February 2006

http://alawda.newjerseysolidarity.org

Justice for Palestinian Political Prisoners

Among the numerous humiliations inflicted upon the Palestinian people by the colonial project known as "Israel" is the illegal detention and imprisonment of more than 8000 Palestinians.

Since the expansion of the occupation in 1967, over 650,000 Palestinians have been detained by the zionist occupier. This amounts to one of every five Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza facing detainment at some point during her or his life. The policy of illegal arrest and detention continues unabated, with mass arrests erasing any decrease in the total number of prisoners resulting from occasional and much over-hyped "goodwill gestures" by Israel, such as when it released a few hundred prisoners in February 2005. In late September 2005 the zionist military abducted an additional 500 - 700 Palestinians in the West Bank. The International Middle East Media Center reported that the Ofer Israeli military court transferred 200 of these detainees to administrative detention, without trial, for periods ranging from four to six months.

Political Prisoners

Palestinian women, mothers of political prisoners, protest for their release.

Palestinians detained by Israel are in fact political prisoners. As an illegal occupier, Israel creates and enforces illegitimate laws which criminalize resistance to an immoral and illegal occupation. Israel wishes to oppress with impunity. It has created a system of military rule whereby a military commander issues military orders by which Palestinians must comply, or face abduction. The arrests take place, often in mass campaigns, by the invader on Palestinian soil. Just as the occupation is a violation of human rights, so is the arrest and detention of those struggling against that occupation.

In additional to the illegality of the detention itself, Israel further violates human rights and international law with systematic practices of torture. The world was horrified when it caught a minor glimpse of the abuses at Abu Ghraib. This same style of torture, and much worse, is practiced regularly against Palestinian political prisoners. The Palestinian Prisoners' Society estimated in July 2003 that 90% of all Palestinian prisoners are subjected to torture. Nearly 200 prisoners died in detention as a result of torture or medical negligence since 1967.

The widespread use of illegal detention by the colonial occupier has lead to an outgrowth of prisoner support organizations. One such organization is Addameer Prisoners Support and Human Rights Association. The word "addameer," Arabic for "conscience," reflects the work of this group which was formed in 1992. Addameer provides psychological, legal and media support to prisoners, and support to the families. Through its campaigns and documentation efforts, it works to raise awareness of the situation of Palestinian political prisoners.

Just as activists in the U.S. face oppression by all levels of government when struggling for human rights, so do the activists of Addameer by Israel, in many cases more severely. Providing direct support to prisoners is made difficult by an Israeli imposed ban on travel to 1948 Palestine. Although it is a violation of the Fourth Geneva Convention detainees abducted in territories occupied in 1967 to be transferred to areas outside of those territories, 21 of Israel's 24 detention facilities are in 1948 Palestine. Since Israel denies the right to most Palestinians living in the West Bank or Gaza to travel outside of these territories, political prisoners held in these 21 facilities are widely denied access to their families and lawyers.

Addameer reports that the conditions of detention are appalling. The Ketziot Military Detention Camp in the Negev desert is a revival of a prison camp left over from the pre-1948 British mandate era. Rather than housing detainees in modern facilities, the occupier provides nothing but threadbare tents to protect prisoners from the weather year round.

The detention centers are notorious for overcrowding. Hardly a pillar of humane treatment of prisoners, even the U.S. has a minimum standard of providing 10.5 square meters per detainee. Israeli Prison Ordinance permits the holding of 20 detainees in a cell of 5 by 4 meters, and 3 meters high, with an open lavatory. This equates to 1 square meter (about 3 feet by 3 feet) per abductee!

Palestinian political prisoners are systematically denied access to proper medical treatment. In many instance the detainees are wounded during their capture. In these instances and all other medical situations, Palestinians are provided nothing but aspirin. They are not provided a change of clothing and instead must wear their blood-soiled clothing for months. Palestinians requiring surgery or other hospital treatment are put off for months.

Palestinian political prisoners are subjected to the following forms of torture: sleep deprivation, shackling in painful positions, beatings, physical and psychological humiliation, strangulation, exposure to extreme temperatures, plus many other documented methods.

In addition to documenting the abhorrent conditions of detainment experienced by Palestinian political prisoners, Addameer has launched several specific campaigns. The May 2005 issue of Al-Awda - Voices of Resistance and Liberation featured the Campaign to Free Manal and Nour, a case involving a mother and her infant son illegally detained by Israel. Addameer's own chairman, Abdul Latif Gheith, was the subject of a campaign when he was abducted at the Qalandiya military checkpoint and placed in "administrative detention" for six months.

The practice of administrative detention is used by Israel to hold Palestinians indefinitely without ever bringing charges or holding a trial. Israel has its own international-law-violating regulations under which they permit themselves to hold Palestinians on secret evidence, making it literally impossible for the detainee to exercise the right of defense. In the case of Mr. Gheith, he was never provided with a reason for his abduction and detention. Age 63 at the time of his abduction at gunpoint on July 29, 2004, the administrative order issued 7 days later merely state that he was a "danger to the security of the region." He had no trial, but was held for six months. It was Israel's third illegal 6-month detention of Mr. Gheith since 1988.

While Mr. Gheith was released at the end of his imposed detention period, Israel has also been known to renew illegal administrative detentions. In the past, Palestinians have spent up to 8 years in administrative detention, without charges or a trial ever being held against them. The Palestine News Network reported on October 6, 2005 that Raslan Talal Thouqan, 31, from the Balata Refugee Camp recently had a 4-month administrative detention order renewed by the occupying power for the 9th time in a row. Mr. Thouqn, father to a daughter who has never seen his face but in photos, has been held without charge or trial since November 4, 2002.

There are currently 600 Palestinian political prisoners held as administrative detainees. A recent report by the International Middle East Media Center indicates that Israel has offered "voluntary deportation" to some detainees as a condition of release. After 57 years of displacement and occupation, Israel continues its efforts to transfer all Palestinians out of Palestine.

The zionist occupier uses administrative detention and other forms of political imprisonment as a means of making life unbearable for Palestinians who defy occupation by continuing to live in Palestine. No better evidence

Addameer has developed numerous reports on the conditions of Palestinian political prisoners. These have been made available on their website at http://www.addameer.org. An in depth look at the practice of torture by Israel is undertaken in "Torture of Palestinian Political Prisoners in Israeli Prisons." Addameer and Canada-based Sumoud Political Prisoner Solidarity Group co-created "Status of Palestinian Political Prisoners In Israeli Prisons, Detention and Interrogation Centers" which is also available on the Addameer website.

On April 3, 2005 New Jersey Solidarity - Activists for the Liberation of Palestine hosted an event featuring Addameer attorney Sahar Francis and Addameer activist and former political prisoner Akram Al-Ayassa. Ms. Francis spoke of the support work undertaken by Addameer, and Mr. Al-Ayassa described his experience as a political prisoner. The presentations are available as video downloads at http://www.newjerseysolidarity.org.

Just as it denies Palestinian refugees their Right to Return home, the colonial settler zionist entity denies Palestinians countless additional rights, including the right to struggle against oppression, the right to organize and the right to freedom. Palestinian political prisoners have a right to justice and every single one of them must be released.