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| Human Rights |
| courtesy The Electronic Intifada |
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Vermonters
for a Just Peace in Palestine/Israel |
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The
Treatment of Prisoners and Detainees by Israel and Others |
Prisoners Archive - December 2006
Actors at an Israeli court demonstrate Israel’s torture methods used against Palestinian detainees as described by witnesses. Source: Miftah
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Adalah: Rescind order declaring Ansar al-Sajeen illegal Electronic Intifada/Adalah 12/22/2006 Adalah to Defense Minister: Rescind Order Declaring Ansar Al-Sajeen (The Prisoners’ Friends Association) an Illegal Organization -- On 13 November 2006, Adalah submitted a pre-petition to the Israeli Defense Minister, Amir Peretz, demanding the cancellation of his order declaring Ansar Al-Sajeen (The Prisoners’ Friends Association) to be an illegal organization. Adalah Attorney Abeer Baker filed the pre-petition on behalf of Ansar Al-Sajeen. Ansar Al-Sajeen is a non-governmental organization (NGO) legally registered in Israel. Since 1980, it has been acting on behalf of Palestinian prisoners incarcerated in Israeli prisons and detention centers. Among its goals, the organization seeks to improve the conditions of confinement of prisoners and detainees, provide them with legal representation in the military courts... Settler jailed for murdering four Palestinians commits suicide Ha’aretz 12/23/2006 Asher Weissgan, the West Bank settler who was sentenced to four consecutive life sentences and 12 additional years for the murder of four Palestinian workers and injuring a fifth in the settlement Shilo in August 2005, committed suicide Friday morning in Ayalon Prison. A preliminary investigation into the suicide indicates that Weissgan asked the on-duty officer to transfer him from the religious-observant ward in which he was staying. Weissgan was removed from his cell and placed in a temporary cell while his replacement was being considered. In a morning inspection of his cell Friday, Weissgan was found hung by phylacteries which he had tied around his neck. The prison administration found that Weissgan had left his prayer book open on the Kaddish, a Jewish sanctification prayer. Abbas-Olmert meeting to be held next Monday Ma’an News Agency 12/22/2006 Bethlehem - An informed Palestinian source has confirmed to Ma’an News Agency that the expected summit between Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert will be held next Monday, after the Christmas celebrations. The source added that "what facilitated the meeting was the removal of the main obstacle before it, namely the prisoners’ problem. The Israelis have, for the first time, agreed to reformulate the joint prisoners’ committee, on the basis that the Palestinians be involved in the selection of their prisoners to be released in the expected exchange". Chief Palestinian negotiator, Dr Sa’eb Erekat, and head of the office of the president, Dr Rafiq Al-Husayni, met last week, repeatedly, with the staff of Ehud Olmert, to prepare for the summit meeting between Abbas and Olmert. Dispute over gestures to Abbas delay key meeting Ha’aretz 12/22/2006 Aides to Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas met yesterday for further preparatory talks in advance of the leaders’ planned meeting, with the main topic being what gestures Israel will make to the Palestinians at that meeting. Palestinian officials said afterward that they believe the meeting will take place in Jerusalem this coming Monday. Abbas announced that he hopes to meet Olmert before the end of the month. But the Prime Minister’s Office said a date for the meeting has not yet been set, and will not be until the preparatory talks are brought to a successful conclusion. At yesterday’s meeting, Olmert’s aides stressed that the prime minister is unwilling to release any Palestinian prisoners before kidnapped soldier Gilad Shalit is freed. Hamas to expand ’Executive Force’ Jerusalem Post 12/22/2006 The Hamas-led government is planning to recruit more militiamen to its Executive Force in the Gaza Strip in the aftermath of recent clashes with Fatah, Hamas officials said Thursday. Meanwhile, Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas told reporters in Ramallah that he is hoping to meet with Prime Minister Ehud Olmert before the end of the month. Abbas expressed hope that the meeting would result in the release of Palestinian prisoners held in Israeli jails. # Abbas: Talks with Hamas still possibleAbbas is expected to visit Jordan next Sunday for talks with King Abdullah on the ongoing crisis with Hamas. Fearing that the Hamas-Fatah tensions may spread to Palestinian refugee camps in the kingdom, the king has offered to serve as a mediator between the two parties. Detained father of girl shot dead by IDF blocked from her funeral Ha’aretz 12/21/2006 The father of a 14-year-old girl shot dead by Israel Defense Forces soldiers near Tul Karm on Tuesday was not allowed to attend his daughter’s funeral on Wednesday. Nasser Abd al-Qadr is under arrest for entering Israel illegally and is being held in the Abu Kabir lock-up. His attorney, Rami Otman, requested that the district court allow al-Qadr to attend the funeral, but by the time the court submitted its verdict, the funeral had already started. The court said in its decision that it had to hear the state’s position on the matter, but recommended that the Prisons Authority provide escorts so al-Qadr could attend his daughter’s funeral, apparently without realizing that the funeral was being held in Tul Karm. Otman will submit another request on Thursday for his client to be released for the extent of the mourning period. Power Struggle Splits Palestinian Society By Ola Attallah, Palestine Chronicle 12/19/2006 Deadly gun battles raged across Gaza City on Tuesday, shattering a fragile truce aimed at halting an increasingly violent power struggle between the rival Hamas and Fatah. -- GAZA CITY - The Hamas-Fatah fighting and power struggle, which claimed more five lives on Tuesday, December 19, is splitting the Palestinian society down the middle and leaving otherwise united Palestinians divided. "Fatah with its coup attempt should be solely held accountable for what is going on. It is a battle between the good and evil," said the mother of a Palestinian prisoner at the weekly sit-in of the prisoners’ families outside the Red Cross offices in Gaza City. "No…. Hamas and its policies are to blame," she was angrily interrupted by another mother. A third weighed in, showering the ruling Hamas with accusations of responsibility for the violence. Israeli army kills one Palestinian, injures one, and abducts two near Tulkarem International Middle East Media Center 12/19/2006 Undercover Israeli armed forces infiltrated the village of Alar near the northern West Bank city of Tulkarem and killed one Palestinian man, injured one and abducted two others on Tuesday afternoon. Mohamed Hamad, a leader for the Al Aqsa brigades, the armed wing of Fatah, was ambushed by undercover Israeli soldiers in Alar village. Ssoldiers stopped Hamad’s car, then showered it with live rounds killing him and injuring Ahmad Ajaj, 19, a bystander, eyewitnesses reported. A convoy of Israeli army jeeps invaded the village and surrounded the area where the attack took place to secure a safe retreat for the undercover soldiers. Vehicles and troops left the village shortly after the attack taking with them two prisoners. No names were released at the time of this report. Israeli forces invade Jenin city, Jenin refugee camp and a nearby village International Middle East Media Center 12/19/2006 Israeli troops attacked and searched residents houses in the northern West Bank city of Jenin , the Jenin refugee camp and the nearby village of Kifer Dan, on Tuesday morning. Residents reported that soldiers threw tear gas and sound grenades inside their homes and fired live rounds into the air during the invasion, no injuries reported. Troops also deliberately destroyed residents belongings during the search. The army eventually left after several hours taking no prisoners this time. [end] Zionism in practice - Israel’s Daily Toll on Palestinian Life, Limb, Liberty and Property Sapienspromise.org 12/19/2006 The Palestinian victims of Israel’s war of Occupation and Settlement since the Zionist State’s ’withdrawal’ from the Gaza Strip on August 20, 2005, number: 809 killed & 4308 wounded -- December 19, 2006: 11 attacks – 26 raids – 2 dead / 2 more 16-year-olds abducted / Occupation settlement land theft / Another checkpoint beating / 9 taken prisoner – 15 detained / 71 restrictions of movement.... Annexations and land theft: 1 -- Ramallah and El Bireh – the Israeli Army has extended a military order to grab 14. 53 hectares of land belonging to the town of Al Mazra’a al Qibliya and the villages of Beitillu, Ras Ammar and Ras Karkar. The land is being taken for the construction of a racially segregated road connecting the Occupation settlements of Talmon and Nahaliel. Mazzini: Shalit will never be released unless Israelis bow to our demands Ma’an News Agency 12/19/2006 Gaza - A leader in the Hamas movement, Osama Mazzini, has confirmed that the talks regarding the prisoners exchange deal are moving very slowly. Speaking to a Jordanian daily newspaper, Al Ghad Mazzini said, "We have received many letters from Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails in which they are calling for us to stick to our stated conditions in regard to the deal." He said he has assessed the Israeli position regarding this issue and believes they are trying to gain time. He asserted that Israeli prisoner Gilad Shalit will not be released unless Palestinian prisoners are released." The Israeli soldier will not be released unless our demands are carried out by the Israelis," the leader said. Mazzini also denied that there had been any discussions relating to the names of Palestinian prisoners or leaders in the Israeli jails. Fatah leader Sufyan Abu Zaydah abducted in Gaza Ma’an News Agency 12/18/2006 Gaza - Ma’an’s correspondent in the Gaza Strip has stated on Monday evening that unknown gunmen have abducted the Fatah leader, and former minister of prisoners’ affairs, Sufyan Abu Zaydah. He added that armed groups abducted Zaydah at the Falloja neighbourhood in the northern Gaza Strip, where he lives, and took him in an unknown direction. Abu Zaydah had filled several posts in the Palestinian Authority ranging from undersecretary of the ministry of civil affairs, minister of prisoners’ affairs (during Abu Ala’s government), member of the society for prisoners and former prisoners and a member of the higher committee of the Fatah movement. He has served a long time in Israeli prisons also. Furthermore, Zaydah is an expert in Israeli affairs and holder of a PhD from London. [end] The planner of the Munich 1972 operation says he is ready to meet with bereaved Israeli families Ma’an News Agency 12/18/2006 Bethlehem - The planner of the militant operation in the German city of Munich in 1972, which resulted in the deaths of 11 Israeli sportsmen, has shouldered the blame for their death onto the Israeli Prime Minister at that time, Golda Meier. The planner, Abu Da’oud told the Israeli daily newspaper Maariv via phone that he is ready to meet with the families of the slain sportsmen, to explain to them that the cell never intended to kill the sportsmen, "since they were meant to be exchanged with Palestinian prisoners." The plan arranged by Golda Meier in cooperation with the German authorities, however, resulted in the deaths of both the sportsmen and the cell members. Abu Da’oud added, "our interest was in keeping the sportsmen alive, and we had directions not to kill anybody, except in case of self defense. I feel sad for the deaths of both the Israelis and the Palestinians." [end] Hamas wants simultaneous swap of Shalit, Palestinian prisoners Ha’aretz 12/15/2006 Hamas said on Friday that captured Israel Defense Forces soldier Gilad Shalit would not be freed unless Israel simultaneously released long-serving Palestinian prisoners and faction leaders." The Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit will never be freed unless our hero prisoners, the long-serving and the faction leaders are freed in a reciprocal and simultaneous manner," senior Hamas leader Khalil Al-Hayya told a large Hamas rally in Gaza. While Prime Minister Ehud Olmert said late last month he would be willing to free many Palestinian prisoners, including those who had served lengthy terms, he indicated Shalit had to be released first. Shalit was captured by a group of Palestinian militants, including members of Hamas, during a June 25 cross-border raid which triggered a five-month long IDF offensive into the coastal strip. ’Al Hayat’ reveals details of a prisoners’ exchange and implementation of the Sharm Al Sheikh agreement Ma’an News Agency 12/15/2006 Bethlehem - According to the London-based, pan-Arab newspaper ’ Al Hayat’, Egyptian sources believe that "the implementation of the Sharm Al Sheikh [agreement], the meeting between top Palestinian and Israeli officials and the reviving of the peace process are related to the truce, the release of the Israeli soldier and the formation of a [Palestinian national] unity government". The paper said that, according to the sources, "in regards to the issue of [captured Israeli soldier] Shalit, the deal was agreed upon in three stages: the first [stage is] to have 400 [Palestinian prisoners] released, the second [is] to release 500 [more Palestinian prisoners], and the third [stage is] to release 400 [further Palestinian prisoners]". The unnamed source also said that the imprisoned Fatah leader Marwan Barghouthi is expected to be part of the deal. Families of Palestinian political prisoners: getting to Damun, the worst of the Israeli prisons Palestine News Network 12/16/2006 The visit was simply canceled. The warden shouted in the face of families waiting in the cold. They had been waiting all day, winding through military roadblocks and enduring inspections. But what the families found was nothing. No visits for the day. The families said the Damun Israeli Prison administration canceled the visits in order to pressure families and prisoners alike to succumb to arbitrary prison management procedures, as explained by the Mandela Foundation specializing in prisoners’ rights. The families had left their homes before dawn to reach the prison south of Haifa, a city that was once Palestinian. They endured extreme cold and harsh conditions in order to access their children, husbands and fathers, and to reassure them. Missing Lebanese ’also deserve justice’ Daily Star 12/16/2006 BEIRUT: As the country remains caught in a political deadlock, the Committee for Kidnapped and Missing persons in Lebanon resurfaced again Friday with demands for the government to take their cause seriously. "We said we will continue until we reach fairness, justice and truth, and we meant it," the head of the committee, Waddad Halwani said Friday. The issue of missing Lebanese persons, either in Syrian or Israeli prisons, which had finally been making headlines earlier this year has been buried since the summer as Lebanon plunged into a series of internal problems following the July-August war." The word truth has been turned into a political slogan that is only being used for important political figures," said Halwani, "but what about the truth for the average missing or kidnapped person." 16 Saudis come home from Guantanamo Daily Star 12/15/2006 RIYADH: Sixteen Saudis held in the US prison at Guantanamo Bay returned to the kingdom on Thursday, the kingdom’s interior minister said. The US sent 29 Saudis home earlier in 2006 after negotiating a framework agreement with Saudi Arabia for the return of its citizens from the prison. Interior Minister Prince Nayef bin Abdel-Aziz told the official Saudi Press Agency (SPA) they will be allowed to meet their kin but did not say when they would be freed. "The returnees will be subject to regulations applied in the kingdom," he said. In August, Saudi authorities said nine returnees had been freed for lack of evidence. The minister said efforts were continuing to obtain the repatriation of Saudis still held at the US Naval base. Many of the men held at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, were captured in Afghanistan in the US-led war to oust the Taliban... Ministry of prisoners’ affairs condemns the attack on its minister Ma’an News Agency 12/14/2006 Tulkarem - The Palestinian ministry of prisoners’ affairs in Tulkarem has condemned the shooting in Ramallah at the car of the minister of prisoners’ affairs, Wasfi Qabaha, in Ramallah, on Wednesday night. Director of the ministry’s office in Tulkarem, ’Umar Abu Samra, said that "such deeds can only be undertaken by those who wish to escalate the Palestinian situation during very dire conditions in the Palestinian arena." He called on all factions, leaders of security services, as well as President Abbas and Prime Minister Haniyeh to take "courageous measures" towards ending the "state of chaos, which harms every Palestinian, including children. [end] Nonviolent protest in Damon Prison against strip searches Palestine News Network 12/15/2006 For the third day in a row Palestinian political prisoners in Israeli Damon Prison are on hunger strike. This nonviolent action is in protest of the prison administration’s arbitrary attempts to force Palestinians to submit to strip searches before visiting relatives. In the past the Israeli prison administration has been open about its major concern of what it does not want going in or out of the prisons: letters. Communication is is forbidden in many ways under occupation, illustrated in soldiers confiscating journalists’ film and tapes. Treatment inside the prisons is similar in many ways to that outside under occupation, hence the comparison to Gaza as a prison. They are both closed, freedom of movement is impossible, and attacks can come at any time. Two youth taken prisoner east of Qalqilia International Middle East Media Center 12/13/2006 Wednesday evening, Israeli troops invaded Izbit Al Tayyib, east of Qalqilia district in the northern part of the West Bank, and took prisoner two youth. Bayan Wanees, head of Izbit Al Tayyib village council, reported that soldiers broke into and searched several houses before abducting As’ad Hamid Ashour, 15, and Ahmad Tabeeb Jassir, 15, and took them to an unknown destination. Wanees added that soldiers violently attacked the fathers of the two children, and hit him with their batons before abducting the two youth. [end] Young leftist Deheisha Camp resident gets three years in Israeli prison Palestine News Network 12/15/2006 The Israeli Military Court at Ofer sentenced a young Bethlehem man to three years in prison. Bilal Omar Saif sat before the Israeli court in a military installation in the central West Bank’s Ramallah Thursday. The 20 year old resides in Bethlehem’s Deheisha Refugee Camp. In addition to being sentenced to three years as a political prisoner, he was also fined 6,000 shekels. The Israeli charges against him are that he belonged to the leftist Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine and participated in the resistance against the Israeli occupation. [end] PCHR Closely Follows up through Cases the Israeli Supreme Court’s Ruling on the Civil Wrongs Law Palestinian Centre for Human Rights 12/14/2006 Today, 12 December 2006, the Israeli Supreme Court issued a decision invalidating amended article 5c of the Civil Wrongs (Liability of the State) Law that releases the State of Israel from all liability for compensation for any damages caused to Palestinians by Israeli Occupation Forces in areas designated as “conflict zones” in the Occupied Palestinian Territory (OPT). The decision came in response to a petition submitted in September 2005 by nine human rights organizations in Israel, the West Bank and the Gaza Strip: Adalah; HaMoked: Center for the Defense of the Individual; the Association for Civil Rights in Israel; Al-Haq; the Palestinian Center for Human Rights; B’Tselem; Physicians for Human Rights – Israel; the Public Committee Against Torture in Israel; and Rabbis for Human Rights. Palestinian poet Sameeh Al Qasem brings his words to the night sky of Bethlehem Palestine News Network 12/14/2006 The voice of poet Sameeh Al Qasem spread throughout the Shepherd Hotel and into Bethlehem’s night sky. The occassion was the opening of the sixth annual Jerusalem poetry, literature and creative cultural forum. Al Qasem gave tribute to all of the lands lost and those killed, with Jerusalem given the highest noted. When forced to talk politics, he said that it had become a part of the system of life. “There is a camaraderie between Bethlehem, the Galilee and Palestinians in general. We say that we are always ready for the heart of salvation and to break the barriers of the offending occupation. ”After a lengthy introduction, he read “Palestine First... all the roads open to tomorrow... grown up in the University of Science and opened a school for the struggle. ” He also read a poem about the prison in Guantanamo. Soldiers abduct eleven Palestinians from several West Bank areas International Middle East Media Center 12/12/2006 Israeli army abducted eleven Palestinian men during morning invasions to several parts of the West Bank on Tuesday. Local sources in Nablus, in the northern part of the West Bank, reported that soldiers invaded the city from several direction, searched and ransacked a number of houses and took prisoner four residents. Khaled Abu Kharmah, 23, and his brother Hamzah, 21, Nahil Arafat, 23, and his brother Ammar, 19, were taken to an Israeli military camp after troops surrounded the houses of their families and forced all family members of the house before searching and ransacking the property. Soldiers fired sound bombs and rounds of live ammunition at the residents and theiur houses, no injuries were reported. Report: Haniyeh says Israel more flexible on Shalit prisoner swap Ha’aretz 12/13/2006 Palestinian Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh has said that Israel is showing greater flexibility on the terms of a prisoner exchange involving captured Israel Defense Forces soldier Gilad Shalit, Israel Radio reported Tuesday. Haniyeh said Egyptian intelligence chief Omar Suleiman, who has been a central mediator on the issue, told him that Israel has agreed in principle that the release of Shalit and the release of Palestinian prisoners by Israel would occur simultaneously, the radio reported. Nonetheless, the two sides have yet to agree on the number of Palestinians that will be freed, or their identities, the radio said. The radio quoted Haniyeh as telling Al-Arabiya television during an interview that the Palestinian factions that are holding Shalit are demanding the release of senior Palestinians and other Arab prisoners. A Palestinian is sentenced to 15 years in prison by Israeli court for being an activist Ma’an News Agency 12/12/2006 Jenin - The Israeli military court sentenced a Palestinian man, Rami Khanfar, aged 42 from Jenin, to 15 years in prison for being an activist of Al Aqsa Brigades, on Tuesday. Sources told Ma’an that Khanfar, who is in Jalboa prison, was arrested on May the 11th 2005, in the occupied West Bank city of Nablus, after being shot in the thigh by Israeli soldiers. The sources added that the man escaped an attempted assassination in 2001, when he was targeted by Israeli war planes. He was found alive under the destroyed house that had been struck by the planes in Nablus. The family of Rami Khanfar called on Abbas and other humanitarian societies to intervene in the order to save the man’s life and enable him to receive treatment hospital. [end] AG to Peretz: Stop delaying moves against outposts Ha’aretz 12/13/2006 Attorney General Menachem Mazuz has demanded that Defense Minister Amir Peretz stop delaying the publication of regulations that would make it easier for the state to combat illegal construction in West Bank settlements and outposts. Mazuz sent a letter on the subject to Peretz last week, the third such letter he has sent to the Defense Ministry in the last year. The first was sent to Peretz’s predecessor, Shaul Mofaz, and the next two to Peretz. Since the Israel Defense Forces is technically the sovereign power in the territories, it is the defense minister who must promulgate the relevant regulations. Four such regulations have been drafted, but Peretz has not yet approved them. The regulations in question would impose prison sentences and heavy fines on people who build illegally in the territories... Olmert’s emissaries sent on secret visit to Abbas Ha’aretz 12/12/2006 Two emissaries of Prime Minister Ehud Olmert paid a secret visit to Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas in Ramallah on Sunday, Haaretz has learned. During the meeting, Olmert also spoke with Abbas by telephone, and the PA chairman said that he wants Israel to release Marwan Barghouti from prison independent of any deal for the release of kidnapped Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit. Barghouti, a senior official in Abbas’ Fatah party, is currently serving five life sentences for his role in the murder of five Israelis during the intifada. However, Olmert replied that he is not even willing to discuss this issue until after Shalit is returned to Israel. Palestinian sources said that the meeting, which was attended by Olmert’s bureau chief, Yoram Turbowicz, and his political advisor, Shalom Turjeman, was extremely positive. Court to rule on Palestinian lawsuits Jerusalem Post 12/12/2006 A panel of nine Supreme Court justices headed by retired president Aharon Barak is due on Tuesday to rule on a controversial law granting the state broad immunity from lawsuits filed by Palestinian civilians for damages incurred in the intifada. The petition was filed on September 1, 2005 by nine human rights organizations - including Adalah, Hamoked, the Association for Civil Rights in Israel, Al-Haq, B’Tselem, Physicians for Human Rights, the Public Committee against Torture in Israel and Rabbis for Human Rights. It asked the court to nullify an amendment to the Civil Wrongs (Liability of the State) Law that was passed by the Knesset on July 27, 2005. The law almost completely denies residents of areas declared "zones of conflict" compensation for any damages they have sustained by agents of the State of Israel no matter what the circumstances. Haniyeh’s fundraising tour pays off as Iran bankrolls employees of several ministries Ma’an News Agency 12/11/2006 Gaza - Palestinian Prime Minister Isma’il Haniyeh has expressed his appreciation and thanks on Monday to the Islamic Republic of Iran, for the generosity and good reception, describing the meetings he held in Iran as "fruitful and successful". Iran has submitted financial support in aid for the Palestinian people, aiming to break the siege imposed on them. The donation included $100 million for the year 2007, in addition to the payment for the public employees of the ministries of Social Welfare, Labor and Prisoners’ Affairs for the coming six months, besides covering the prisoners’ families’ requirements for six months. The cumulative sum mounts to $45 million. Iran has donated a further $60 million, to be paid to 100,000 unemployed Palestinian workers, over 6 months, in addition to emergency support to the fishermen of the Gaza Strip... McCain: Iran regime is ’possibly deranged’ and ’dangerous’ Ha’aretz 12/12/2006 Israel and the world are threatened by a "possibly deranged and surely dangerous regime" in Iran, White House hopeful Sen. John McCain told a Jewish audience on Monday. The former Vietnam prisoner of war, who tried and failed to gain the Republican presidential nomination in 1998, is considered the probable front-runner for the Republican party’s nomination in two years. As the world’s "chief state sponsor of international terrorism," Iran defines itself by its hostility to the Jewish state and its chief ally, the United States, the Arizona Republican said in a speech for a Hanukkah dinner at Yeshiva University on Sunday...." It is simply tragic that millennia of proud Persian history have culminated in a government that today cannot be counted among the world’s most civilized nations," McCain said. PPS: "Detainees in Al Jalama are facing very harsh conditions" International Middle East Media Center 12/8/2006 The Tulkarem office of the Palestinian Prisoner Society (PPS) reported that the detainee in Al Jalama Israeli detention and interrogation facility are facing very bad conditions and harsh treatment as the Israeli Prison Authorities (IPS) continued its attacks and violations against them. In a press release, the PPS stated that the facility lacks the basic requirements that could fulfil the minimum needs and rights of the detainees. The IPS controls the quantities of food and clothes, and even controls when the detainees are allowed to go to the toilet or have a shower. The facility is overcrowded especially after Israel recently transferred eighty additional detainees to it. The PPS also said that the detainees are subjected to torture and repeated physical attacks in addition to being repeatedly confined to solitary without any apparent reason. Army attacks two local radio stations in Hebron, abducts one journalist International Middle East Media Center 12/8/2006 The Israeli army invaded two radio stations in Hebron and took one of their staff prisoner in the West Bank city of Hebron on Thursday night, Palestinian sources reproted. At lest 10 army vehicles surrounded the building where the two stations offices are then stormed the offices, soldiers forced the employees of the two stations in one room, then searched and ransacked the studios. Eyewitness reports say that troops invaded Siraj and Radio Al Huriya local radio stations and abducted Siraj station director Abd Al Jabar Abu Sneinah. Sa’ed Al Shyukhi, a journalist at Radio Al Huria (Freedom Radio) told IMEMC that soldiers forcefully strip-searched all the employees, then locked them up them in one small room. He added that all 15 journalists were forced to crouch for 2 hours, " The treated us as like animals" Al Shyukhi said. Israeli TV encounters obstacles in attempts to interview imprisoned Barghouti Ma’an News Agency 12/8/2006 Bethlehem - Israeli television channel 2 has questioned who is in charge of Marwan Barghouthi in the Israeli jails. An Israeli reporter said that he has been trying for more than a week to arrange an interview with Barghouthi, but could not find out who is to be contacted regarding this prisoner. He added that after many efforts the Israeli officials have claimed that it is Barghouthi who refuses to be interviewed. The lawyer of Barghouthi, Ilias Sayegh, said that this was not true, Barghouthi did not refuse to meet with the TV station; the israeli authorities will not allow him to make any statements. When the reporter asked the wife of Barghouthi who is in charge of him while in jail she said, "the whole world is, as this is a political arrest. Prime Minister Haniyya gains promise for release of prisoners in Syria International Middle East Media Center 12/8/2006 Official sources in the Hamas party told PNN Friday that Prime Minister Haniyya’s visit to Damascus may result in the release of Palestinian political prisoners from Syrian prisons. During two days in the capital, talks were described as “sensitive,” and Ismail Haniyya was able to obtain a promise from the Syrian leadership. Palestinians should be released within a short time frame, as soon as names and locations can be inventoried and processed. Sources in the Prime Minister’s office did not reveal the exact number of detainees, but human rights sources say that there are at least one thousand. Among them are Palestinians who have spent decades in Syrian prisons, but no one was certain what had happened to them. Child detainee threatened with rape during interrogation International Middle East Media Center 12/8/2006 A Palestinian child detainee, who was taken prisoner by the Israeli forces two months ago, said that he was threatened with rape by Israeli interrogators unless he confesses to what they accuse him with. The child also said that he was tortured for 25 days and was confined to solitary in Petah Tikva prison. In an affidavit singed in front of lawyer of the Palestinian Prisoner Society, Hanan Al Khateeb, detainee Dhia’ Mahdi Al Bostami, 15, from Nablus, said that he was taken prisoner on October 2, and was forced to sign a “confession” written in Hebrew without knowing what it states. Al Bostami said that the interrogators repeatedly threatened to rape him, and continuously kicked and punched him in his legs, hands and other parts of his body. The interrogators uttered repeated verbal threats to rape and sexually abuse him. Gaza journalist Mohammed Omer: His life and words By Christian Avard, Electronic Intifada/Vermont Guardian 12/8/2006 INTERVIEW -- BRATTLEBORO -- Award-winning journalist and photographer Mohammed Omer, on a speaking tour of the United States, spoke before a large audience at the Center Congregational Church in Brattleboro on Nov. 29. Omer shared his experiences in Gaza and why journalism was his calling. Omer, 22, was born and raised in the Rafah refugee camp, in the southern Gaza Strip near the Egyptian border. The oldest of eight children, Mohammed began working to support his family at age six when his father was in an Israeli prison. In time, he landed a job at a backpack factory and since then has built an impressive resume as a translator, journalist, and program coordinator. At 17, he began translating for Global Exchange delegations to Gaza, traveling dignitaries, and foreign reporters Bethlehem Mayor: birth place of Jesus is a prison behind an Israeli Wall and under a US blockade Palestine News Network 12/7/2006 The Christmas trees and street lights throughout Bethlehem’s three major streets will be lit in an official ceremony next week. The season is upon us again. For how little money there is, and how difficult the circumstances, Bethlehem does go all out every year and it is lost on none of the residents, whether Muslim or Christian. The city becomes aglow, especially beautiful are the two weeks before Christmas Eve Mass. The city’s mayor, Dr. Victor Batarsa, told PNN on Thursday that Bethlehem is doing all it can to prepare celebrations amid “very difficult circumstances in all aspects, including political, economic, living and tourism." Mayor Batarsa continued to tell PNN today that the city of Bethlehem “has been turned into a big prison for its citizens by the settlements that surround it and envelop it in all aspects..." First stage of prisoner swap might be carried out in coming weeks International Middle East Media Center 12/8/2006 Israeli sources reported on Wednesday that the first stage of ceasefire between Israel and fighters in Gaza, under Egyptian mediation, could take place within the coming weeks, Israeli online daily Haaretz reported. Initial reports revealed that the dead will be implemented on three stages starting with the release of 400 detainees, including women, children, and sick detainees, and shortly after that the fighters will release the captured Israeli soldier, Gild Shalit, most likely through Egyptian mediators. The second stage of the deal includes the release of another group of detainees, and the third stage will see the release of additional detainees, including leaders of Palestinian groups, and Palestinians who carried operations that led to the death of Israelis. ’No indication’ captured Israelis are dead - Amnesty Daily Star 12/8/2006 The head of Amnesty International, who is visiting Israel, told the Jerusalem Post in an article published Thursday that Hizbullah members have not indicated that two Israeli soldiers captured in a July border raid are dead. Irene Khan said she spoke to Hizbullah members during a three-day visit to Lebanon earlier this week." We did not get any indication from them that the two men were not alive," Khan said, adding that she asked Hizbullah to allow the international Red Cross to see the soldiers." They acknowledged that under international law there is an obligation for them to give access, but they said they would not do it, because they wanted to put pressure on Israel to release prisoners," Khan said. A senior Hizbullah official, Sheik Hassan Ezzeddine, said he knew nothing about the conditions of the two soldiers. The family of a Palestinian prisoner appeals to humanitarian associations Ma’an News Agency 12/7/2006 Nablus - The family of the Palestinian detainee Bilal Tayseer Shaheen, 27, from the northern West Bank city of Salfit, has, on Thursday, appealed to human rights’ associations to exert pressure on Israel to allow them to visit their son. The prisoner was detained a month ago, and his family have not been able to visit him since. Two other sons of the family are also detained in Israeli prisons, Abdur-Rahman and Abdur-Rahim. [end] Saudi police die in Jeddah clash BBC Online 12/7/2006 The gunmen opened fire at guards on duty outside a prison in the Ruwais district of the city, officials said. It is unclear who the gunmen were, or if they were injured. Police surrounded the building where they took cover. Saudi authorities say 136 Islamic militant suspects have been arrested in recent months." Guards on duty around Ruwais prison came under fire from a nearby building leading to the death of two security force members," said an interior ministry statement carried by the official Saudi Press Agency. Saudi security forces have been waging a campaign against suspected sympathisers of the al-Qaeda militant movement since a spate of attacks in the kingdom beginning in 2003. [end] Rights groups: ISA tortures detainees Jerusalem Post 12/6/2006 Despite a 1999 High Court ruling prohibiting pain-causing interrogation techniques, the Shin Bet (Israel Security Agency) continues to torture and degrade Palestinian detainees in violation of international law, human rights spokespersons charged on Tuesday. Moreover, one of the spokespersons said the government had ignored a 1994 Justice Ministry decision to transfer the investigation of complaints against Shin Bet interrogators from the Shin Bet to the independent Police Investigations Department. These allegations came during a conference in Jerusalem sponsored by United against Torture and the Public Committee against Torture in Israel (PCATI). Attorney Eliahu Abram, the legal director of PCATI, charged that the Shin Bet, in collusion with Attorney-General Menahem Mazuz and State Attorney Eran Shendar, did not seriously investigate complaints of torture... 45 Palestinians arrested from the same northern West Bank village Palestine News Network 12/6/2006 In the ongoing “silent war,” as the major arrest campaign was described by former Director of the Palestinian Prisoner Society and current Legislative Council member, Issa Qaraqa’, Israeli forces arrested 45 Palestinians from Jenin’s Kafr Dan Village on Wednesday. That is addition to the 23 in Ramallah, Bethlehem and Hebron taken to unknown locations this morning. The Kafr Dan raid focused on armed resistance members from Al Aqsa Brigades and Saraya Al Quds, and their families. Ibrahim Al Abed, Kafr Dan leader of Al Aqsa Brigades, told PNN that 30 military vehicles hit the town at dawn and began surrounding houses. He described the raids and searches as widespread. “The soldiers detained family members of the ’wanted,’ interrogating them and arresting several. ” No family relation: For 5 years a mother is prohibited from visiting her son in Israeli prison Palestine News Network 12/6/2006 Thirty five year old Mohammad Ibrahim Abu Al Zalav is a political prisoner in the Israeli Damon Prison. He was arrested as part of a campaign against the armed resistance, as he is among the leadership of Fateh’s Al Aqsa Brigades. His family lives in Jenin Refugee Camp and his mother is in her sixties. Life has been difficult since Mohammad’s arrest, as he was the family’s breadwinner. His mother Fawzia has not been allowed to see her son in five years. She sat down with PNN on Wednesday. “Every time I go to the prison to visit I wonder how I will prove to them that I am his mother? I gave them all the papers and documents confirming that he is my son. They will not accept them. They say I am not his mother! Nor will they allow his brothers to visit under the pretext of ’security. ’" Revealed: appalling conditions in Israeli prisons Ma’an News Agency 12/6/2006 Nablus - Freed prisoner, Amjad Khalid Ghafry, from the West Bank city of Nablus, has said that the conditions in the Israeli jails are appalling. After being released from the prison in which he served 26 months, Ghafry said that the Israeli authorities in the Nafha and Be’er Sheva prisons in the Negev region of southern Israel, are intensifying measures against Palestinian prisoners, especially the punishments meted out to these prisoners. He added that the number of prisoners to be sent to the isolation cells has increased recently in the absence clear or persuasive reasoning and that many of the prisoners’ families have been banned from visiting. Ghafry described the conditions of the sick prisoners as horrendous and said that they are suffering terribly, especially those who have lost parts of their bodies as a result of clashes with the Israeli forces. One child injured and four taken prisoners in the southern West Bank International Middle East Media Center 12/6/2006 One child was injured and four residents were taken prisoner by the Israeli army in the southern West Bank cities of Hebron and Bethlehem on Wednesday. Rabi’ Awad, 9, was injured, on Wednesday afternoon, by a rubber round in his leg and was moved to a nearby hospital during clashes between the school boys and the Israeli soldiers who invaded Ithna village south of Hebron. Troops attacked the school boys and fired sound bombs and tear gas before, the students responded with bu hurling stones at the army, eyewitnesses reported. Earliers on Wednesday morning, troops attacked, searched and ransacked several houses in the city of Hebron ,and the nearby Al Arroub refugee camp, and took three residents prisoners including a mother of five children. Hezbollah: "Release Quntar for information on captured soldiers" International Middle East Media Center 12/6/2006 The Lebanon based Hezbollah party, holding two Israeli soldiers captive, offered information of the two captured Israeli soldiers, Ehud Goldwasser and Eldad Regev, in exchange for the release of Sameer Quntar, a Lebanese detainee held in Israel since 1979. An Israeli source reported on Wednesday that Israel rejected the offer especially since it does not have any information on the fate of the two soldiers. Also, Israeli sources reported that Hezbollah representatives with German mediators proposed several weeks ago providing Israel with information on the two soldiers in exchange of releasing Quntar who was supposed to be released in latest prison swap deal along with other detainees. Quntar was arrested by Israel on April 22, 1979. Khalid Mash’al calls on Egypt to release Hamas activist Ma’an News Agency 12/6/2006 Bethlehem - Head of Hamas’ political office, Khalid Mash’al, has on Wednesday called on the Egyptian authorities to release the Hamas activist Nehru Mas’ood, who is detained in Egypt. The website of the Israeli daily newspaper Maariv said that Mas’ood was a member of the Hamas military wing, who tried to escape to Egypt through a tunnel. The Egyptian authorities have called on Mash’al to progress in the prisoners’ swap between Israel and Hamas. The website accused Hamas of associating the prisoners’ swap with the release of Mas’ood from Egyptian prison, just as the Israelis did when they tied a recent exchange with the release of the Israeli spy Azzam Azzam. Maariv quoted Mash’al as saying to the Egyptians, "We can’t release [Israeli soldier] Corporal Gil’ad Shalit unless the Hamas member Mas’ood is released." Kabaha: Israel derails release of its captured soldier in Gaza Palestinian Information Center 12/6/2006 Ramallah - PA prisoners’ affairs minister Wasfi Kabaha has affirmed that the ongoing indirect Israeli-Palestinian negotiations on prisoners’ swap deal were hitting snags due to the stubborn stands the Israeli occupation government are taking on the matter, which derail the swift and smooth release of its captured soldier Gilad Shalit." Israel is trying to turnaround Palestinian demands of including Palestinian captives of long-imprisonment terms in the swap deal by putting new norms classifying Palestinians serving more than five-year-imprisonment terms as of long-imprisonment terms", Kabaha warned. Captors of Shalit clearly called on the Israeli occupation government to release all female, children, and sick Palestinian prisoners, in addition to 1,000 others, including those serving long-imprisonment terms and have been in jail for more than 15 years. Sentence reductions for Golan Heights teens Palestine News Network 12/6/2006 The Israeli Supreme Court has reduced the sentences of three child prisoners by six years each due to their young ages. All three young people are 17 years old and political prisoners in the Israeli prison system. They were convicted of “being a nuisance to security authorities” and “throwing Molotov cocktails at Israeli border guards” in the occupied Syrian Golan Heights. [end] The plight of Palestinian child prisoners Electronic Intifada/IRIN 12/5/2006 Palestinian Layth Ghalib Bedwan, 14, was arrested and detained by the Israeli authorities on 28 August 2006. Since then, his family has waited anxiously for him to return home." His mother is crying all the time. I contacted all the children’s rights organisations in the hope that they can do something to accelerate the release of my son, but all my efforts were in vain," said Ghalib Bedwan, 36, Layth’s father. On 9 September, an Israeli military court accused Layth of throwing stones at Israeli soldiers, sentencing him to three months in prison, and imposing a US $400 fine on him." The occupation force stormed into our house at 2am in the morning on 28 August," his father said. "They were shouting and threatening to use their guns.... they tied his hands, covered his eyes and put him in a military vehicle and drove away." Israeli military incursion into Balata refugee camp, Nablus; one young man arrested Ma’an News Agency 12/5/2006 Nablus - Israeli forces broke into Balata refugee camp in the West Bank city of Nablus early on Tuesday and took prisoner a 26-year-old Palestinian man. Our Nablus correspondent reported that many Israeli military vehicles broke into the camp at dawn on Tuesday and surrounded the house of Khalil Hassan Abu Hamada. The Israeli soldiers shot rounds of bullets at the house before calling for him to turn himself over through loudspeakers. Abu Hamada was taken away by the soldiers to an unknown destination. [end] Israeli minister backs the release of Marwan Barghouthi Ma’an News Agency 12/5/2006 Jerusalem - The Israeli environment minister, Gideon Ezra, has called for the release of the Fatah leader imprisoned in Israel, Marwan Barghouthi, as part of a prisoners’ deal. At the age of 18 in 1976, Marwan Barghouthi was arrested by Israel for his involvement in a Palestinian uprising, he is currently serving five life sentences in an Israeli jail for murder and attempted murder. The London-based pan-Arab newspaper ’Al Hayat ’ quoted Ezra saying, "Israel should help Fatah if Israel wants to support Abbas". He continued: "If Israel finds that Barghouthi is able to meet the understandings which Abbas wants to accomplish, but he is unable to do that alone, I wouldn’t oppose the release of prisoners - even those with blood on their hands, including Marwan Barghouthi. Talks over a prisoners’ exchange deal stall due to definition of ’long-term prisoners’ Ma’an News Agency 12/5/2006 Gaza - Hebron - Talks regarding a prisoners’ exchange deal have stalled, the Palestinian minister of prisoners’ affairs, Wasfi Qabaha, has confirmed. Qabaha said that the reason for the deadlock is the inability to reach an agreement over the criteria for assigning the prisoners for release, and over the definition of long-term prisoners. The minister described the Israelis as "stubborn" in regard to the long-term prisoners, who the Palestinians are calling to be all released. According to the Palestinian criteria, ’long-term prisoners’ means prisoners who have spent more than 16 years in Israeli jail. These number 367 Palestinian prisoners. The minister said that the Palestinians are worried that the Israeli authorities are going to consider all prisoners who have spent five years or more behind bars as long-term prisoners... One teen taken prisoner by the Army in Hebron International Middle East Media Center 12/5/2006 Israeli troops stationed at a military checkpoint in the old town of the southern West Bank city of Hebron, took prisoner one teenager, on Tuesday midday. Mohamed Al Maharmah, 17, was taken to an unknown location after Israeli soldiers stationed at a military checkpoint near the Ibrahimi mosque (Tomb of Ppatriarchs), in the Oold City, stopped him then and took his ID, eyewitnesses reported. In the morning, Israeli forces took prisoner seven residents from several areas in Hebron during morning invasions. [end] PRC spokesman speaks out about the prisoner exchange deal and the ceasefire Ma’an News Agency 12/5/2006 Khan Younis - A spokesman for the Palestinian Resistance Committees (PRC), Abu Mujahid, has claimed that there are obstacles in the way of achieving the prisoners exchange deal. Mujahid said, "the deal will not be achieved unless it contains the names of the sick, those serving long terms, the leaders of factions and the elderly in Israeli jails." Speaking to Ma’an exclusively, he added, "the groups that have captured Israeli soldiers will not abandon their demands to have one thousand prisoners released; including the prisoners taken in 1948, Arab prisoners and Palestinian women and children." In reference to the wishes of Noam Shalit, (father of the imprisoned Israeli Gilad Shalit), to meet with Hamas and Fatah leaders in Gaza, he said, "if the father of that soldier has any ability to make decisions in Israel, which we doubt, we welcome him coming to speak with us..." Mustapha Barghouthi in Cairo to strengthen Egypt’s support for the Palestinians Ma’an News Agency 12/5/2006 Cairo - Dr. Mustapha Barghouthi, the head of the Palestinian National Initiative and an independent member of the Palestinian Legislative Council, is in Cairo on a two-day visit to discuss ways for Egypt to support Palestinian unity and to strengthen the Palestine Liberation Organisation (PLO). Dr. Barghouthi, who has been acting as the main mediator between the Palestinian presidency and government in the recent dialogue over forming a national unity government, has met with the Egyptian minister of intelligence, Omar Suleiman, and the Arab League secretary-general, Amr Moussa, as part of his visit. Barghouthi also discussed with the Egyptians the issue of a prisoners’ exchange deal, which Egypt has been playing a significant role in carrying out, and the proposed Palestinian national unity government. [end] Minister of detainees reveals information on prisoner swap with Israel International Middle East Media Center 12/5/2006 Palestinian Minister of Detainee, Wasfi Qabha, revealed on Monday during a meeting with parents of Palestinian detainees, in Bethlehem, information regarding a prisoners swap deal between Israel and Palestinian resistance factions holding an Israeli soldier captive. Qabha said that the deal does not include the abducted ministers and legislators since they should be immediately freed without any preconditions. Qabha stated that, according to the deal, Israel will release 400 detainees as the fighters hand the captured Israeli soldier, Gilad Shalit, to Egypt, after that Israel will release additional 400 detainees. The third stage of the deal will see the release of detainees sentenced to high terms. He also said that the deal includes releasing children, women, elderly and sick detainees, and will also see the release of Palestinian leaders... Army invades Qalqilia and a nearby village, takes prisoner one resident International Middle East Media Center 12/4/2006 The Israeli forces invaded the northern West Bank city of Qalqilia, and the nearby village of Azzoun, and took prisoner one resident on Monday morning. Troops and army jeeps attacked residents houses in the city and the village, searched and ransacked them before taking Qussai Radwan, 16, from Azzoun village to unknown location. Local sources reported that soldiers fired tear gas and rubber-coated bullets at youth who hurled stones at them during the invasion, no injuries were reported. [end] Three residents taken prisoners during army attack on a village near Rammallah International Middle East Media Center 12/4/2006 Israeli forces took prisoner three residents during a pre-dawn invasion to the village of Al Safa, west of the northern West Bank city of Ramallah on Monday. Mohamed Allan, 21, his brother Hamza, 21, and Jihad Zaky, 21, were taken prisoner by the army when troops invaded Al Safa village searched and ransacked several houses, eyewitnesses reported. [end] In morning invasion to Hebron, army takes three prisoners International Middle East Media Center 12/4/2006 The Israeli army invaded the southern WEst Bank city of Hebron, and the nearby villages of Ithna and Al Samou’a on Monday morning, and took three residents prisoner. Troops attacked residents houses, searched and ransacked them before taking Shaker Qafisha, 23, Iyad Gahisha, 32, from Ithna village, and Mohamed Al Badaren 20, from Al Samou’a village. Residents said that troops forced families out of their homes in a very violent way during the search and did not allow them to keep the children inside due to the very cold weather. [end] Qabha states that the ’prisoners’ exchange deal’ will include the release of Barghouthi and Sa’adat Ma’an News Agency 12/4/2006 Hebron - The Palestinian minister of prisoners’ affairs, Wasfi Qabha, has revealed that the ’prisoners’ exchange deal’ will not include the Palestinian Legislative Council members and ministers that have been abducted by Israeli forces, confirming that these prisoners should be released immediately. In a meeting with the prisoners’ families, organised by the Palestinian Prisoners’ Society in Bethlehem, Qabha said that 400 Palestinian prisoners will be released at the same time as Gilad Shalit is released and another 400 will be released later. In the third stage of the agreement, many of those prisoners who have served long terms in Israeli jails will be released. He also said that the deal will include the release of old men, women and children, as well as prisoners that are ill. Israel ready to free 1000 prisoners in Shalit deal Ha’aretz 12/5/2006 Israel is expecting that progress will be achieved on the negotiations for the release of abducted soldier Gilad Shalit as a result of the meeting between Palestinian Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh and exiled Hamas political bureau chief Khaled Meshal, in Damascus on Monday. The two Hamas leaders were expected to have reached an agreement on the deal that is being negotiated for the release of Shalit in exchange for the freeing of many Palestinian prisoners. Israel informed Egypt’s intelligence chief, Omar Suleiman, of its willingness to release prisoners, during meetings the Egyptian mediator held in Israel last week, a senior source in Jerusalem said Monday." We agreed to release several hundred women and children, mostly the young among them," the Israeli source said. Troops abduct a PFLP political leader in Bethlehem International Middle East Media Center 12/4/2006 Palestinian sources in the West Bank City of Bethlehem reported on Monday afternoon that Israeli soldiers abducted a political leader of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP). Mahmoud Fannoun, member of the political bureau of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, and member of the Palestinian National Council, was taken prisoner earlier on Monday in Bethlehem. Israeli military sources claimed that Fannoun is “suspected of involvement in military activities” carried by members of the PFLP against Israeli targets. The Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine (DFLP) slammed the arrest, and demanded in a press release the immediate release of Fannoun. The Front stated that “the arrest of Fannoun, the and the deliberate attempts to humiliate his family” is a further Israeli military escalation... Palestinian female prisoner speaks out about her treatment in Israeli prisons Ma’an News Agency 12/4/2006 Bethlehem - The Palestinian female detainee Nahid Walid Ash-Shafi’, aged 32 from the northern West Bank town of Al-Far’a near Tubas, has claimed that she was abused by the Israeli forces when they arrested her at the Huwwara checkpoint on her way home from Ramallah on the 11th November this year. She told her lawyer, from the prisoners’ association, whom she spoke to later that day, that the soldiers had stopped her car at 5pm and told her to get out of the vehicle, calling her a "terrorist," before handcuffing her and transferring her to a military base. In addition, she said that the soldiers left her outside in very cold weather conditions. They then transferred her to the Hasharon prison for one day, then to the Jalamah detention center for 15 days of interrogation. Palestininan youth worker to be detained without charge for another six months International Solidarity Movement/Alternative Information Centre 12/3/2006 November 30th - An Israeli military court has approved the extension of Ahmad Abu Hannya’s administration detention until May 14, 2007. By the of this period Ahmad, an Alternative Information Center (AIC) staff member, will have been imprisoned for two years. Ahmad, coordinator of the AIC youth group in Bethlehem, was detained at a checkpoint on his way to work on May 18, 2005 and placed in administrative detention — imprisonment without trial or charges. As with all of the approximately 600 Palestinian administrative detainees currently being held by Israel, Ahmad and his attorney are not even permitted to know the evidence against him. As Ahmad stated before the military court, “They tell me that I am a danger to the security of the region. Yet for years I have worked with Israelis. I have Israeli friends. I always emphasise the fact that on this land it is possible to live in peace. How am I dangerous exactly?" Conference on torture in Israel and the PA: "From Guantánamo to Petach Tikva: Global Perspective on Torture Today" Ma’an News Agency 12/4/2006 The Public Committee Against Torture in Israel (PCATI) will hold its first "United Against Torture" Coalition annual conference on Tuesday 5 December in Jerusalem. The theme of their launch conference is "From Guantánamo to Petach Tikva: Global Perspective on Torture Today." The main lecturer will be Rob Freer from Amnesty International in London. He is their Americas researcher. According to the organization’s press information, this conference "aims at offering a global perspective on the global trends related to the practice of torture during the ‘war on terror’ as well as an insight into the development of the practice of torture in Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territories." The conference will also feature specialists, lawyers and activists from Palestinian, Israeli and international human rights organizations. Palestinian man taken prisoner by the Israeli army in Beit Sahour International Middle East Media Center 12/2/2006 The Israeli army invaded the town of Beit Sahour, near the West Bank city of Bethlehem, and took prisoner one resident on Saturday morning. Khaled Awad, 24, was taken to an unknown location after troops surrounded his house and searched it, eyewitnesses reported. [end] Army shoots and kills a resident of Hebron International Middle East Media Center 12/1/2006 One Palestinian resident was shot and killed in the old town area of the southern West Bank city of Hebron after being shot in the head by Israeli soldiers on Friday at dawn. Bashar Al Ja’bari, 22, was going to pray the morning prayers in the Abraham Mosque, also known as the Tomb of Patriarchs, located in the old city, when soldiers stationed at a military checkpoint at the mosque entrance shot Al Ja’bari in the head and killed him. Palestinian medical sources in the city that Al Ja’bari was killed after sustaining multiple hits with live rounds in the chest and the head. He arrived to the public hospital in the city dead, the sources stated. Army sources said that soldiers... killed a Palestinian boy who tried to attack their post with a cocktail Molotov bomb... the sources added that troops took prisoner 29 residents in pre dawn invasions to several west Bank cities. Newbury News: "Peace worker’s tales of war" International Solidarity Movement/Newbury News, UK 12/2/2006 Human rights worker teams up with Newbury shop owner to raise funds for the woman who saved her life -- A HUMAN rights worker who spent last Christmas in an Israeli jail has visited Newbury to help raise money for the woman who saved her life. Sharon, 33, won’t give out her surname as she fears Israeli authorities will use the information to ban her from the country or lock her up again. She gave a talk and showed a video at Friends Meeting House in Newbury on Wednesday to highlight the plight of Palestinians in Israel. Sharon was put in prison after being banned from a peace conference in Bethlehem on December 21 last year, spending 11 days behind bars. “It was ironic that I was trying to get to Bethlehem and they wouldn’t let me,” she said. Israeli court extends detention of wife of Palestinian minister International Middle East Media Center 12/1/2006 An Israeli military court on Wednesday renewed the detention of Wadha Fukaha, the wife of the detained Islamic Jihad leader Yousef Fukaha for two weeks, Palestinian legal sources reported. She was taken prisoner by Israeli forces in August. They added that Israeli military prosecution tabled an indictment list against Wadha accusing her of running the Afak (Horizon) studies center that was administered by her husband before his arrest. [end] Diabetic journalist imprisoned without trial on hunger strike Palestine News Network 11/30/2006 Palestinian political prisoner, 40 year old journalist Jamal Farag, has declared an open hunger strike in the Israeli Al Naqab (Negev) Prison. He is a diabetic, causing great concern for his life during this strike. Farag is protesting the Israeli administration’s decision to isolate him in solitary confinement for two months. The journalist is prohibited from mixing with the rest of his colleagues, or to listen to the radio, watch television, or read newspapers or magazines. The journalist is entirely disconnected from the outside world, causing him to begin this life-threatening nonviolent protest. His colleagues are appealing to human rights organizations to intervene on his behalf in order to save his life, which is thought to be in serious condition. The Israeli prison administration claimed that it did not know of Farag’s condition... |
Alive and kicking By Avi Issacharoff and Amos Harel, Ha’aretz 12/22/2006
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The Treatment of Prisoners and Detainees: Home Page
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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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