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| Palestine Diaries |
| courtesy The Electronic Intifada |
| Human Rights |
| courtesy The Electronic Intifada |
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Vermonters
for a Just Peace in Palestine/Israel |
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| Prisoners index page |
The
Treatment of Prisoners and Detainees by Israel and Others
Prisoners Archive - August 2004
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"I Wait With You." International Solidarity Movement 8/28/2004 Today Fadwa Barghouti, wife of imprisoned Marwan Barghouti , spoke to the people of Sawya and the surrounding district in the prisoners hunger strike solidarity tent. ISM activists present had the opportunity to interview Mrs Barghouti. She told them that her husband was sentenced to 5 life terms plus 40 years.He has been in solitary confinement from the time of his sentencing in a cell measuring 2 meters by 3 meters. No member of his family has been permitted to visit him in this time. First Solidarity Hunger Strike Fatality in Nablus, support resumes International Middle East Media Center 8/31/2004 Thousands of Palestinians marched in the funeral of Aisheh Al-Zaban who died while on hunger strike in solidarity with the striking Palestinian and Arab prisoners in Israeli Jails. Al-Zaban is the mother of Ammar Al-Zaban who is serving 26 life terms in Israeli jails, and also the mother of Bashar Zaban killed by the Israeli army in Nablus. Israeli Prison Authorities are trying to stop the strike that entered its 16th day, in many ways. Informed sources said Prison authorities transferred three prisoners they called, leaders, to Al-Jalama interrogation center, south east Haifa. Israeli Court Prevents Salt, Solidarity Overflows International Press Center 8/31/2004 RAMALLAH, Palestine, August31, 2004 (IPC+ Agencies)-- The Israeli high courtdismissed on Mondayan appeal filed by the Palestinian Prisoners Society (PPS) that the Israeli prisons services provide on-strike Palestinian prisoners with salt and milk, to help them keep on their strike that has entered its 18 day. Hussam Younis, an advocate of the PPS, was quoted as saying that the Israeli high court has justified its ruling by claiming the prisoners might have extra quantities of salt, a matter that would deteriorate their health conditions. 17 Female Internee’s Health Drastically Deteriorated International Press Center 8/31/2004 GAZA. August 31, 2004 (IPC) --- The Palestinian prisoner society (PPS) of Tulkarem said that 17 on-strike internees health go downhill in al Ramlah women’s prison. The PPS said, in a statement, that medical status for 17 prisoners has deteriorated drastically they are suffering several diseases, and in a very needy for treatment. The statement said that the Ramlah prison administration refused to provide and kind of treatment or medication. The physician of the prison informed striker prisoners that he could only provide medical help if they ended their strike. ''Empty Stomach'' Battle Scores ''First Win'' Islam Online 8/28/2004 GAZA, August 28 (IslamOnline.net) – Palestinian detainees in Israeli jails continued with resolve their hunger strike for the 14th day running Saturday, August 28, as some 350 Palestinian prisoners in the Ashkelon prison temporarily called off their hunger strike after Israeli jail authorities said they would partially meet their demands, in what is seen as a victory. Palestinian Leadership Calls for More Solidarity with Prisoners as Reactions Continue International Press Center 8/28/2004 RAMALLAH, Palestine, August 28, 2004 (IPC+ Agencies) – The Palestinian leadership called on Friday for further activities inside and inDiaspora in support of the Palestinian prisoners strike. Such a call came during a leadership''s meeting in the President Arafat''s office in the West Bank City of Ramallah, attended by the Prisoners Higher Follow-Up Committee along with members of the PNA Cabinet and PLO''s Executive Committee. Supreme Court: Attorney General''s Office to Respond Immediately to Adalah''s Petition re Supplying Salt to Hunger-Striking Prisoners Adalah 8/30/2004 On 26 August 2004, Adalah filed a petition to the Supreme Court of Israel demanding that the Court issue an order nisi asking the Israel Prison Service (IPS) to explain why salt is not being provided on a daily basis to prisoners participating in the hunger strike in various prisons around the country. Adalah also requested that the Supreme Court issue an order of injunction prohibiting the IPS from confiscating salt from the cells of hunger-striking prisoners. Adalah further asked the Court to schedule an urgent hearing of the petition. Palestinian Mother Dies in Solidarity With Jailed Son Islam Online 8/30/2004 NABLUS, August 30 (IslamOnline.net) – A Palestinian mother of a prisoner at an Israeli jail has starved to death after staging a hunger strike in solidarity with her son whose protest at the deplorable prison conditions along with thousands of inmates has entered its 15th day running Monday, August 30. Bereaved Isha Al-Zaban refused to break her hunger strike, though she suffers from heart problems. Three Civilians, Including Two Women, Killed International Press Center 8/30/2004 NABLUS, Palestine, August 30, 2004 (IPC+Agencies)-- Aisha Al-Zaban, 55, died last night after suffering a severe heart attack a couple of days earlier in Nablus City, medical sources said. Family members said that Aisha was participating in sit-ins organized by families of prisoners at the tent pitched for that purpose in downtown Nablus. Aisha is a mother of two; Ammar, who is serving 26 life sentences in Israeli jails, and Bashar, who was killed in 1994. In a separate incident, the civilian Hassna Abu Faradh, 60, was crushed to death by an Israeli settler before he fled the scene in Qulqelia. In Pictures: Palestinians support hunger strikers Al-Jazeera 8/29/2004 Fourteen photographs of Palestinians in support of prisoners on hunger strike. Rahim’s Story International Solidarity Movement 8/26/2004 Tulkarem] Fawzieh and Nada from the General Union of Palestinian Women and the ISM Committee Tulkarem took ISMers to visit families of prisoners. Those we visited were refugees living in the Tulkarem refugee camp. We met Riham Sheikh Moussa, a 16 year old girl who at the age of 15 had spent one year in prison. She was beautiful and radiant, full of smiles, warmth and wisdom as she shared her story with us. Riham left Tulkarem one evening to visit her family in Taybeh a Palestinian village just over the border into Israel. As she approached the checkpoint alone on foot she was shot in the stomach and the leg by an Israeli sniper in a guard tower. Quraya questions world''s ''blindness'' Al-Jazeera 8/29/2004 The international community''s indifference to the plight of Palestinians on hunger strike in Israeli prisons raises questions over its desire for a Middle East peace agreement, Prime Minister Ahmad Quraya said. The prime minister''s comments came as the protest fast, designed to highlight the inhumane treatment of prisoners by Israel, entered its third week. "The blindness and silence that the world has been showing towards the Palestinian prisoners'' hunger strikes which have been taking place for the last 15 days can only put question marks against the whole peace process," Quraya told reporters after a meeting of his cabinet here. Hunger-Strikers in Israeli Jails Subject to Gastric Cancer International Press Center 8/30/2004 GAZA, August 30, 2004 (IPC)-- The President of the Palestinian Prisoner''s Society (PPS) Essa Karake’ warned in a statement today from the risks of the possibility of striker internees to suffer from gastric cancer due to not digesting salt for the 17th day in a row since the beginning of the open-ended hunger strike, when the Israeli Prison Service raided the cells and confiscated the salt and sprayed the rooms with water to melt the remaining salt they had. ACRI and Adalah petition High Court on hunger strike prisoners Electronic Intifada/ACRI/Adalah 8/30/2004 On Sunday 29 August 2004, Adalah and The Association for Civil Rights in Israel (ACRI) submitted a petition to the Supreme Court, in the name of eight attorneys and other human rights organizations, against the Israel Prison Service (IPS). The petitioners demanded that the Court should issue an order nisi instructing the IPS to explain why they are preventing attorneys, including the petitioners, from visiting hunger-striking "security" prisoners and detainees. The request of the petitioners for an urgent hearing on the petition was granted. Palestinian hunger strike resumes Al-Jazeera 8/30/2004 About 800 Palestinian prisoners have gone back on hunger strike after claiming conditions in an Israeli jail have not changed. However the Israeli Prisons Authority denied the inmates were back on strike, saying they had food in their cells and were eating.But in reference to the 800 Palestinians in Ashkelon prison, Isa Qaraqi, head of the Palestinian Prisoners Club said: "They resumed (fasting) today". Palestinian hunger strikers warn against disaster Middle East Online 8/26/2004 Prisoners held in Israeli jails urge United Nations'' intervention to prevent ''humanitarian disaster''. -- JERUSALEM - Palestinians being held in Israeli prisons appealed Thursday for international intervention to prevent their hunger strike developing into a "humanitarian disaster" as Israeli rights groups also condemned their treatment. "We ask human rights organisations all around the world, and especially the UN, represented by its Secretary General Kofi Annan, to take a stand an help us end the miserable circumstances we are living," a spokesman for prisoners at a military-run detention center in the southern Negev desert said. 350 security prisoners end two-week hunger strike Ha''aretz 8/28/2004 Some 350 security prisoners at Shikma jail have ended their two-week hunger strike, Prisons Authority spokesman Ofer Lefler said Friday, as the United Nations expressed its concern over the strike and urged Israel to find a solution. The prisoners had been accompanied by doctors when they resumed eating, Lefler added. On Thursday, 400 security prisoners in prisons across the country resumed eating, Army Radio reported. World Support for ''Empty Stomach'' Battle Islam Online 8/27/2004 PARIS, August 27 (IslamOnline.net & News Agencies) - As the "empty stomach" battle bravely fought by the Palestinian prisoners in the Israeli jails entered its 13th day Friday, August 27, faint sounds of response from the international community began to come to their support. In France, a campaign was launched Thursday, August 26, in solidarity with the thousands of security Palestinian detainees suffering the worst conditions behind Israeli bars. UN Committee expresses grave concern at conditions Palestinian prisoners Electronic Intifada/DPR 8/26/2004 The Bureau of the Committee on the Exercise of the Inalienable Rights of the Palestinian People issued the following statement concerning the hunger strike of Palestinian prisoners in Israeli detention facilities on 24 August: At its meeting on 24 August 2004, the Bureau of the Committee on the Exercise of the Inalienable Rights of the Palestinian People expressed grave concern at the systematic violation of the rights of Palestinian prisoners in Israeli prisons, detention and interrogation centres, and is alarmed at the growing number of prisoners who are on an open-ended hunger strike. Leading Israeli organizations call for an immediate change in policy towards the Palestinian political prisoners Electronic Intifada 8/27/2004 Prisoners on hunger strike are denied vital salts, medical treatment and access to their lawyers. In a press conference today at the Alternative Information Center in Jerusalem, several Israeli Organizations provided an update on the prisoners, condition on the 12th day of the hunger strike and on the legal actions taken to stop the violation of their basic rights. Jordanians rally to support prisoners Al-Jazeera 8/27/2004 Dozens of relatives and friends of Jordanian prisoners held in Israeli jails have staged a sit-in outside UN headquarters in the Jordanian capital to press for their release. The protesters on Monday carried portraits of the prisoners and placards saying: "We are the prisoners, not you," and "We are fed up". Islamist MP Azzam Hunaidi joined the protest and told reporters: "We urge the government to put pressure on Israel to guarantee the release of the prisoners". Palestinian prisoners suspend hunger strike Al-Jazeera 8/27/2004 Some 800 Palestinian detainees in Israel''s Ashkelon prison have suspended their 13-day-old hunger strike until Monday after some of their demands were met. The concessions made by the prison governor affect only the Ashkelon detainees, and the other 3200 Palestinian prisoners who have been protesting for better conditions remain on hunger strike, the Bethlehem-based Palestinian prisoners'' association said on Friday. Thirteen UN agencies expressed concern about conditions Palestinian prisoners Electronic Intifada/UNOCHA 8/27/2004 Thirteen United Nations institutions operating in the occupied Palestinian territory expressed concern today about the hunger strike that reportedly more than 2,900 Palestinian prisoners and detainees have joined. The UN''s Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process Terje Roed-Larsen calls on the Israeli authorities to comply with its international obligations and to make every effort to find, with the prisoners, an appropriate resolution to the hunger strike. Red Cross visits detainees on hunger strike Electronic Intifada/ICRC 8/27/2004 The International Committee of the Red Cross has continued to conduct its activities in Israeli places of detention during the current hunger strike by Palestinian security detainees. In particular, over the last 10 days the organization has begun a round of visits to all prisons housing detainees on strike, while maintaining close contact with their families and groups representing them. Army''s Report Faults General in Prison Abuse New York Times 8/27/2004 WASHINGTON, Aug. 26 - Classified parts of the report by three Army generals on the abuses at Abu Ghraib prison say Lt. Gen. Ricardo S. Sanchez, the former top commander in Iraq, approved the use in Iraq of some severe interrogation practices intended to be limited to captives held in Guantánamo Bay, Cuba, and Afghanistan. Moreover, the report contends, by issuing and revising the rules for interrogations in Iraq three times in 30 days, General Sanchez and his legal staff sowed such confusion that interrogators acted in ways that violated the Geneva Conventions, which they understood poorly anyway. Israeli Forces Arrest And Wound Civilians, Assault Prisoners'' Families International Press Center 8/25/2004 AL BIREH, Palestine, August 25, 2004 (IPC + WAFA) -- Israeli occupation forces wounded and arrested a number of civilians in different parts of the West Bank, as families of Palestinian prisoners were assaulted near the Nafha prison. Security sources in the city of Al Bireh reported that Israeli troops arrested today afternoon three civilians and wounded three others during an incursion into the city....families..peacefully demonstrating in front of the prison in solidarity with their sons on hunger strike inside for the tenth consecutive day, were assaulted by Israeli troops who surrounded the demonstration and assaulted them with clubs and rifle butts, as well as firing gas canisters at them. PLO Executive Committee Deliberate on Hunger-Strikers, Settlement Activities International Press Center 8/26/2004 RAMALLAH, Palestine, August 25, 2004 (IPC + WAFA)-- The Palestinian President Yasser Arafat chaired yesterday a meeting of the Executive Committee of the Palestinian Liberation Organization (PLO), in which he discussed with them the issues of Palestinian prisoners on hunger strike inside Israeli jails and the Israeli settlement activities in the occupied Palestinian territories. ISM Joins Hunger Strike International Solidarity Movement 8/25/2004 Saturday, August 28: International Solidarity Movement Joins Hunger Strike in Soldarity / Monday, August 30: World Wide Hunger Strike and Protests/ Activists of International Solidarity Movement, (ISM), in the West Bank are joining the National Islamic Forces and the Palestinian Political Prisoners Club in a hunger strike Saturday, August 28, to support the Palestinian Political Prisoners Hunger Strike that began August 15, 2004. Israel Plays ''Dirty'' to Win Empty Stomach Battle Islam Online 8/26/2004 KHAN YOUNIS, August 26 (IslamOnline.net) – As "empty stomach" battle fought by the Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails entered its 12th day Thursday, August 26, Israeli jail authorities pressed ahead with their intransigence, employing further humiliating measures against the security detainees, in a bid to break their will. As part of humiliating Israeli policies against the Palestinian detainees, Israeli jailers resort to forcing the Palestinian prisoners to strip before being searched. Palestinian Prisoner Tells Near Death Experience in Israeli Jail International Press Center 8/26/2004 GAZA, August 26, 2004 (IPC + WAFA) -- A report prepared by the Palestinian Prisoner''s Society (PPS) revealed the atrocities committed by the Israeli Prison Service against the Palestinian prisoners, through the case of Ahmad Daraghmeh. The case of Daraghmeh has stirred the Israeli public opinion as well as the interest of both Israeli and Palestinian human rights organizations, especially when he was filmed by the press being led to the Salem court room handcuffed and with broken bones in front of the Israeli judge, who did not even order treatment for him. Hunger Strike Day 12: Israeli Threats and Bullying International Press Center 8/26/2004 GAZA, August 26, 2004 (IPC + Agencies)-- As the Palestinian prisoners'' open-ended hunger strike entered its 12th day, the Israeli Prison Service stepped up coercive measures against strikers, including threats, psychological and physical pressures. A Palestinian Prisoner Society (PPS) lawyer quoted hunger-striker Ahmed Yousef from Bethlehem, as saying that prisoners who need medication due to the strike were told to drink water and then transferred to Ward 7 in the notorious desert prison Bier Shiva, and then rumored that those hunger-strikers broke their strike. On Strike: Detainees Speak of Israeli Jails Islam Online 8/24/2004 Question and Answer session with AbuMuhammad, Spokesman for Palestinian Detainees -- Q: Did the Israeli treatment improve in response to your strike, and how?Answer No, it did not. It became worse. The prison guards started searching all our cells and confiscating everything in our possessions, like family photos, tea, sugar, even salt which we desperately need to keep our blood pressure in the right level. The prison administration started mass-moving large numbers of our prisoners from one prison to another to further increase our suffering.... Palestinian Prisoners’ Hunger Strike ‘Jihad’: Chief Judge Islam Online 8/24/2004 NABLUS, August 24 (IslamOnline.net) – The hunger strike staged by thousands of Palestinian prisoners ten days ago in protest at their deplorable conditions inside Israeli jails is a kind of Jihad and their support is a duty on Muslims worldwide, Palestinian Chief Judge Sheikh Taysir Al-Tamimi said. “This hunger strike is a sharp weapon and the most effective means to pressure the unjust [Israeli] jailers. In doing so, they make the voice of a myriad of suffering prisoners heard,” Tamimi said Monday August23, in a statement, a copy of which was obtained by IslamOnline.net. Prisons'' Authorities transferred some prisoners to Iisolation Cells International Middle East Media Center 8/23/2004 The Prisoners Rights organization "Mandela" said that the Israeli Prisons'' Authority is executing a plan to thwart the Palestinian Prisoners'' Hunger strike that entered its 9th day so far. The authorities are trying to disconnect the prisoners from their lawyers and create a status of instability through the intensive transfer of prisoners that reache twice a day sometimes, said "Mandela" in a press release issued Sunday. Report: Harsh treatment of Palestinian women prisoners Electronic Intifada/WOFPP 8/23/2004 Neve Tirza Prison -- There are now altogether approximately 100 Palestinian women political prisoners. On 13 June one group, about half of the women, was transferred back to Neve Tirza from Hasharon Prison. Though they took with them, among other belongings, the purchases they had made in the Hasharon prison canteen and the material for handicrafts, these items were not handed over by the Neve Tirza prison authorities, who also withheld the toys belonging to Marwat Taha''s baby boy Wael, one and a half years old.... Child rights group: "Israel should respect rights of child detainees" Electronic Intifada 8/24/2004 "Palestinian child detainees report that they are frequently subjected to arbitrary and often severe treatment by prison guards and military interrogators." -- Today, Palestinian political prisoners detained inside Israeli prisons are marking the tenth day of an open ended hunger strike in protest of the inhumane conditions in which they are incarcerated. The prisoners are demanding that the prison authorities respect internationally recognised rules governing detention. Global Solidarity With Palestinian Prisoners Steadily Mounting International Press Center 8/24/2004 GAZA, Palestine, August 24, 2004 (IPC + Agencies)— As 7200 Palestinian prisoners, being jailed by Israel in prisons and detention centers, continue their hunger strike for the tenth day in a row, global solidarity has been steadily mounting. The Organization of Islamic Conference (OIC) condemned yesterday the Israeli violations of human rights and the measures being implemented on thousands of Palestinian prisoners, that led to such a protest by the them. Prison Clinics Rife with Patients, Prison Service Acknowledges Al Barghothi’s Photos Fabricated International Press Center 8/24/2004 GAZA, August 24,2004 (IPC)--- As the Palestinian prisonersopen-ended hunger strike to improve their wretched conditions entered the tenth day one many ofon- strike internees were evacuated to clinic of the prison service due to the deterioration of his health onthe Palestinian Prisoner Society (PPS) lawyer’s first visit to the on-strike prisoners. Artists, Film Makers and Ministers on Solidarity Hunger Strike With Palestinian Prisoners International Press Center 8/24/2004 About 75 Palestinians, including artists, film makers and ministers, joined the solidarity tent pitched just outside the Palestinian Legislative Council (PLC) building in Gaza City, as they went through their third day of open hunger strike in solidarity with 7200 Palestinian prisoners who entered their tenth day of such a strike inside Israeli jails and concentration camps. Solidarity sit-ins held in West Bank Al-Jazeera 8/24/2004 People in many West Bank cities and towns have staged a general sit-in to express solidarity with fellow Palestinians held in Israeli jails, Aljazeera''s correspondent reports. Shops were closed and streets were calm, the correspondent said. The sit-in on Tuesday coincided with a similar strike in the Syrian Golan towns. Correspondent Walid al-Umari, reporting from the West Bank town of Ram Allah, said tents had been set up by people on hunger strike in solidarity with prisoners who have been on hunger strike for the tenth day running. Released Female Prisoner: Conditions in the Israeli Prison ‘Hellish’ International Press Center 8/22/2004 GAZA, August 22, 2004 (IPC + Al Sharq Al Awsat) -- Asma Abdelrazeq, a Palestinian female prisoner who has been recently released along with her two babies by the Israeli occupying authorities, not to her hometown in the West Bank, but to Jordan, confirmed that the conditions inside the jail she was imprisoned in have been “hellish”. Palestinian Prisoners Repressed to Give up Their Hunger Strike International Press Center 8/22/2004 GAZA, August 22,2004 (IPC)--- Among the unwavering attempts by the Israeli prisoners’ service to break the open hunger strike the Palestinian prisoners are embarking on for the eight day in row, the Al Ramlah and Hasharoon female prisons were brutally attacked by the Israeli jailers and as thepersonal belongings of the detainees were seized in the notorious Israeli desert jail of Nafha. ''Women in Struggle'' Highlights the Palestinian Women Prisoner Movement By Genevieve Cora Fraser, Palestine Chronicle 8/17/2004 Any Palestinian who involves themselves in the national struggle for independence takes a risk whether their role is non-violent or an act of resistance against the brutality of the nearly four decades old Israeli occupation. The documentary film "Women in Struggle" tracks the lives of four ex-political detainees, women who were not only involved in violent aspects of the national struggle but paid the price by serving time in jail. Utilizing filmmaking techniques where each character is followed separately, the story unfolds not only in the lives of the subjects but as they experience changes taking place in Palestine, including the most recent Intifada. Al-Haq: Israeli Prison Authorities Must Ensure the Fundamental Rights of Palestinian Political Prisoners Palestine Chronicle 8/21/2004 AL-HAQ (August 18, 2004) - Over 1,600 Palestinian political prisoners are currently participating in a hunger strike to protest their detention conditions and treatment by Israeli prison authorities. The protest is a non-political action aimed at securing conditions consistent with basic standards of humanity for Palestinian prisoners. In the coming days the strike is expected to spread throughout other detention facilities. Palestinian Detainees on Hunger Strike for 8th Consecutive Day Palestine Media Center 8/23/2004 New Book Documenting Brutal Israeli Torture Methods -- Eight days on, Palestinian detainees on hunger strike since Sunday August 15 rose to some 76 percent of some 7,500 prisoners incarcerated in Israeli Occupation Forces (IOF) jails as more detainees joined the open-ended protest, according to Palestinian sources. The IOF prison authorities confirmed on Sunday that the number of hunger-striking detainees has almost doubled to 2,900 at ten prisons since the protest was launched a week ago. However, Danny Rubinstein wrote Monday in the Israeli daily Ha’aretz that the strike is the largest in Israel’s history. Hamas Urges Worldwide Fast in Solidarity With Prisoners Islam Online 8/23/2004 GAZA CITY, August 23 (IslamOnline.net) – As an open-ended hunger strike by Palestinian prisoners inside Israeli jails entered its eighth running day, Hamas urged Muslims worldwide to fast Monday, August 23, in solidarity with the prisoners. Meanwhile, the prisoners said in a statement a copy of which was sent to IslamOnline.net that Israeli prison guards have accosted, beaten and electrified them to break their staunch will and force them to break their protest. Prisoners to Keep on Hunger Strike as Solidarity Intensifies International Press Center 8/23/2004 GAZA, August 23, 2004 (IPC + Agencies)— With the eighth consecutive day of their hunger strike, thousands of Palestinian prisoners in various Israeli jails and concentration camps remained determined to keep on protesting their harsh detention conditions, as solidarity with them has intensified.The Head of the Palestinian Prisoners Society (PPS), Esa Qaraqe’, was quoted as saying that about 800 patient prisoners declared they would jointheir inmates unless the prisoners’ demands were met by Israeli occupying authorities. Hamas threatens to kidnap Israeli soldiers Middle East Online 8/20/2004 Senior Hamas official warns his movement could abduct Israeli soldiers to secure release of Palestinian inmates. -- JABALIYA, Gaza Strip - A senior Hamas official warned Friday that the radical Islamist movement could abduct Israeli soldiers to secure the release of Palestinian prisoners being held in Israeli jails. Hunger strike Al-Ahram Weekly on-line 8/19/2004 Palestinian prisoners and detainees in Israeli jails protest prison conditions with a mass hunger strike, reports Khalid Amayreh from the West Bank -- Thousands of Palestinians began a mass hunger strike on Sunday in four Israeli prisons and detention centres, including the notorious Ofer and Hadarim prisons where inmates have been subject to a variety of degrading and criminal treatment at the hands of prison guards. Thousands of other political prisoners held at detention facilities -- including the hellish desert camp in the Negev, known as Kitziot -- were expected to join the strike. US army medics ''aided'' Abu Ghraib abuses Al-Jazeera 8/20/2004 US army doctors working at the notorious Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq helped design abusive interrogations and failed to report homicides, says a British medical journal. Citing government documents including sworn testimony of detainees and troops, the respected Lancet weekly in its latest issue (published on Saturday) outlined a disturbing litany of failures to safeguard detainees'' human rights at the prison. Shin Bet denies torture, says it abides by High Court rulings Ha''aretz 8/19/2004 The Shin Bet follows the rulings of the High Court of Justice, said its spokesman Asi Shariv yesterday when asked if the agency had violated the court''s 1999 ruling on the use of torture in interrogations when it questioned Hamas activist Husam Badran. The Public Committee Against Torture in Israel has filed a complaint claiming that Badran was tortured by the Shin Bet more than two years ago. Palestinian and Arab prisoners in Israeli jails continue with hunger strike demanding improved conditions Palestinian Centre for Human Rights 8/18/2004 PCHR expresses its deep concern at the continued actions of the Israeli Occupation Authorities towards the legitimate demands of the Palestinian prisoners in Israeli prisons.The prisoners have now been on hunger strike for four days.. Today thousands more Palestinian and Arab detainees have joined this strike.The strike began in four Israeli prisons on the 15th of August in an attempt to exert pressure on the Israeli authority to improve the conditions of confinement. Prisons Service: Barghouti secretly eating meals Ha''aretz 8/19/2004 The Prisons Service distributed pictures yesterday of Marwan Barghouti eating lunch, as part of its psychological warfare campaign against the hunger strike of Palestinian security prisoners that began on Sunday. Barghouti, Israel''s most senior Palestinian prisoner, is not one of the strike''s initiators - mostly from the ranks of Hamas and Islamic Jihad. However, the Fatah leader is being held in the Ohalei Kedar Detention Center, whose security prisoners declared weeks ago that they intended to join the hunger strike. Adalah: "Fluids and salt must return to hunger-striking prisoners" Electronic Intifada 8/19/2004 On 17 August 2004, Adalah submitted a pre-petition to the Attorney General''s Office demanding that they issue an order to the authorities of the Israeli prisons in which political prisoners have opened hunger strikes, obligating them to return fluids and salt to the prisoners'' cells. After the announcement of the hunger strike, the prisons'' authorities entered the prisoners'' cells and removed all fluids, such as milk and fruit juice, and salt. [Adalah - http://www.adalah.org/eng/index.php] Local and World Support of Hunger Strike of Prisoners International Press Center 8/19/2004 GAZA, August 19, 2004 (IPC + Agencies) - - Several Local, regional and world activities continued their support of the Palestinian prisoners'' hunger strike in Israeli jails and concentration camps, as several human rights groups condemned the brutal acts Israeli wardens are practicing to deter the prisoners from their strike. The Legal Center for Arab Minority Rights in Israel (Adalah) submitted a preliminary appeal to the Israeli Attorney General, demanding that the Israeli Prison Service return the salt and fluids the prisoners use in their hunger strike. Despite court rulings, Shin Bet still tortures ''ticking bombs'' Ha''aretz 8/19/2004 The Shin Bet security service continues to use violence in its interrogations of suspected terrorists, despite a 1999 High Court of Justice ruling that forbade violent interrogations except in the case of a "ticking bomb," a Shin Bet document obtained by Haaretz reveals. The document constitutes the first official confirmation by the Shin Bet of numerous oral testimonies from Palestinians, which told of the agency''s continued use of methods that the court defined as torture. Israel dismisses Abu Ala’s attempt to mediate hunger strike Maariv 8/15/2004 Prison Authority says no compromise, begins retaliatory steps. Official Israeli line "they can drop dead". -- Israel has ignored an attempt by PA premier Abu Ala to try and facilitate talks between Israel and the hunger striking security prisoners. The Prisons authority has adopted an unyielding line, saying that giving in to the prisoners main demands, unlimited family visits and cellular telephones is incompatible to Israel’s security, as it would enable the prisoners to participate in planning terror attacks. PPS: More Than 40,000 Palestinians Arrested During Al Aqsa Intifada International Press Center 8/14/2004 GAZA, August 14,2004 (IPC)---Palestinian Prisoner Society (PPS) asserted today that ever since the outbreak of Al Aqsa Intifada in Sep 2000, the Israeli occupying troops has arrested more 40,000 Palestinians including 250 children , 70 women. In a report, the PPS said that nearly 7500 prisoners are being held currently inside 27 Israeli jails and concentration camps, including 470 children, 107 women in Al Ramla and Talmud jails, among are 21 mothers, 5 minors two infants were born inside the jail, 800 sick and wounded inmates in a very needy of medication, 700 administrative detainee including 32 minors. Prisons Service will set up barbecues to combat hunger strike by Palestinian security prisoners Ha''aretz 8/16/2004 Barbecues have been set up to grill meat near the cells of Palestinian security prisoners in an effort to combat a hunger strike that the prisoners launched yesterday. Prisons Service guards confiscated cigarettes and candy, along with large quantities of salt, which the prisoners had hidden in their mattresses apparently to provide themselves with minerals during the strike. The guards also removed pens and newspapers. In addition to setting up barbecues to whet the appetite of security prisoners, the Prisons Service is halting all family visits for the strikers, while radios and televisions have been removed from their cells. PM Qurei'': Releasing Prisoners Conditional for Any Settlement International Press Center 8/16/2004 RAMALLAH, Palestine, August 16, 2004 (IPC + Agencies) - - Prime Minister Ahmad Qurei'' stressed yesterday that any possible settlement of the Palestinian situation will be conditional on the release of all Palestinian prisoners from Israeli jails and concentration camps. PM Qurei'' added in a press statement on Sunday that the Palestinian government''s position on the issue of prisoners is firm, including providing support for prisoners'' families and backing prisoners in their current hunger strike, which started yesterday. Prisoners Hunger Strike Backed Widely International Press Center 8/16/2004 GAZA, Palestine, August 16, 2004 (IPC + Agencies)— In their reaction to the Palestinian prisoners'' hunger strike that began yesterday, several Palestinian and regional bodies showed support to the prisoners'' "empty stomachs" battle....In the West Bank city of Bethlehem, hundreds of civilians gathered yesterday in front of the International Committee of the Red Cross premises in support of the prisoners’ hunger strike, calling for releasing all prisoners or at least ensuring better detention conditions as human beings. Three Americans On Trial Over Afghanistan Torture Islam Online 8/16/2004 KABUL, August 16 (IslamOnline.net & News Agencies) – Three Americans went on trial Monday, August 16, for kidnapping and torturing detainees in Afghanistan, with one of them accusing Washington of direct involvement in the scandal. The three Americans and four of their Afghan helpers appeared before an Afghani court, including the alleged ringleader of the group, Jonathan Keith Idema, 48, of Fayetteville, N.C., a former Special Forces soldier who spent time in federal prison in the 1990s on fraud charges.....The FBI had taken from the Afghan National Directorate of Security (NDS) hundreds of videotapes, photos and documents detailing links with the FBI, the CIA, the US Defense Department and the US-led forces, Idema said. Palestinian Detainees Begin ''Empty Stomach'' Battle Islam Online 8/15/2004 GAZA CITY, August 15 (IslamOnline.net) - Thousands of Palestinians detained by Israel began Sunday, August 15, an open-ended hunger strike for a number of demands including improving their incarcerating conditions. The Israeli government, on its part, continued its complete "careless" reaction, saying it does not care if the detainees starved to death and imposing even more restrictive measures on the security detainees. ''Palestinian Hunger Strike'' Gains Momentum Islam Online 8/16/2004 RAMALLAH, August 16 (IslamOnline.net & News Agencies) – Palestinian Chief Judge Taysir Rajab Al-Tamimi and Archbishop Atallah Hana, the spokesman for the Orthodox Church in Al-Quds (occupied Jerusalem), joined Monday, August 16, Palestinian prisoners inside Israeli jails in their open-ended hunger strike in protest at human rights violations and their appalling conditions. PA, Israeli Arabs plan show of solidarity with hunger strikers Ha''aretz 8/16/2004 The Palestinian Authority has designated Wednesday as a day of solidarity with Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails, who began an open-ended hunger strike Sunday to protest prison conditions. A general strike will be announced in the territories, and parading residents and relatives of the prisoners will be called on to begin a hunger strike themselves. The hunger strike which began at three prisons is expected to expand Tuesday to three other prisons - Nafha, Eshel, and Ohalei Keidar. Palestinian Political Prisoners Begin Hunger Strike International Solidarity Movement 8/15/2004 Ramallah] Palestinian political prisoners in Israeli prisons began an open-ended hunger strike Sunday, August 15. The Committee for the Families of Political Prisoners and Detainees in the West Bank, representing 7,500 political prisoners currently in Israeli prisons, is seeking the support of the international community in its campaign against the gross violations of their rights that the prisoners are enduring and against the appalling conditions under which they are being detained. Israel turns up heat on prisoners BBC 8/16/2004 Israel has launched a psychological war against hundreds of Palestinian inmates on hunger strike for better conditions. Prison officers are setting up barbecues outside cells and have told guards to eat in front of prisoners. The fast has entered its second day as about 1,600 prisoners press for an end to strip searches, increased family visits and access to public telephones.... Prisoners representatives said guards have confiscated salt that the inmates intended to use to stop themselves becoming dehydrated. Palestinian prisoners endure hunger strike Al-Jazeera 8/16/2004 Thousands of Palestinian political prisoners being held in Israeli jails have begun a hunger-strike in protest of their living conditions, Palestinian and Israeli security sources said. The strike marks the beginning of a month-long prisoner solidarity campaign being coordinated by several Palestinian civil society groups, which will culminate in a mass procession in Ram Allah led by the grandson of Mahatma Gandhi, Arun Gandhi. Gaza: Thousands back hunger strike Al-Jazeera 8/16/2004 Thousands of Palestinians have marched in Gaza in a show of solidarity with political prisoners being held in Israeli jails and detention centres. Palestinians from across the Gaza Strip and its political spectrum, including hundreds of women, religious figures, MPs, and civil society activists, participated in Monday''s protest. Many held up framed pictures of their loved ones and large banners proclaiming "Yes to hunger, no to submission". Mass hunger strike in Israeli jails The Guardian 8/16/2004 About 1,600 Palestinian prisoners began a hunger strike yesterday to protest at conditions in Israeli jails. The Israeli prisons authority said the inmates had refused to accept breakfast and lunch, but were drinking water. The action comes despite a warning from Israel''s public security minister that the prisoners could "starve to death" before he agreed to ease restrictions. Organisers said around 7,500 remaining Palestinian prisoners would join the hunger strike by the end of the week. Prisons Service heads to discuss hunger strike by Palestinians Ha''aretz 8/13/2004 In anticipation of an impending mass hunger strike by Palestinian security prisoners to be held in 20 prisons throughout Israel, senior Prisons Service officials will meet today to discuss possible scenarios. Some 4,000 security prisoners announced earlier this month their intention to embark on a hunger strike to lay claim to a number of privileges they say have either been restricted or taken away by the Prisons Service. Hanegbi: Prisoners on hunger strike ''can stave to death'' Ha''aretz 8/13/2004 The thousands of Palestinian security prisoners planning to launch a hunger strike Sunday "can strike for a day, a month, even starve to death," as far as he is concerned, Public Security Minister Tzachi Hanegbi told reporters Friday. Hanegbi said that the mass hunger strike was designed to put a dent in Israeli policy aimed at preventing security prisoners from planning terror attacks in their cells. Lawyers unite to condemn US prison camp The Guardian 8/13/2004 Twenty-eight leaders of the legal profession around the world have together condemned the US for the continued detention of hundreds of prisoners at Guantánamo Bay. In an open letter, the heads of bar and solicitors'' organisations call on the Bush administration to scrap its "review panels" considering whether to release the men. They urge it to instead allow prisoners to challenge their detention in US courts, following the supreme court''s ruling that civilian courts have jurisdiction over the US military base in Cuba. Demands of the detainees prior to launching the open-ended Hunger Strike International Middle East Media Center 8/13/2004 The Palestinian Prisoners Society said Friday that it received a list of the demands of the detainees in Israeli detention camps, and added that the open-ended hunger strike will start August 15 in some detention camps, and August 18. [Demands listed] Palestinian Prisoners to Embark on Hunger Strike Demanding an End to Their Wretched Conditions International Press Center 8/12/2004 GAZA, August 12, 2004 (IPC) ---- Palestinian prisoners inside Israeli occupation jails have demanded allowing them to use mobile telephones among other things included in a list that was announced before going through their hunger strike scheduled for 15th August 2004....The demands included halting the imposition of heavy fines for trivial reasons, allowing family visitations, lifting the glass barriers in visiting rooms, ending deliberate medical negligence, moving prisoners to jails near to their hometowns, and stopping the policy of solitary confinement for long and/or indefinite periods. Court rejects female refusenik''s petition against IDF service Ha''aretz 8/10/2004 The High Court of Justice yesterday rejected a petition by Laura Milo to be recognized as a conscientious objector and released from service in the Israel Defense Forces. Milo, who filed her petition four months ago, served 14 days in prison for refusing to be inducted into the IDF due to her objection to serve for an occupation army. 8000 Palestinians Inside Israeli Jails, 385 Minors, 83 Females International Press Center 8/9/2004 GAZA, August9,2004 (IPC)-- More than 8,000 inmates are currently held in 256 Israeli jails and concentration camps including 83 female prisoners in Majedo prison, and 385 minors, according to a report by the ''Ansar Al Assra'' organization. Nearly 40 prisoners are afflicted with chronic diseases and in urgent need of surgical operations, 97 prisoners have been serving for more than 20 years, while 5000-6000 have been on remand. Several detainees clubbed in Qadumim detention International Middle East Media Center 8/10/2004 Lawyer of the Palestinian Prisoners Society, Jamal Abteely, visited Qadumim detention camp, and said that several detainees complained of abuse and torture in addition to the lack of medical equipment and medication. Detainee Rami Mithqal Dharaghmeh, from Tubas, north of the West Bank, said that the detainees are suffering from bad food, absence of hot drinks, absence of cleaning tools, and most of all extreme heat in the tight cells. Israeli Violations Against Palestinian Prisoners: Bad Health Conditions and Confiscation of Private Money International Press Center 8/2/2004 Palestinian prisoners inside the Israeli prisons are held under bad health conditions. This is proven by the prisoners’ accounts to their lawyers and as documented in the local, regional, and international human rights reports. Mr. Ghassan Khader, a member of the Committee of Prisoners’ Families in Nablus province, asserted that the Israeli occupation prisons lack the minimum level of health services and the prisons'' clinics do not employ specialized physicians, along with the lack of sufficient and proper medicines for the sick prisoners. |
A Very One-Sided War By Uri Avnery, International Middle East Media Center 8/22/2004 "For all I care, they can starve to death!" announced Tzahi Hanegbi, after Palestinian prisoners declared an open-ended hunger strike against prison conditions. Thus the Minister for Internal Security added another memorable phrase to the lexicon of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Hanegbi became famous (or infamous) for the first time when, as a student activist, he was caught on camera with his friends hunting Arab students with bicycle chains. At the time I published a photo of him that would not have shamed German or Polish students in the 1930s. With a small difference: in the 30s the Jews were the pursued, now they were the pursuers. In the meantime, Hanegbi has changed like many young radicals - he has turned into an unrestrained careerist. He has become a minister, wearing elegant suits even on hot summer days and walking with the typical, self-important gait of a cabinet minister. Now he even supports Ariel Sharon''s disengagement plan, much to the distress of his mother, Geula Cohen, an extreme-right militant who has not changed her spots.
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Adalah Adalah (Justice in Arabic) is the first non-profit, non-sectarian Palestinian-run legal center in Israel. The main goal of Adalah’s work is to achieve equal rights and minority rights protections for Palestinian citizens of Israel. Addameer Prisoners’ Support and Human Rights Organization: Addameer (conscience) is a Palestinian non-governmental, civil institution which focuses on human rights issues. Supports Palestinian prisoners, advocates for rights of political prisoners, works to end torture. Amnesty International Amnesty International (AI) is a worldwide movement of people who campaign for internationally recognized human rights. AI’s vision is of a world in which every person enjoys all of the human rights enshrined in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and other international human rights standards. Amnesty International USA Amnesty International (AI) is a worldwide movement of people who campaign for internationally recognized human rights. AI’s vision is of a world in which every person enjoys all of the human rights enshrined in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and other international human rights standards. Arab Association for Human Rights - HRA The HRA was founded in 1988 to promote and protect the political, civil, economic, and cultural rights of the Palestinian Arab minority in Israel and to further the domestic implementation of international human rights principles. It is an independent non-governmental organisation registered in Israel. Association for Civil Rights in Israel - ACRI 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 Centre for Human Rights in the Occupied Territories 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. Occupation Prisoners News stories and reports about Palestinian prisoners from International Press Center, of the Palestinian National Authority’s State Information Service. Palestinian Centre 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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