Today marks Palestinian Prisoners Day, a day that also serves to express solidarity with the thousands of Palestinian political prisoners held in Israeli jails. It is also used as a means to
illustrate the Israeli army's excessive and often lethal use of force
against peaceful and unarmed demonstrators throughout the West Bank and
Gaza,
A day for Palestinian people and supporters of justice and
liberation for Palestine worldwide to express their support to
Palestinian political prisoners of freedom.Commemorated since 1974, when , Mahmoud Hizazi was freed in a
prisoner exchange with the Palestinian resistance, Palestinian Prisoner
Day was founded to remind the world of the
thousands of Palestinian political prisoners imprisoned in Israeli
occupied
prisons or detention centers without charge or trial for extensive
periods of time. It is a day to demand their freedom.
In Palestine, political imprisonment is a central feature of Israeli
Apartheid with over 20% of Palestinians facing imprisonment in their
lifetime.Since Israeli began its military occupation of the West Bank
(including East Jerusalem) and the Gaza Strip in 1967, more than 800,000
Palestinians have been abducted and imprisoned by Israel. This figure
represents 20% of the total Palestinian population and 40% of the
Palestinian male population.
In 2010, Israel issued Military Order 1651 which imposes a 10-year sentence on anyone who attempts to influence public opinion in the West Bank in a manner which they deem to harm public order or publishes words of praise for a hostile organization which it defines as incitement
For years, the Israeli army has used such broad military orders to intimidate and arrest Palestinian human rights activists who engage in non-violent protests. This essentially allows Israel to criminalise resistanncetance to an occupation that is illegal under international law.
A core part of what sustains the Israeli occupation is a military judicial system characterised by violations of international law. This dual legal system that Palestinians face is reminiscent of apartheid South Africa.
Currently, there are 4,450 Palestinians
incarcerated by Israel, including 160 children under the age of 18, and
32 female prisoners, including one female minor. The vast majority of
Palestinian prisoners are imprisoned in Israeli prisons inside the Green
Line, amounting to acts of forcible transfer from the occupied
territory, in violation of Article 49 of the Fourth Geneva Convention
(1949).
Palestinian prisoners in Israeli prisons
continue to face systematic ill-treatment and torture. Currently, more
than 600 Palestinian prisoners in Israeli prisons suffer from a wide
range of illnesses and lack of access to proper medical care, 200 of
them have been diagnosed with chronic diseases, including 22 who have
been diagnosed with cancer.
The most serious case is that of Naser Abu Hamid, who is in a critical condition and suffering from lung cancer.
Additionally, Israel is holding 530
Palestinian under administrative detention, a procedure whereby Israel
incarcerates Palestinians without trial based on ‘secret information, in
violation of the right to due process and a fair procedure under
Articles 9 and 14 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political
Rights, and a war crime under Article 8 (2)(a)(vi) of the Rome Statute
of the International Criminal Court.
Since January 2022, Israel has arrested
more than 2,140 Palestinians according to a joint statement issued by
prisoners’ organizations. These arrests have particularly intensified
since March and the start of Ramadan, with sweeping raids and arrests
taking place in Jenin and Jerusalem.
On Friday morning April 15th, the
Israeli Occupying Forces (IOF) raided the Al-Aqsa mosque and conducted
mass arrests of more than 450 Palestinians from the Al-Aqsa compound
after having attacked worshippers prior to the dawn prayer.
This year alone, Israel has issued
approximately 400 administrative detention orders against Palestinians,
most of which are renewals of previous detention orders. Administrative
detainees are prohibited from their right to a fair trial, including the
reasons for their arrest. The detention periods are usually issued for
six months periods subject to renewal and Israel’s military courts may
extend their detention indefinitely on this basis.
On 1 January 2022, around 500
Palestinian administrative detainees launched a campaign to boycott
Israel’s military courts in protest against their arbitrary arrests by
Israel’s apartheid regime.
This collective disobedience intends to
highlight the inhuman and degrading punishment of Palestinians based on
‘secret information.
Palestinian Prisoner Day was founded to remind the world of the
thousands of Palestinian political prisoners imprisoned in Israeli
prisons or detention centers without charge or trial for extensive
periods of time.who continue to be subject to wide-ranging
violations of their rights and dignity.. The number of Palestinian detainess increases as
Israeli occupying forces continue to wage campaigns of arbitrary arrests
and detentions against thousands of Palestinians.
Investigations have revealed that prisoners are regularly subject to
cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment, including poor detention
conditions, in violation of Israel's obligations under international
human rights and humanitarian law.
Detention facilities and prisons in Israel have long been criticized for overcrowding, unsanitary conditions, and inadequate
access to healthcare. The majority of Palestinians in Israeli custody are defined as “security” prisoners by the Israeli Prison Service
(IPS), which entails special restrictions that regular criminal
prisoners do not face, such as the denial of phone calls.
Since the beginning of the year, apartheid Israel’s occupation forces have inflicted a campaign of collective punishment via violent mass arrest on the city of Jenin in the north of the illegally occupied West Bank. More than 200 of the city's residents have been arrested, with 100 arrests taking place in March alone. According to the Palestinian Prisoners Club there are approximately 500 Palestinian political prisoners from Jenin in Israeli jails, including three women and around 10 children.
On March 2022, the UN Human Rights
Committee called on Israel to “immediately put an end to the widespread
practice of arbitrary arrests and detention, including administrative
detention, of Palestinians, in particular children.
It should ensure that Palestinian
detainees, including those held in administrative detention, are
provided with all legal and procedural safeguards, including the rights
to be informed of the reason for their arrest and detention, to access
legal counsel, and be brought promptly before a judge, and to notify a
person of the choice of their detention, in line with article 9 of the
Covenant”.
Every day, Palestinian prisoners are on the front lines of struggle,
facing torturous interrogation , nighttime raids, solitary confinement,
and relentless attacks on their rights at the hands of Israeli
occupation forces.
In a period when violence and arrests against Palestinians are being
escalated, we should support the international communities efforts to ensure the immediate
and effective measures to ensure that Israel releases all unlawfully
detained Palestinian political prisoners from the Israeli jails, and ensures that conditions of arrest are consistent
with international human rights and humanitarian law.
As the rights of 4.500 Palestinian
prisoners are violated, and the Israeli occupation army continues to arrest
Palestinian children and teenagers and imprison them in barbaric
conditions. We should especially urge for the immediate liberation of around
160 child prisoners, as well as of women, sick and disabled prisoners.
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