic Jihad members to jail; extends prison sentence for three other members Ma’an News Agency 7/25/2007 Jenin – Ma’an – Attorney Fared Hawash stated on Wednesday that the Salem Israeli Military court sentenced three members of Islamic Jihad to prison for unknown periods. Three other Islamic Jihad members who were already in jail had their prison sentences extended. In addition to the prison sentences, the detainees were also fined NIS 200. In related news, the information centre of the Nafha Society that fights for detainees’ and human rights confirmed that the Salem Israeli military court has sentenced three more Palestinians to jail on Wednesday. Wafa Ghalib, aged 33, was sentenced to 17 months imprisonment and a fine of 1,000 NIS; Rafic Abdullah Noafal, aged 21, was sentenced to 12 months in prison and a fine of 2,000 NIS; Mahmoud Mustafa was sentenced to 8 months. [end] Prisoners Center for Studies and Research calls on international community to fight for the release of female prisoners Ma’an News Agency 7/25/2007 Gaza – Ma’an – The Prisoners Center for Studies and Research called on all officials and NGOs to do their best to assure the release of female prisoners as well as the remainder of the 10,400 Palestinians who are incarcerated by Israel. The head of the center, Rafat Hamdouna, said that the Israeli forces arrested at least 600 Palestinian women during the second Intifada in 2000. Most of them were released but 105 women still remain jailed, under miserable conditions. The organization has prepared a study which shows that among Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails, there are 12 girls less than 18 years old, and that three female prisoners gave birth while in jail. [end] Palestinian security forces assault family of jailed leader Marwan Barghouthi Saed Bannoura, International Middle East Media Center 7/24/2007 The daughter of jailed Palestinian leader Marwan Barghouthi was stopped by Palestinian Authority presidential guards on her way home from university, leading to a confrontation between the guards and Barghouthi’s family members. Marwan Barghouthi, the founder of the Al Aqsa Martyr’s Brigades (the armed wing of Fateh), has been held by Israeli forces in a detention camp since 2002. He is charged with killing Israelis, and was sentenced to several life sentences by an Israeli court, despite the fact that, under Israeli-signed international agreements, Israeli courts have no jurisdiction to try and convict Palestinians who are living under Israeli military occupation. Barghouthi is also one of the main architects of the so-called ‘prisoner’s document’, a plan written last year calling for internal unity among Palestinian factions. Ibrahim Hamed isolated for two years in Israeli detention Ali Samoudi, International Middle East Media Center 7/24/2007 Ibrahim Hamed, from the town of Selwad near Ramallah, has been imprisoned for a second consecutive year of isolated administrative detention by Israel. Hamed was abducted as an alleged senior leader of Ez Eddin Al Qassam. The Israeli army has held him in harsh conditions in Al Ramallah detention center, depriving him of his basic rights. In 2003, the Israeli army deported Hamed’s wife to Jordan, stating that she didn’t have a necessary identity card. They later deported his sons to continue their policy of pressure and punishment on him. A lawyer with the Palestinian Prisoner Society who was allowed to visit him reported that Hamed has been exposed to cruel treatment by Israeli intelligence since his abduction in May 2006. Hamed reported that he was kidnapped from his home after Israeli troops surrounded and invaded the home. Families of unreleased Palestinian prisoners demonstrate in Gaza Ma’an News Agency 7/23/2007 Gaza - Ma’an – The families of Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails held a sit-in strike in front of the International Committee of the Red Cross in Gaza City on Monday calling for the release of their relatives. The wife of prisoner, Rawhi Mushtaha, who has been incarcerated for twenty years, said that she retains hope that one day he will be freed. Mrs Mushtaha said her husband was arrested just six months after they were married. Mrs Mushtaha said she was dissatisfied with the Israeli decision to release just 255 prisoners "this move aims to create disorder amongst the Palestinians," she said. She urged the Palestinian factions detaining captured Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit not to release him except in an extensive deal that will provide freedom to prisoners that have served lengthy terms in Israeli jails. PCHR Calls for Saving the Civilian Judicial System in the Gaza Strip before Its Collapse Palestinian Centre for Human Rights 7/22/2007 PCHR is extremely concerned over the deterioration in the Judicial Authority in the Gaza Strip as a result of pushing the judiciary in the power struggle between Fatah and Hamas. The Centre renews its calls to all concerned parties to refrain from dragging the judiciary into this struggle, to refrain from infringing upon the judiciary, and to take serious steps to ensure the immediate resumption of the functioning of the civilian judicial system. The Centre strongly rejects any action towards establishing alternative judicial bodies in the Gaza Strip. The most recent developments pertaining to the status of the judiciary, the Executive Force spokesman, Islam Shehwan, announced to Maan News Agency on Saturday, 21 July 2007, the formation of a special committee to evaluate the status of civilian prisoners in Gaza Central Prison. Legal society: Palestinian suffers nervous breakdown in Israeli occupation jails Palestinian Information Center 7/21/2007 JENIN, (PIC)-- Ali Sabri Atatra has suffered a nervous breakdown after spending 14 years in Israeli occupation jails and is in need of urgent treatment abroad, which prompted his family to call for his immediate release. The Nafha society catering for Palestinian prisoners’ affairs in IOA jails called on PA chief Mahmoud Abbas to demand the prisoner’s release and all sick detainees or at least to allow entry of specialized doctors to treat them. Relatives of Atatra also asked Abbas to pressure for his release or allow his treatment abroad. They said that he repeatedly fainted as a result of his condition and that the Israeli prisons authority was refusing entry of doctors to treat him. Atatra, who is from Ya’bad village, Jenin district, was arrested in April 1994 and was since then subjected to cruel and harsh treatment that led to his sudden nervous breakdown. [end] PA security releases Hamas leader after 19 days of hunger strike Palestinian Information Center 7/21/2007 NABLUS, (PIC)-- PA security apparatuses, loyal to PA chief Mahmoud Abbas, on Saturday released the Hamas political leader Ahmed Dawla after 19 days of hunger strike. Local sources said that the PA security apparatuses released Dawla, who is the assistant undersecretary of the interior ministry, fearing for his life. Hamas sources said that Dawla lost more than 20 kilograms of his weight after he refused to eat anything ever since his arrest. He also refused to speak with his interrogators, the sources added. Dawla was kidnapped on 2nd July after participating in a Hamas delegation in a round of talks with commanders of PA security apparatuses in Junaid prison in Nablus in a bid to end the wave of arrests in lines of Hamas supporters and sympathizers in the West Bank. A Hamas West Bank mayor is released after six weeks’ detention Ma’an News Agency 7/20/2007 Tulkarem - Ma’an - The Israeli authorities released Friday the mayor of Deir Al-Ghusun town, located north west of Tulkarem in the northern West Bank, after six weeks’ detention. Khalid Mahmoud ’Ulayyan, 42, from Hamas, was arrested on June 5th, 2007 as he was returning from a trip to Belgium, via the Allenby bridge between Jordan and the occupied West Bank. Following his release, which is not connected to Israel’s release today of 255 non-Hamas prisoners as part of a deal with President Abbas, the mayortold Ma’an thathe had been living in "harsh conditions" in the Israeli jails. He also said that other prisoners suffered from "very humiliation conditions." He added that he was released because there was no evidence against him. [end] PA: Both parents held in Israel, 6 kids left alone Ali Waked, YNetNews 7/20/2007 IDF holds Palestinian couple in administrative custody without informing them of charges against them or enabling them to stand trial. Meanwhile, their six children being raised by their grandparents, suffer mental distress - While thousands celebrated the release of 255 Palestinian prisoners in Ramallah Friday, no joy could be felt at the house of the al-Hashalmon family in the village of Akbat Tapuch near Hebron, where Raisa raises her six grandchildren whose parents have been held by the IDF for over a year. In June last year, the IDF arrested Sami, Raisa’s son and sent him for a six-month administrative custody, which has since been renewed three times. His wife, Nur was arrested in September, and their six children - the oldest one 14-years-old and the youngest three, have remained without their parents since then. Palestinian underage Detainees are facing harsh treatment in Benjamin Israeli prison IMEMC Staff, International Middle East Media Center 7/20/2007 A report published by the Palestinian Prisoner Society revealed that Israeli soldiers in Benjamin detention facility, and the prison administration, are rejecting to improve the living conditions of the Palestinian underage detainees who are facing daily hardships and attacks. The Society stated that those detainees should be freed since they are minor and cannot be imprisoned in this way, especially amidst the repeated violations practiced against them, the torture and inhuman treatment they face. The Society also stated in its report that the detainees are placed in small but overcrowded rooms while the administration refuses to give them enough covers, clothes, cleaning tools and other important tools. Several detainees stated that rats are found all over the detention facility, and that the detainees do not have hot water to shower. Al-Bireh’s mayor has his administrative detention extended again Ma’an News Agency 7/19/2007 Nablus - Ma’an - The Nafha society for the defence of human and prisoners’ rights has condemned the continued administrative detention of Al Bireh’s mayor, Jamal Al-Tawil. The society says this is the sixth time in a row, in only four months, that Al-Tawil’s detention without charge or trial has been extended. The association affirmed in a statement that, in addition to extending Al-Tawil’s detention, the Israeli military court demanded that he surrender his post as mayor of Al-Bireh, which is the municpality adjacent to Ramallah city in the central West Bank. Al-Tawil was first arrested in April 2002 and was sentenced to three years’ imprisonment. Soon before he finished his sentence, on 22 February 2005, the Israeli court transferred him to administrative detention. Palestinian Security Forces disperse sympathy rally, arresting five civilians Ma’an News Agency 7/18/2007 Nablus - Ma’an - Palestinian security services personnel on Wednesday dispersed a rally organised by Hamas women. They arrested five people, including journalists. The rally was being held to support the families of political prisoners from Nablus. The families took also part in a meeting before the rally. Photojournalist Nasser Shtayya told Ma’an that members of the security forces attacked him, and his colleague Samir Khweira, while they were covering the rally, staged in front of the Nablus police department. Shtayya’s camera was destroyed in the process. Eyewitnesses stated that Palestinian Legislative Council (PLC) member Ahmad Al-Haj delivered a speech in which he heavily criticised the Palestinian Authority. This incited his audience, who demanded he apologise for his words. Interview with Minister of Education, Nasser Eddin El-Shaer after being released Ali Samoudi, International Middle East Media Center 7/18/2007 The Minister of Information in the deposed National Unity government, Nasser Eddin El Shaer said that the prisoners appealed for al the Palestinian people represented by all the Palestinian factions to give up all the manifestation of sham that carried out on the Palestinian lands and to reinforce the Palestinian unity because it’s not fair to separate the prisoners according to the factional affiliation. He added that every Palestinian prisoner feel embarrassed concerning what’s happening of bloody infighting on the Palestinian lands but the prisoners now are more comfortable as the situation is started to be calm. The prisoners also called for radical remedy of the situation and to return back to dialogue, as El Shaer said. Palestine News Network (PNN) managed interview with El Shaer after being released... Palestinian police attack prisoners support rally in Nablus and arrests five Ghassan Bannoura & Agencies, International Middle East Media Center 7/18/2007 Palestinian media sources reported that during a women rally organized by Hamas supporters in solidarity with the prisoners that took place in the noerthren West Bank city of Nablus, Palestinian police attack the protesters and arrests five, among those arrested were two Palestinian journalists covering the rally. The Palestinian news agency Ma’an said that the rally was being held to support the families of political prisoners from Nablus. During the rally a Hamas leader and Palestinian parliamentarian Ahmad Haj Ali delivered a speech in which he criticized the Fatah movement, Fatah supporters then attacked the protest and tried to attack the Palestinian official, the police troops arrived at the scene and started to disperse the protesters, during those attempts the police arrested five residents among them two journalists who were covering the rally. Palestinian prisoner denied medical treatment by Israel, family claims Ma’an News Agency 7/18/2007 Nablus – Ma’an – A Palestinian imprisoned by Israel since June has not received medical treatment for a gunshot wound sustained more than a month ago, according to his family. Mohamad Omar Mustafa Al Mughrabe, 23, from Balata refugee camp, southeast of the Westy Bank city of Nablus, was arrested on 11 June and has been detained at Jalbou’a Central Prison in Israel. Mughrabe’s family called on the International Committee of the Red Cross and other international human rights organizations to save their son’s life. The family says Mughrabe was shot in the right hip and also suffers from asthma. The family asked the international organizations to put Israel on pressure to treat their son. [end] Israel releases ’former’ Hamas cabinet minister from prison The Associated Press, Ha’aretz 7/18/2007 Israel on Tuesday released ’former’ Palestinian Education Minister Nasser Shaer from prison, the Israel Defense Forces said in a statement. The IDF announced that Shaer had been held under administrative detention - imprisonment without trial - and was released upon agreement that he would sign a statement renouncing his membership in Hamas and declaring he would not hold positions in the Palestinian Authority for Hamas or any other illegal organization. Shaer is the most senior of 33 Hamas lawmakers arrested by Israeli security forces in the West Bank following in May. Hamas confirmed that Shaer had been freed but said that he was not formally a member of the Islamist group. Following the capture of IDF soldier Gilad Shalit by Hamas-affiliated militants last June, Israel has rounded up more than 60 Hamas... Prison Service heightens alert pending prisoners’ release Raanan Ben-Zur, YNetNews 7/17/2007 Commissioner orders heightened alert, reinforced personnel in security prisons as preventive measure for possible riots - Israel’s security prisons upped their level of alertness Tuesday as a preventive measure against possible riots by Palestinian prisoners who were not included on the list of 256 prisoners to be released Friday. The release of Palestinian prisoners was approved earlier Tuesday by a special ministerial committee headed by Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, as part Israel’s gestures to Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas. The 4,000 Hamas prisoners incarcerated in Israeli prisons are feared to incite riots in protest of the prisoners’ release - none of whom are affiliated with the Islamist movement. Israel Prison Service Commissioner Benny Kaniak ordered prison commanders to reinforce... Palestinian Detained and Tortured in al- Mashtal Detention Center Dies Palestinian Centre for Human Rights 7/16/2007 PCHR calls for opening an immediate investigation into the death of Waleed Abu Dalfa during his detention in al-Mashtal intelligence outpost, northwest of Gaza City, after he and his bother had been tortured by the Izziddin al-Qassam Brigades (the military wing of Hamas) which currently control the outpost. PCHR also strongly condemns arrests and detentions by the Izziddin al-Qassam Brigades, which are often accompanied by practicing torture against a number of detainees, and calls for stopping such illegal practices, emphasizing that Hamas’ military wing does not have any legal status that entitles them to arrest or detain people. According to investigations conducted by PCHR, at approximately 23:00 on Sunday, 15 July 2007, the body of Waleed Salman Abu Dalfa, 45, from Gaza City, was brought to the reception department at Shifa Hospital in Gaza City... An appeal to release sick detainees IMEMC Staff, International Middle East Media Center 7/16/2007 Hajj Ribhi Hussein Saleh, the father of Ala’ and Mohammad, who are both imprisoned by Israel, visited the office of the Popular Committees, met with its secretary-general, Azmi Shiokhy, and informed him that his sons are facing several health problem but are deprived from their medication rights. The Father stated that his son Ala’, 32, is currently held at the Ramon Israeli prison, and that he and his fellow detainees are facing daily incidents of abuse and attacks carried by the soldiers, in addition to lacking the basic needs such as sufficient food and clothing. The father added that his son needs urgent medical attention since he suffers from severe pain in his eyes as a result of torture since the soldiers used to punch him during interrogation. Palestinian human rights groups call for probe into Hamas over prisoners’ deaths The Associated Press, Ha’aretz 7/17/2007 Palestinian human rights groups called for an investigation on Monday into the deaths of at least two Palestinians who they said were illegally detained and tortured by Hamas in the Gaza Strip. The body of a Palestinian man was delivered to a hospital Monday, a week after he was abducted by Hamas militants in what appeared to be a new case of vigilante justice by the Islamic group following its takeover of the Gaza Strip. Mahir Abu Dhalfa , 45, was nabbed last week by Hamas’ Executive Force in Gaza City. Early Monday, his body was brought to Shifa Hospital with signs of suffocation, Palestinian medical officials said. Hamas promised amnesty for its vanquished Fatah rivals in the Gaza Strip, which the Islamic militant group violently seized last month. Security Officers Arrested and Tortured in Gaza Palestinian Centre for Human Rights 7/16/2007 PCHR strongly condemns torture and cruel and degrading treatment practiced by the Executive Force against a number of Palestinian security officers during detention and interrogation in the Gaza Strip. PCHR calls for stopping such illegal practices, which violate the Palestinian law and international human rights instruments and standards. Detention and Torture of 2 Intelligence Officers - At approximately 03:00 on Friday, 13 July 2007, the Executive Force arrested 2 officers of the Palestinian General Intelligence Service from their houses in al-Suandiya area in the west of the northern Gaza Strip town of Beit Lahia: Lieutenant Colonel Ziad Fanous, 50; and Nader Qaddoura Sa’diya, 50. According to PCHR’s investigations and the two officers’ testimonies... Bethlehem family appeals for urgent medical assistance for their jailed, and allegedly tortured, son Ma’an News Agency 7/16/2007 Bethlehem - Ma’an - A Bethlehem family has appealed to international human rights and medical organizations to intervene to assist a family member who has allegedly suffered 45 days of torture at the hands of the Israeli military while detained in Moskobiya interrogation centre in Jerusalem. Awad Al Tamri, a 36-year-old Palestinian married man with 5 children, has been held in Israeli jail since March 8. Allegedly he suffered physical torture in Moskobiya jail in Jerusalem for 45 days before being transferred to an isolated cell in Ayalon jail. The prisoner is said to be suffering from serious stomach and skin complaints. The Al Tamri family and Palestinian prisoners’ lobbying groups have appealed to human rights organizations and the International Committee of the Red Cross to provide Awad with urgent medical care. Israeli court extends detention of PLC’s Hebron office director Ma’an News Agency 7/16/2007 Hebron - Ma’an - The Israeli military court has extended the prison term of the director general of the Palestinian Legislative Council office in Hebron, Mahmoud Hamdi Shabaneh. Shabaneh, who was arrested from his office in the West Bank city of Hebron by the Israeli military forces a year ago, has had his detention extended by another six months. Members of the PLC office in Hebron, which is now closed, have condemned the extension of Shabaneh’s detention. They demanded that the international community and lawyers worldwide put an end to the continuous arrests of the representatives of the Palestinian people. [end] Ofer decides to close the road leading to Ofer Israeli military court Ma’an News Agency 7/16/2007 Ramallah – Ma’an - The Palestinian Prisoners Society (PPS) has condemned the judgment of the Israeli Ofer military court who have decided to close the road between the court and Ofer’s detention room, for lawyers and public and private vehicles. The Palestinian Prisoners Society stated that this decision forces the families of prisoners, including many elderly people to walk some 1. 5 kilometers, which will also cause delay to the lawyers who must frequently move between court sessions and the detention centre. The Palestinian Prisoners Society stated that the road was closed on Sunday 15/7 and on Monday 16/7. The PPS called upon the international legal and humanitarian institutions for immediate intervention to encourage the court to revoke their decision, and to re-open the road. [end] Nafha society: Petakh Tikva’s prisoners face "illegal, inhumane interrogation" Ma’an News Agency 7/15/2007 Nablus - Ma’an - The attorney of the Nafha prisoners’ rights society has visited the interrogation centre in Petakh Tikva as part of a scheduled visit to check on the situations of the prisoners. The prisoners accused occupying Israeli forces for applying illegal and inhumane styles of applying pressure to the prisoners to elicit confessions. The prisoners confirmed that they are being blackmailed under threats, and subjected to widespread psychological and physical stress in the interrogation centers. The Nafha community appealed for human rights organizations such as the Red Cross to tackle this issue, "to stop the tragedy of the interrogation centers" and to stop the Israeli military and civilian authorities from breaking international law. [end] Nablus roadblocks, indicators of Israeli illegal measures against the Palestinians Amin Abuwardeh, International Middle East Media Center 7/15/2007 A person who closely monitors the media, and the repeated Israeli statements of facilitating the movement of Palestinians in the West Bank, removing some roadblocks, and "easing restrictions" might find it difficult to understand these statements if he just carries a small tour around Nablus. Israel claims that it is willing to lift some roadblocks, stop chasing some resistance activists and stopping its invasions into the West Bank, in addition to releasing a number of detainees, but you only need to make a small tour around Nablus, and see its roadblocks. Only then you will observe part of the daily suffering of the residents. Recently, and in an ironic contradiction with the statements of Israel’s Prime Minister, Ehud Olmert, the Israeli army doubled the number of roadblocks, especially around Nablus, and started barring male residents under the age of 35 from crossing. Palestinian women’s leader has detention extended by Israeli military court Ma’an News Agency 7/14/2007 Ramallah – Ma’an – The Israeli military court at the Muscobiyeh interrogation center in Jerusalem has extended the arrest period of Palestinian woman Nada al Jaiousi for a further 11 days, to allow for further investigations against her. The Nafha prisoner’s society stated "Al Jaiousi, who is the head of Al Huda women’s charitable society, is a mother of 9 children, and was abducted four days ago from her home in the West Bank city of Ramallah." The society added that Al Jaiousi "is suffering from the inhumane conditions in the jail", and condemned "the continued attacks against the Palestinian women which is against all international conventions and agreements." The society called on President Abbas and all human rights organizations to intervene for the release of Al Jaiousi. [end] Israeli military court extends period of administrative detention for five Palestinian prisoners Ma’an News Agency 7/14/2007 Tulkarem – Ma’an – The Israeli military court of Salem has extended the period of administrative detention for several prisoners that are being held in Al Halmeh jail, in preparation for their appearance before the Israeli court. Halimeh Armeilat, the head of the Palestinian Prisoners Society in Tulkarem, said that the prisoners are: Yousef Ahmad Mouhamad Ishtweiy (25) from Tulkarem, Mouhamad Jamiel Al Taneib (20) from Artah, Salah Sameir Sa’ed (22) from Baka Al Sharkiah, and Muhanad Rebhi Badran (22) from Thenabah. Four of the prisoners have had their stay in jail extended for a further 15 days. Badran’s detention, however, was extended for another 8 days only. Sudanese refugees to be moved to jail while housing constructed Jonathan Lis, Ha’aretz 7/15/2007 The "hospitality facility" next to Ketziot Prison in the Negev that was to house African refugees beginning Sunday will apparently not be ready for another two weeks. Hundreds of refugees, including children and teens, will be housed within the prison under conditions described as better than those of regular prisoners. Avi Dichter, the minister of public security, and his director general last week announced their intention to create a "campsite" to hold the refugees until their deportation. One of the main purposes of the new site was to allow families to remain together. It will take several days before water, electricity and plumbing can be arranged for the site. In addition, legal steps must be taken to authorize the Israel Prison Service (IPS) to permit families to live together within its facilities. 140 Palestinian detainees transferred from one Israeli desert prison to another, Nafha society says Ma’an News Agency 7/12/2007 Nablus - Ma’an - The Nafha society for the defence of human and prisoners’ rights criticized on Thursday the Israel decision to transfer 140 Palestinian detainees from one prison deep in the Negev desert of southern Israel to two other prisons in the area. Most of the detainees are serving administrative sentences, Nafha society said, meaning that they have not been formally charged or tried. One of the transferred detainees was named as the mayor of Al-Bireh city – the twin city of the West Bank city of Ramallah – called Jamal At-Taweel. Nafha said that these Negev prisons are notorious for their poor conditions. They added in a statement the decision to transfer 140 detainees came clearly after the Israeli government announced that they would free 250 Palestinian prisoners, most of whom have almost finished their prison sentences. MK Barakeh criticizes Israel’s "divide and control" policy over Palestinian prisoners Ma’an News Agency 7/12/2007 Jerusalem - Ma’an - Mohammad Barakeh, a Palestinian Arab member of the Israeli Knesset and secretary-general of the Israeli ’Hadash’ movement (Democratic Front for Peace and Equality), told the Israeli parliament on Thursday that the Israeli game of "divide and control" would not succeed in defeating the Palestinians. He was referring to Israel’s plan to release 250 Palestinian prisoners, but all from one faction, Fatah, a move which Barakeh sharply criticized." Of course we approve of the idea of releasing 250 prisoners," Barakeh said, "but we would approve of it more if the number of the prisoners to be released was higher." [end] Israeli military court gives Tulkarem man 20 months imprisonment and a 2000 NIS fine for being member of Fatah Ma’an News Agency 7/12/2007 Tulkarem – Ma’an – The Israeli Salem military court, at noon on Thursday, ruled that prisoner Mohammad Fawze Naser Tanbour, from Tulkarem, should receive a sentence of 20 months’ imprisonment and a 2000 NIS fine. The 18 year old was accused of being a member of the Fatah movement. Israeli troops arrested Tanbour from his home in Tulkarem on the 1st February 2007. He is now in Hasharon jail. [end] Saudi prisoner detained by Israel appeals for his release Ma’an News Agency 7/12/2007 Bethlehem - Ma’an - An Israeli court will consider on Thursday petitions by the attorneys of Abed Ar Rahman Al-Atawi, a Saudi national detained by Israel. Al-Atawi’s lawyers requested that he be freed and permitted to reside in the Palestinian territories until another country agrees to accept him. Al-Atawi is represented by the Mandela Institute for Human Rights, an organization that advocates mainly on the behalf of Palestinian political prisoners. Attorney Buthayna Duqmaq, the chair of the Mandela Institute, told Ash Sharq Al-Awsat newspaper, "We appealed for the release of our defendant to allow him to reside in the West Bank or in the Gaza Strip." The Israeli central court in Jerusalem heard the case yesterday, but the verdict is expected today, Thursday. Rights group to AG: Prevent arrest raid of African refugees Ruth Sinai, Ha’aretz 7/12/2007 The Hotline for Migrant Workers sent a letter to Attorney General Menachem Mazuz on Thursday asking him to prevent a night raid that immigration police were reportedly planning in Eilat, in which they would arrest all the Sudanese refugees in the city and transfer them to a nearby prison. According to information gathered by the migrant worker’s rights group, the refugees would then have a "quick hearing" and be deported from the country. The immigration police denied planning an arrest raid in Eilat. A police source confirmed that they did in fact collect information on the number of refugees in Eilat and their addresses, however the source said that a decision on the matter of the Sudanese refugees in Eilat has yet to be reached. The police did say that beginning Monday, they would begin sending back to Egypt any refugee who is caught infiltrating the border with Israel. Israel suspends ICRC’s family visit programme, affecting 900 prisoners Ma’an News Agency 7/11/2007 Gaza - West Bank - Ma’an - In their latest report, the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) states that the Israeli government has suspended the ICRC’s Family Visit Programme as of June, 6th. 900 prisoners are being affected by the Israeli’s decision, says the ICRC. In May, the ICRC stated that 15,753 Palestinians visited 7,052 family members in Israeli prisons. Now, this number will drop sharply. Gaza crossings remain largely closed - The ICRC reports that most Gaza crossings remain largely closed to the general public. One of the biggest concerns in this respect is that Palestinians wishing to return to Gaza on the Egyptian side of the Rafah area, or Palestinians who want to leave the Strip, are severely restricted in their movement. PCHR Calls for Investigation into the Death of a Detainee in Suspicious Circumstances in Gaza Central Prison PCHR Gaza, International Middle East Media Center 7/11/2007 PCHR calls upon the Attorney-General to open an immediate investigation into the death of Fadel Dahmash in Gaza Central Prison on Tuesday evening, 10 July 2007, and to instruct the conduct of forensic checking to find out the reasons of his death. According to investigations conducted by PCHR, at approximately 19:00 on Tuesday, 10 July 2007, the body of Fadel Mohammed Saleem Dahmash, 31, from Deir al-Balah, was brought into Shifa Hospital in Gaza City. The body was transferred to the hospital from Gaza Central Prison. According to a letter from the manager of the prison to the hospital, Dahmash suffered from a heart failure and had difficulties in breathing. The body is still at the hospital, and has not been checked by forensic medicine specialists so far due to the lack of instructions from the Attorney-General. Detained founder of the West Bank branch of Hamas’ armed wing put into isolation Ma’an News Agency 7/10/2007 Ramallah - Ma’an - The Israeli authorities have transferred the detained West Bank founder of Hamas’ armed wing to an isolated section of Ashkelon prison. Sheikh Saleh Al-Aruri was arrested on 23 June by the Israeli forces and placed under six months’ administrative detention, meaning arrest without trial or charge. Previously, he acted as an effective mediator between rival Fatah and Hamas factions in the occupied West Bank, reliable sources said. He has spent some 15 years in Israeli prisons, the sources said, and he was released after his previous jail stint on 11 March 2007. Al-Aruri founded the West Bank branch of Hamas’ military wing of Hamas, known as the "Martyr Al-Qassam Brigades." [end] Union of Wounded Palestinians appeals medical treatment for three injured, detained residents Najeeb Farraj – IEMMC, International Middle East Media Center 7/10/2007 Three Palestinian residents, who were shot and injured by the Israeli army before they were taken prisoner, are currently facing life-threatening conditions and are receiving treatment at the Al Ramleh prison hospital which lacks the basic equipment. The Union of Wounded Palestinians in Bethlehem issued a statement on Tuesday stating that the three detainees are in immediate need for proper medical treatment, and appealed several human rights groups and the United Nations to save them. The three are Mohammad Montaser Abu Zeid, Mohammad Basheer and Mohammad Obeiyyat. Detainee Mohammad Abu Zeid was kidnapped by the Israeli army in December last year after the soldiers fired at him in Al Douha town in Bethlehem. He was hit by fourteen rounds of live ammunition in his legs and underwent three surgeries but still... Nafha detainees society visits a number of detainees in Israeli prisons IMEMC Staff, International Middle East Media Center 7/11/2007 The Nafha Society, which is active in the rights of Palestinian detainees in Israeli poisons, visited recently dozens of detainees held by Israel is several prisons, detention and interrogation centers. Lawyers of the Society also managed to visit some of the kidnapped Palestinian legislators and officials. The society stated that its lawyers also visited legislator Hamid Al Betwai, Dr, Hatim Jarrar, head of Jenin municipality, legislator Yasser Mansour, and legislator Hosny Al Boureeny. They all suffer from chronic diseases and need medical attention. The lawyers also visited at least 32 detainees from the West Bank who are imprisoned in Al Jalama Israeli prison and Huwwara detention facility. Huwwara detention facility is one of the worst Israeli prisons where Israeli prison authorities continuously carried... Israeli prisons continue to segregate Hamas and Fatah prisoners Ma’an News Agency 7/9/2007 Bethlehem – Ma’an – A representative from the Palestinian Prisoners Society (PPS) at Beer Sheva prison in Israel, Na’el Salhab, on Monday said that the Israeli prison’s administration has segregated prisoners affiliated to the Hamas and Fatah movements. Salhab said that the prisoners protest the separation and are determined to continue as before. He also revealed that young prisoners have been denied the educational Tawjihi books, even though their exams begin in ten days. A lawyer from the PPS, Fawaz Salhab, visited the prison on the 5th of July and reported that prisoners are being severely physically neglected. He said that some prisoners have backache, skin allergies, are malnourished and are prevented from going outdoors. [end] Government to set up tent city for Darfur refugees Anat Bershkovsky, YNetNews 7/9/2007 Internal Security Minister Avi Dichter says tents will be erected near jail in south to provide temporary shelter for Sudanese refugees - The government will set up a tent city in the Negev to house dozens of Sudanese refugees who infiltrate Israel from Egypt almost daily, Internal Security Minister Avi Dichter said Monday. Dichter acknowledged that the solution was only temporary, adding that many refugees will be sent back to Egypt. "This is a national task that requires an overall solution," Dichter told reporters after talks with officials at the Israel Prisons Authority. The site will be erected near the Ketziot jail which lies close to the border with Egypt. The Prime Minister’s Office said in a statement that a list of refugees Israel wanted to expel to Egypt was being drafted. Israeli court sentences Palestinian blind man to 2 years behind bars Palestinian Information Center 7/7/2007 QALQILIA, (PIC)-- The Israeli military court in Salem detention center has passed a two-year sentence against the Palestinian blind detainee Ra’ed Suwailem on charges of membership in Hamas Movement. The court also accused Suwailem of giving religious lectures in mosques and passed against him another two-year suspended sentence. The 35-year-old Palestinian was arrested six months ago. Nafha legal society urged all concerned institutions to work for the immediate release of the blind man and to expose Israel’s inhuman acts against all Palestinian prisoners in general. Meanwhile, IOF troops mounting armored personnel carriers before dawn Saturday broke into Nablus city and its Balata refugee camp. Local sources said that the IOF soldiers opened indiscriminate fire at civilian homes... Palestinian is given prison sentence for working in Israel Ma’an News Agency 7/6/2007 Hebron – Ma’an – On Thursday, an Israeli court sentenced detainee, Ahmad Mahmoud Abu Hamed, from Yatta in Hebron, to nine months imprisonment. He was arrested on the 1st of April, 2007, for working in Israel without a permit. His hearing has been delayed several times until now. [end] Jerusalem municipality media office calls for the release of sick detainees in Israeli jails Ma’an News Agency 7/6/2007 Jerusalem – Ma’an – The media office at the Jerusalem municipality on Friday urged the Middle East peace Quartet, the Arab League and United Nations Security Council to exert pressure on Israel to release detainees that are in need of medical treatment. The director of the office, Abu Rume, said that Israeli jails deny treatment to prisoners. He also condemned the inhumane techniques used during interrogation. [end] More Druze refuseniks despite Israel threats IMEMC Staff, International Middle East Media Center 7/6/2007 Despite the repeated threats and actual punishments against Arab Druze refuseniks in Israel, more Druze young are rejecting military service in the Israel army and confirmed their belonging to their Arab nationality, and to the Palestinian people. The youth are rejecting to be part of an army which is occupying Palestine and Arab territories, and reject to be part of the killings and assaults carried by this army. Waleed Ja’far, one of the Druze refuseniks said that the youth do not want to be related to this army "which is killing and conducting terrorist attacks against the Palestinian people in the occupied territories", and added that he was arrested and imprisoned two times for rejecting the military service. "Even if I spend my whole life in prison, I will not be a soldier who carries a gun against his... Israeli prison authorities effect violent segregation of Palestinian detainees Khalid Amayreh, Palestinian Information Center 7/5/2007 East Jerusalem - Israeli prison authorities have been carrying out a violent segregation of Palestinian political prisoners and detainees along political and factional lines, prisoners and human rights sources said Thursday. According to “Abu Muhammed,” a prisoner leader at the notorious Ketziot detention camp in the Negev desert, Israeli soldiers and Shin Beth agents have been forcibly segregating prisoners, especially those affiliated with Fatah and Hamas. “They are doing this by coercion and against the will of the prisoners. There are no problems between the prisoners who totally reject these provocative measures,” said Abu Muhammed (nom de guerre) in a telephone call. He said prisoners were being taken out of their wards and placed in other wards. “They are separating and segregating us according to our political and geographical affiliation..." Two detainees sentenced to life-terms IMEMC Staff, International Middle East Media Center 7/7/2007 The Israeli Ofer military court sentenced on Thursday two detainees from Bethlehem to one-life term each and several additional years after claiming that they carried attacks against Israeli targets, and that they are members of the Al Aqsa brigades, the armed wing of Fateh movement. The two detainees, from Dar Salah village, near Bethlehem, were also accused of injuring several settlers during these attacks. Mohammad Al Khateeb, 25, was sentenced to one life-term and additional twenty years, and Nasser Salah, 24, was sentenced to one life-term and additional five years. They were both kidnapped by the army nearly 18 months ago. [end] They just don’t give up, those Mossad guys Reuven Pedatzur, Ha’aretz 7/5/2007 Prisoner Nachum Manbar has gone on prison leave 56 times since being jailed in 1997. During those leaves he was not required to report on his whereabouts to anyone and no restrictions were applied to him. The Shin Bet general security service approved the terms of his leave with the full support of Yehiel Horev, who was in charge of security for the defense establishment and known for his stringent approach. About two weeks ago, after serving two thirds of a 16-year jail sentence for selling arms to Iran, the release committee was about to meet to consider Manbar’s case. Surprisingly, the State Prosecutor’s position was against the release, as were the Mossad and the Shin Bet. The first argument raised by the State Prosecutor’s Office was "the danger Manbar presented as a free man. BBC’s Johnston describes relief BBC Online 7/4/2007 Mr Johnston said his time in captivity was the worst of his life - His own words - BBC reporter Alan Johnston has said it is "just unimaginably good to be free" after 114 days in captivity in Gaza. He said his ordeal felt like being "buried alive", and was "sometimes quite terrifying". Mr Johnston, 45, was handed over to the Palestinian militant group Hamas in Gaza City. Britain said the group had played a key role in his release. The reporter said he had not been tortured by the Army of Islam group which seized him on 12 March. Several hours later he appeared live on TV, thanking BBC colleagues and others who had supported him throughout his time in captivity. He vowed to return to "obscurity" and said he would try to "stay out of trouble" in future. ICRC delegation visits Palestinian attorney general, discuss Palestinian prison conditions during state of emergency Ma’an News Agency 7/3/2007 Ramallah - Ma’an - The Palestinian attorney general Muhammad Al-Mughanni met on Tuesday in his office in Ramallah with a delegation from the International Committee of the Red Cross. They discussed the repercussions of the state of emergency, specifically the situation in the Palestinian prisons in the West Bank and Gaza, and the role of the attorney general regarding apprehensions and interrogations. The issue of rehabilitation and reform centres – or "prisons" – in the Gaza Strip was addressed. The attorney general had addressed the Palestinian presidency, the Palestinian Legislative Council and government regarding these centres before the latest events in Gaza. President Mahmoud Abbas had appointed a committee to study the situation in order to work out a suitable solution, yet the regrettable events in Gaza frustrated the attempt. Arrests during state of emergency must be referred to public prosecution, Palestinian human rights center asserts Ma’an News Agency 7/3/2007 Gaza - Ma’an - The Palestinian Independent Commission for Citizens’ Rights recommended today, Tuesday, that the Palestinian security services should send those who they detained to the public prosecution in order that their detention be discussed within 15 days of their apprehension. A report published by PICCR asserted that the public prosecution must undertake periodical inspections of detention centers. The public prosecution should also review the files of the detainees who were arrested as a result of the announcement of the state of emergency, without waiting for the security service which carried out the arrest to submit the detainees’ files, the PICCR said. Furthermore, the report called on the public prosecution to investigate the allegations of some detainees that they were tortured violently. Israeli intelligence kidnaps 11 Palestinian Jerusalemites Palestinian Information Center 7/2/2007 OCCUPIED JERUSALEM, (PIC)-- Israeli internal intelligence agents backed by policemen have kidnapped 11 Palestinian Jerusalemites at the allegation of being members of the Hamas Movement. The Hebrew radio quoted an intelligence source as saying that a number of what he described as "Hamas leaders" were recently arrested in Jerusalem. He opined that the arrest of those "leaders" would negatively affect Hamas’s activity and influence in Jerusalem especially in the Awkaf department and other institutions in the Aqsa Mosque. The source claimed that interrogating the suspects revealed how the Movement transferred money sums to its members in Jerusalem, and added that a huge sum of money was confiscated. Israeli prosecution would charge the detainees with membership in a "terrorist" organization and financing "terrorist activity." Israel’s Vanunu sentenced to jail Al Jazeera 7/2/2007 An Israeli court has given a six-month jail term to a man who in 2004 completed an 18-year prison term for leaking nuclear secrets, this time for violating a ban on speaking to foreigners. Jerusalem magistrate’s court sentenced Mordechai Vanunu on Monday, after he was convicted of 14 violations of the restrictions. "All I want to be is to be free, to leave the country," said Vanunu, who insists he only wants to pursue a peaceful anti-nuclear campaign. In 1986, Vanunu was sentenced to 18 years behind bars after telling Britain’s Sunday Times newspaper about his work as a technician at the Dimona reactor. Unauthorised contact -- Israel has resticted Vanunu’s movements and personal contacts since he finished his first jail term. Mordechai Vanunu to return to prison for violating parole Roni Singer-Heruti, Ha’aretz 7/2/2007 Nuclear whistleblower Mordechai Vanunu was sentenced to six months in jail yesterday for violating terms of his parole. The former technician at Israel’s nuclear plant near Dimona had spent 18 years in prison for giving details of the country’s atomic program to the British newspaper Sunday Times in 1986. Upon his release in 2004, Vanunu was banned from leaving the country and talking to foreigners without approval, because Israeli authorities claimed he could still divulge classified information. But he continued to give interviews and speak about his work in the nuclear plant near Dimona, giving information the defense establishment sees as ’sensitive. ’ In March he was indicted for 21 parole violations, which were later reduced to 19. He was convicted of 15 parole violations, including contacts with journalists... A refugee’s plea to Olmert: Let me stay’ Ruth Sinai, Ha’aretz 7/3/2007 A Sudanese refugee staying in Israel sent a letter to Prime Minister Ehud Olmert this week begging the prime minister not to send him back to Egypt. ’I wish to plead with you, honorable sir, not to do so,’ writes Abaker Ali, 33, of Darfur, who entered Israel illegally from Egypt two years ago. ’I suffered a lot in Sudan and then again in Egypt. If I am returned to Sudan I will be killed, and if I return to Egypt the Egyptians will torture me and possibly send me back to Sudan. I have no other place to go. ’ Abaker had been forced to leave his hometown ’because the Janjaweed militias are committing genocide in Darfur. The militias attacked us, killed many people in my family and burned my village. ’ Abaker escaped to Egypt where he was arrested, and the Egyptians threatened to deport him back to Sudan. Palestinian detainees demand an end to medical neglect and collective punishment IMEMC, International Middle East Media Center 7/1/2007 Palestinian detainees imprisoned by Israel in dozens of detention facilities and camps demanded the international community and human rights groups to intervene in order to force the Israeli authorities to provide the sick detainees with the needed medical attention and treatment. The appeal of the detainees came through the Popular Committees. The detainees stated that dozens of detainees are in immediate need for surgeries, and immediate medical treatment while the Israeli Prison Authorities are neglecting their rights. The Popular Committees stated that several detainees are now in life-threatening conditions as they are deprived from the needed medical treatment and that their conditions continuously deteriorating. Azmi Shiokhy, secretary-general of the Committees, stated that the Israeli Prison Administration... In a Ma’an exclusive, head of the security forces in Gaza contends that Hamas prisoners are well treated Ma’an News Agency 7/1/2007 Tulkarem – Ma’an – In an exclusive statement for Ma’an on Sunday, manager of the Palestinian security services in Gaza, Colonel Ibrahim Ramadan, said that the security services had never abused prisoners affiliated to Hamas." Following investigations, prisoners that are not members of Hamas’ Executive Force or the military wing of Hamas are set free," said Ramadan. He alleged that two Hamas prisoners in Fatah jails assured that they had been well treated by the Palestinian security service members. Ramadan announced that the security forces had interrogated 70 Hamas members, 35 of whom had turned themselves in. He added that all were released, excluding five who remain in detention. At the end of the statement, Ramadan said that the recent events in Gaza were a genuine tragedy for the Palestinian people and that the violent incidents were completely unprecedented. Hamas accuses the security services of torture Ma’an News Agency 6/30/2007 Nablus – Ma’an – The Hamas movement on Saturday accused the Palestinian security services in the West Bank of torturing Hamas-affiliated detainees. The movement claimed that a detainee was taken to Al Arabi Hospital in Nablus, in the northern West Bank, on Saturday after he sustained torture-related injuries. The Palestinian Authority has denied the allegations. Hamas issued a statement claiming that "the Palestinian security services were obliged to take Amin Abu ’Ubayya to Al Arabi Hospital in Nablus after he was severely tortured at the hands of the security services." The statement also said that three other detainees were taken to hospitals in Ramallah, in the central West Bank, in recent days for similar reasons. The victims of torture were named as; Nihad ’Ulayyan, Abed ir Rahim Faysal, both from... Delegates of Human Rights organizations meet new Palestinian minister of justice Ma’an News Agency 6/30/2007 Ramallah – Ma’an – The Palestinian Minister of Justice in the new emergency government, Dr. Riyad Al Maliki, has met delegates of the Human Rights Supervisory organization on Saturday at the ministry’s centre in Ramallah. The meeting discussed the situation in Gaza, the statements of Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, and Hamas’ prisoners in Fatah’s jails. Al Maliki assured that most of the Hamas prisoners had been released by Fatah, and only a few remain in custody. [end] A jailed Hamas leader in bad health condition IMEMC Staff, International Middle East Media Center 7/2/2007 Israeli Prison Authorities barred a specialized committee from visiting Sheikh Jamal Abu Haija, one of the jailed leaders of Hamas movement, who was injured before he was abducting by the army and is currently confined to solitary in HaliKidar Israeli detention facility. The specialized health committee stated that the health condition of Abu Al Haija is sharply deteriorating while the Israeli authorities are barring him from receiving the proper medical treatment and attention. Abu Al Haija was kidnapped by the army five years ago and was sentenced to nine life terms and 80 consecutive years. The committee stated that Abu Al Haija needs assistant in his daily life especially since his right arm was amputated when he was shot by the soldiers, and added that he needs several surgeries to remove bullet fragments from his body.  Articles
Not Hamas, but corrupt people that live off the martyrs, the poor and the prisoners are Fayyad’s enemy Editorial, Ma’an News Agency 7/31/2007 Bethlehem – Editor in Chief – The Palestinian Prime Minister of the caretaker government, Salam Fayyad, was never a member of the Palestinian military resistance; he never carried a weapon or lived in the guerrilla military camps. Because of that, the Palestinian military factions cannot work with him properly. The same goes for some of the factions within the Palestine Liberation Organisation (PLO); they have not been involved in any military action for more than 17 years. When the Prime Minister published his government’s political plan (which does not mention armed resistance any longer, in effect denouncing it), a great debate ensued. Many wondered what the difference was between this plan and that of Palestinian President Mahmud Abbas. They also wondered what the difference is between Fayyad’s plan and those of the factions in the PLO mentioned earlier. The question is therefore, why is Fayyad alone attacked for his plan? Personally, I do not agree with anyone that says that Hamas is the enemy of Fayyad. Months ago Fayyad met with Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh. Hamas was then calling for an end to the siege, just as the other factions were doing. Now, with Fayyad’s new plan, we can ask ourselves what has changed. Did Fayyad change? Was it the factions? Did the reason change, or did we all change? Fayyad’s real enemies are the corrupt people and thieves who live off the martyrs, the prisoners, the poor and the orphans. They are the ones that may attempt to get rid of him by any means at their disposal. Sonja Karkar: Israel’s Human Rights Violations Sonja Karkar, Palestine Chronicle 7/30/2007 By following Western media, one could be excused for thinking that Israel’s human rights violations against the Palestinians stopped since the Palestinian factions began fighting each other. Just about every report and article written in the Western media these past weeks have focused on the rift between Fatah and Hamas and US overtures to broker a peace deal that may finally allow the Palestinians a state of sorts. Any mention of Israel is in the light of urbane diplomatic discussions between it and the other main players minus, of course, Hamas with Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert showing a most remarkable willingness to agree to a peace settlement that would see the Palestinians getting back around 90 per cent of the West Bank. If only there was reason to believe that the leopard has changed its spots. The truth of the matter is that nothing has changed on the ground for the Palestinians. Israel is rolling into the occupied Palestinian territories with its tanks and armoured vehicles and using its war planes to fire rockets on an already severely beleaguered people in Gaza. Only in this past week, there were at least twenty-nine such military incursions that ended up with four Palestinian resistance fighters being executed by Israeli soldiers while a fifth Palestinian ended up dying from tank shell wounds. Palestinian civilians always bear the brunt of such incursions and eleven people were seriously wounded including five children and an elderly woman. The daily arrest of civilians has been routine for decades, but certainly the seventy-two civilians arrested this week make a mockery of the 250 prisoners just released as Israel’s goodwill gesture to Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas. Audio: Crossing the Line interviews Osamah Khalil Podcast, Crossing the Line, Electronic Intifada 7/23/2007 Later in the show, Brown speaks with Gaza resident and businessman Sam Abdelshafi about life after the Hamas takeover several weeks ago and what ordinary Gazans are saying about the need for fundamental change, as well as the dire economic conditions that nearly 1.5 million Gazans face. Then in the final segment, Rania Masri, assistant Professor of Environmental Science at the University of Balamand, updates us about the renewed shelling of the Palestinian camp of Nahr al-Bared and the ongoing humanitarian crisis for its displaced residents. Listen Now - [MP3 - 42.6 MB, 46:29 min] Crossing the Line is a weekly podcast dedicated to giving voice to the voiceless in occupied Palestine. Through investigative news, arts, eyewitness accounts, and music, Crossing the Line does its best to present the lives of people on the ground. Crossing the Line’s host, Chris Brown, is an independent journalist currently living in San Francisco.Brown’s South African roots and desire for social change are the reason for his strong solidarity with the Palestinian people. In 1990 Brown was arrested in South Africa where he was detained and tortured for nearly two years by the South African secret police. Brown also lived and worked in the Old City of Hebron in the occupied West Bank. Abbas’ only chance Danny Rubinstein, Ha’aretz 7/24/2007 For a moment this past weekend, it seemed Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas was getting stronger, while Hamas and its leadership were in a slump. The prisoners’ release was presented to the public as a success for Abbas, who was very keen to point out - to avoid finding himself in hot water - that Israel alone prepared the list of the released, without him or his aides knowing anything about it. Ismail Haniyeh, Hamas’ leader in the Gaza Strip, had to welcome the release, but he immediately added that one must be wary of the traps being laid by Israel, which is paying the PA what amounts to political bribes to divide the Palestinian people by releasing Fatah prisoners only. An Arabic- language daily in London said openly what was heard on the street corners of East Jerusalem: The release of 250 prisoners out of a total of nearly 11,000 is humiliating; an insult to Abbas. To a certain degree it was surprising to hear that Hamas’ leader in Damascus, Khaled Meshal, before his meeting with Iran’s President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad last week, had apologized for the mistakes made during Hamas’ takeover of the Gaza Strip. Of course, he stressed that he did not apologize to anyone - only before Allah - but this could also be interpreted as a sign of weakness. Add to this some of the more vociferous attacks against Hamas by Fatah leaders still in the Gaza Strip, like Zacharia al-Ara, who said Hamas behaved worse than the Israeli occupier, and it is fair to say that Abbas and his Fatah supporters sense a weakening Hamas. ’Don’t mention the occupation’ Khaled Amayreh in East Jerusalem, Al-Ahram Weekly 7/19/2007 The Palestinian political process seems to be going nowhere fast as Israel deigns to throw President Mahmoud Abbas scraps from the negotiating table. When Palestinian Authority (PA) President Mahmoud Abbas met with Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert at the latter’s official residence in West Jerusalem 16 July, Olmert delivered "glad tidings" to Abbas about his intention to free 250 Fatah prisoners and pardon some 180 Fatah militiamen on condition they hand over their weapons and formally pledge to abandon the armed struggle against Israel. However, when Abbas requested that Israel restart the stalled final-status talks with the PA, a peremptory Olmert told Abbas "to stop talking about the occupation because now is not the right time to discuss a final settlement." Instead, Olmert told the frustrated leader that his Ramallah-based government would have to get stronger in order to be able to defeat Hamas and consequently create "a suitable environment for peace." Olmert didn’t elaborate on what he meant by a "suitable environment," but one of his aides explained that if Abbas succeeded in eliminating or at least neutralising "the forces of extremism and terror," Israel and the PA could then reach a compromise. Alive now, dead later? Saleh Al-Naami, Al-Ahram Weekly 7/25/2007 Palestinian activists have nervously decided to hand in their arms in exchange for an amnesty from Israel. But are they correct in trusting the Israelis not to assassinate them in future? Not according to seasoned Israeli commentators Mohsen Sherim, a 42-year-old fish merchant from Qalqilia in the north of the West Bank, never imagined that his home, shop and car would be raided and searched for weapons. This followed a decree issued by Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, following an agreement with Israel, which banned the militias and ordered them to hand in their weapons as part of a security clampdown on the armed groups. According to Mustafa Sabri, a journalist residing in Qalqilia, Palestinian security forces rounded up dozens of Hamas members for interrogation regarding arms possession. Ashraf Al-Ajrami the Minister of Youth, Sports and Prisoners in Salam Fayyad’s emergency government felt confident that Abu Mazen’s (Abbas) decree and the measures it set into motion were, "in the higher national interests of the Palestinian people." Al-Ajrami told Al-Weekly, quot;We have to attempt to resolve the Palestinian-Israeli conflict by diplomatic means." Beware of Oslo’s destructive route Meron Benvenisti, Ha’aretz 7/20/2007 As opposed to the forecast, energetic diplomatic activity - which in the distant past was called the "peace process" - began during the July-August vacation, of all times. Summit meetings, a prisoner release, economic gestures, optimistic declarations and diplomatic plans are all making us feel that something serious is really happening. Because if not, such important people would not be devoting so much time to involvement in the diplomatic process, especially during the summer vacation. Even Tony Blair is starting to strengthen Palestinian institutions in preparation for establishing a state, but in the meantime he has not yet found a suitable building for his office in Jerusalem "because of the high real estate prices." Haim Ramon is in a hurry: He hasn’t even had time to warm up the vice premier’s chair, and is already hastening to publicize that he has initiated a new diplomatic plan called "disengagement lite," although he admitted that "it hasn’t even gotten off the drawing board." Many explanations have been offered for the sudden outburst of diplomatic energy: U.S. President George W. Bush’s need for a plan to rescue the last vestige of his honor in the region toward the end of his failed term in office; Prime Minister Ehud Olmert’s need to present a diplomatic achievement on the eve of the publication of the full Winograd report; the need to heed the demand to "strengthen Abu Mazen" (Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas) that is being heard from all sides; and the profound need to lift the peace camp out of its despair and give it a dose of optimism so it will continue to believe that most Israelis in fact support the two-state solution, and that the Greater Israel ideology is a thing of the past, even in the rightist camp. Vanunu mania Meron Rapoport, Ha’aretz 7/19/2007 Mordechai Vanunu doesn’t speak to Israeli reporters. He hasn’t forgotten that they were silent during the 12 years he spent in solitary confinement. Vanunu does, however, speak to foreign reporters. They don’t call him "the atomic spy," preferring terms like "whistle-blower." But if Vanunu, who was convicted in 1988 of giving details about Israel’s nuclear program to the British press, speaks with foreign reporters - and it doesn’t really matter what he says to them - he gets punished. Two weeks ago, the Jerusalem Magistrate’s Court sentenced him to six months in prison for doing just that. Therefore, Vanunu essentially must remain silent. Vanunu does not want to live in Israel, and not only for ideological reasons. Gideon Spiro, coordinator of the Israeli Committee for a Middle East Free from Atomic, Biological & Chemical Weapons, and one of Vanunu’s only Israeli friends, says it is unlikely that anyone in Israel would rent Vanunu an apartment. He is also liable to be attacked in the street. Vanunu therefore does not dare set foot in West Jerusalem, remaining in East Jerusalem. There, too, he lives in a kind of isolation. The Palestinians sympathize with him, says someone who knows Vanunu well, but are afraid to get close to him because the Mossad, the Shin Bet security service and the Defense Ministry all see him as one of the greatest threats to the State of Israel. "They planted around him, outside, the bars of the prison where he sat for 18 years," said Michael Sfard, the attorney who, together with Avigdor Feldman, represents Vanunu. My mother is in her last moments and I cannot cross the borders Dr. Mona El-Farra writing from Rafah Crossing, occupied Palestine, Electronic Intifada 7/18/2007 My mother is in the hospital at the moment. She is severely ill. She was admitted to the hospital three days ago. I cannot reach her. I finished my 45-day speaking tour in the US. All across the US and during every lecture I told the audience about our suffering, living in this big prison called Gaza. I told them about the borders closure and about the patients who passed away while waiting to cross the borders. The borders have been closed for more than five weeks and patients have died while waiting to cross the Rafah crossing, the only crossing between Gaza and Egypt. All other exits are completely sealed by the Israeli army. The border was opened 70 times in one year. This is my personal story, like the daily stories of the 1.4 million people in Gaza under siege and occupation, poverty, lack of resources, killing, shooting, violence, etc. I cannot cross the borders, I cannot cross the Rafah crossing. I badly need to be next to my mother. I badly need to be there with her to help her, to do whatever I can for her. To say, good bye mum. Power like the king of England Amira Hass, Ha’aretz 7/18/2007 At the end of the week, 256 families will celebrate the release from prison of their dear ones, and mothers are already relieved that the manhunt for their wanted sons has ended. In the cities where the wanted men live, there is also a sense of relief: The armed men - particularly those from Fatah - prided themselves on their weapons in the context of internal power games. They endangered their own surroundings rather than the Israeli occupation. We can gauge the extent to which the gestures will strengthen Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas not by the praise that Prime Minister Ehud Olmert is getting from U.S. President George W. Bush, but by how the gestures are received in Palestinian society. The intensive public relations campaign regarding the "gestures" reinforces the Palestinians’ understanding that Israel is buying its ability to continue with the policy of occupation at a bargain price. After all, it is not planning to return the land it robbed from every Palestinian. The network of roadblocks and separate roads - which is destroying the fabric of Palestinian society - will not be removed, and the angry soldier at the roadblock will not stop turning every simple trip into torture. The Palestinians are sufficiently experienced to know that all the smiles being exchanged by Abbas and Olmert are not stopping the bulldozers, which continue to imprison them in enclaves among the growing settlement blocs. The declarations by Saeb Erekat about adhering to "a state within the 1967 borders" do not convince the public that a government led by the Palestinian Liberation Organization and Fatah will manage to do what it has not done since 1994: to fight against the Israeli project of occupation and colonization. Nothing to sell the Palestinians Danny Rubinstein, Ha’aretz 7/15/2007 Abu Mazen’s struggle against the Hamas government is mainly political-legal in nature. He established an "emergency government" in the West Bank that has now become a "transition government." The name is not important. What counts is that from a legal point of view this government does not have to, and of course cannot, receive the approval of the parliament, whose work has been paralyzed. A large majority of the MPs are representatives of Hamas, and a large percentage of them (residents of the West Bank and East Jerusalem) are sitting in Israeli prisons - which is how Abu Mazen can attempt to transfer more powers to Palestine Liberation Organization institutions. These institutions are considered representative of all the members of the Palestinian nation, in all its diasporas, and therefore they are (at least formally) above the institutions of the PA, which represent only the residents of the West Bank and Gaza, and thus constitute about half the nation. In light of this, Abu Mazen wanted to convene the central council of the PLO this week in Ramallah, and to invite important VIPs such as Naif Hawatmeh, the founder and leader of the Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine (DFLP), who is considered a senior partner in the historical leadership of the Palestinian nationalist movement. By means of such political and legal maneuvers, Abu Mazen and his followers are trying to unite all the nationalist factions, that is, Fatah and the leftist movements, against Hamas. When minor officials rule Akiva Eldar, Ha’aretz 7/15/2007 They say that this time the "package" the prime minister will offer the head of the Palestinian Authority will be more "serious." In addition to the release of 250 prisoners - less than 2.5 percent of the Palestinians imprisoned in Israel - Ehud Olmert promised immunity to 178 "fugitives." The bones being thrown to Mahmoud Abbas may be a little juicier than the dry ones he was offered in the past, but the Israeli gestures are still inadequate. Even Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni argued, during a weekend interview on Channel 2, that if the government does not immediately embark on a serious political dialogue with Abbas, we will be stuck with Hamas and no two-state solution. Abbas is also willing to renew negotiations on the borders, on Jerusalem and on the refugee problem. In fact, he is imploring Olmert to stop treating him like a beggar and to begin seeing him as a partner to a solution. However weak and battered Abbas may be, he knows what he wants. The Palestinian chairman signed off on the Arab Peace Initiative, which is offering Israel an end to the conflict in return for an end to the occupation and a negotiated solution to the refugee problem. He has promised to bring the agreement before the Palestinians. On the other hand, even Olmert’s friends in the bloated cabinet and the broad coalition do not know what lies behind the prime minister’s public declarations that he is interested in a permanent accord. Pardon is not Part of the Israeli Lexicon? Daoud Kuttab, MIFTAH 7/9/2007 I still remember that hot day in the summer of 1994 when Jordan’s King Hussein signed the peace treaty with Israel’s Yitshaq Rabin in Wadi Araba. I had gone down to cover the event and remember advocate Buthina Duqmaq of the Mandella Institute for political prisoners reminding me that a number of Jordanian prisoners were still held in Israeli jails even though the two countries were signing a peace agreement. They had prepared for the public and the press something like the bleachers of a football game. When I noticed that a number of Jordanian officials were approaching the wire mesh separating the public from officials, I decided to go down and talk to them. I came upon Fayez Tarawneh who was one of the senior negotiators of the Jordan Israel peace deal and tried to engage him on the issue. When I asked him why Jordanian prisoners weren’t released as part of the peace deal, he seemed a little embarrassed and tried to shut me down by reassuring me that they will deal with this issue soon thereafter. I am not sure whether he said in a few weeks or a few months, but whatever he said it has taken 13 years for four of these prisoners held since before the peace agreement to be released. Vanunu should be a free man Jim Boumelha, NUJ and president of the International Federation of, The Guardian 7/5/2007 The severe restrictions imposed on Vanunu on his release from prison were based on those operated by the British during their mandate in Palestine and later taken up by the Israeli authorities to control his actions. The court was given no evidence of any breach of security by Vanunu. He has no more secrets to reveal and nothing that he might have said to the media since his release in April 2004 has harmed Israeli security. The decision of the court is a fundamental attack on Vanunu’s human rights in general and his freedom of expression in particular. As his lawyer, Michael Sfard, said on his conviction: "He is not being found guilty for what he said but just for talking." Israel cannot be considered a democracy while this illegal harassment continues. Vanunu only wishes to pursue a peaceful campaign against nuclear weapons and to be free to leave Israel. He has served the sentence he was given, he should be released from his restrictions at once and allowed to go. Hello from Rafah Yassmin Moor writing from Gaza, Occupied Palestine, The Electronic Intifada, Electronic Intifada 7/4/2007 Here in Gaza, we’re all listening to the radio and watching the news every hour (our only way of knowing what’s happening in the outside world), waiting to see what Abu Mazen (Mahmoud Abbas), Israel and the US are planning for us, and where our fate will take us. This has become more than a prison for the people of Gaza. It’s hard not to feel like animals in a zoo, where we are caged and have enough food for two weeks at a time to keep us alive, but not well or free while someone decides what to do with us. At least in a zoo, if an animal gets sick, its taken out of the zoo and taken to a hospital. Here in Gaza, God forbid you get sick or injured -- hospitals are packed and one can’t easily go to Egypt or the West Bank for medical attention. So one is at the mercy of those few people that run this gated zoo, Mr. Abbas, Israel, and the Quartet. Let me say a few lines about the border, just to give you an idea. It is one of the most dehumanizing and demoralizing forms of injustice that the Palestinians have to go through.There are two gates between Egypt and Gaza, one on the Egyptian side and one on the Gazan side. People wait in line to get in, some go and wait at the gate before dawn so they can be first in line.So they start waiting at 3 or 4am until the EU officials decide to come. If they come, they arrive at 9, 9:15, whenever they make it. Sometimes they don’t come at all. Arab blood on their hands Uzi Benziman, Ha’aretz 7/3/2007 A few months ago, members of the Shas faction were invited to dinner with Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and officials of his bureau at the prime minister’s residence in Jerusalem. Over the course of the evening, Olmert let his guests in on state secrets, and briefed them on efforts being made to recover the kidnapped soldiers. When he mentioned the kidnappers’ demand that hundreds of Palestinian prisoners, including some with "blood on their hands," be released in exchange, Shas Chairman Eli Yishai responded that the rightist opposition factions could be expected to object vociferously. In order to soften these objections, Yishai suggested that Jewish prisoners convicted of terror attacks against Arabs also be released. Last week, Shas’ political leader reiterated this suggestion publicly: The ultra-Orthodox weekly Bakehila quoted him as urging that Jewish prisoners be freed alongside the 250 Palestinian prisoners whose release Olmert promised to Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas. Yishai even held a conversation with the prime minister on this issue a few days ago. His associates say that he and Olmert have an understanding that such a release will indeed occur, and that while the list of 250 Palestinian prisoners is being finalized, the list of Jewish prisoners who attacked Arabs will also be combed to determine which of them should be freed. How US Middle East Policy Continues to Undermine the "Moderates" Institute for Palestine Studies, MIFTAH 6/30/2007 In the wake of the fighting that pitted Fatah against Hamas this month, ending in Hamas control over Gaza, the United States has voiced full support for Palestinian Authority (PA) President Mahmoud Abbas. But past US policy greatly contributed to present conditions: a Palestinian national movement in a power struggle over an authority that has no power, and a West Bank split from Gaza, East Jerusalem and t | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
