After last weekEoACAOs marking of Prisoners Day, the PCHR released a statement on the treatment of ...Gaza City - On Palestinian Prisoner's Day, thousands of prisoners continue to suffer in Israeli jails, writes the Palestinian Centre for Human Rights in Gaza City. Each year the 17th of April marks the anniversary of the release of Palestinian prisoners in the first prisoner swap deal of 17 April 1974. This date is commemorated annually in support of those Palestinians who remain in Israeli custody.This year, Palestinian prisoners' day comes at a time when Palestinian civilians are subject to increasingly cruel and inhuman conditions as a result of Israeli human rights violations. In particular, Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails continue to be denied their basic rights. Recently, they have been used as political bargaining chips, in flagrant violation of international human rights and humanitarian law.Since their occupation of the Palestinian territories This article is about the Palestinian territories as a geopolitical phenomenon. For more on their geography, demographics and general history, see West Bank and Gaza Strip. The Palestinian territories in 1967, the Israeli occupation forces (IOF IOF Imposto Sobre Operacoes Financeiras (Brazil) IOF International Orienteering Federation IOF Independent Order of Foresters IOF Interactive Output Facility IOF Institute for Applied Optics and Precision Engineering ) have implemented sweeping arrest and detention policies, in an attempt to ensure Palestinian civilians' obedience and to prevent all forms of resistance. Over nearly 42 years, this policy has resulted in the arrest of hundreds of thousands of Palestinian civilians. Following the outbreak of the Second Intifada  This page is protected from moves until disputes have been resolved on the .The reason for its protection is listed on the protection policy page. in September 2000, IOF intensified this campaign; recent years have seen a steady increase in the number of Palestinian prisoners detained in Israeli jails. The Palestinian Centre for Human Rights' (PCHR PCHR Palestinian Centre for Human Rights PCHR Philadelphia Commission on Human Relations PCHR Port Colborne Harbour Railway PCHR Partners in Community Health Research Training Program (University of British Columbia, Canada) ) statistics indicate that there are more than 9,000 Palestinians, including 69 women and 248 children, in jails and detention centers inside Israel. The number includes 337 Palestinians who were in prison before the signing of the Oslo Accords
The Oslo Accords, officially called the Declaration of Principles on Interim Self-Government Arrangements or Declaration of Principles (DOP in 1994, while the majority of Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails were arrested after the outbreak of the second Intifada in 2000. Approximately 7,500 prisoners are from the West Bank, while there are 1,100 prisoners from the Gaza Strip Gaza Strip (gäz`ə), (2003 est. pop. 1,330,000) rectangular coastal area, c.140 sq mi (370 sq km), SW Asia, on the Mediterranean Sea adjoining Egypt and Israel, in what was formerly SW Palestine. . The total number also includes 900 administrative detainees. Palestinian prisoners' conditions are expected to be worsened in the near future, following the establishment of an Israeli ministerial committee The examples and perspective in this article or section may not represent a worldwide view of the subject. Please [ improve this article] or discuss the issue on the talk page. A Ministerial Committee is a committee consisting of Ministers of government portfolio. that is dedicated to examining measures aimed at intentionally worsening the conditions of Palestinian prisoners, in order to exert political pressure. Current violations committed by IOF against Palestinian prisoners and their rights include: * Ill-treatment and poor detention conditions Palestinian prisoners are detained in below minimum standard conditions. They are detained in narrow, overcrowded o·ver·crowd v. o·ver·crowd·ed, o·ver·crowd·ing, o·ver·crowds v.tr. To cause to be excessively crowded: a system of consolidation that only overcrowded the classrooms. and poorly ventilated ven·ti·late tr.v. ven·ti·lat·ed, ven·ti·lat·ing, ven·ti·lates 1. To admit fresh air into (a mine, for example) to replace stale or noxious air. 2. cells. Israeli jails dedicated for the detention of Palestinians lack necessary sanitation facilities, and Palestinian prisoners are denied access to personal cleanliness and hygiene. Israeli prison administrations do not provide enough food, in terms of quantity and quality, for the Palestinian prisoners. Detained Palestinian children and patients do not get food suitable to ensuring their physical wellbeing. * denying visitation rights In a Divorce or custody action, permission granted by the court to a noncustodial parent to visit his or her child or children. Custody may also refer to visitation rights extended to grandparents. IOF deny Palestinian prisoners their visitation rights via the imposition of different conditions that hinder or prevent visits of Palestinian families to their relatives in Israeli jails. These conditions include: linking visitations with the overall security situation, requiring that prisoners must not be security prisoners and that persons applying for visits must not have a security record, requiring that visitors be first-degree relatives and that brothers or sons applying for visits must be under the age of 18. Since 6 July 2007, families in Gaza have not been able to visit their relatives in Israeli jails. * Medical negligence and denial of healthcare Due to poor detention conditions, hundreds of Palestinian prisoners are suffering ill health. Israeli jails lack specialized medical personnel and clinics. Israeli prison administrations have consistently refused the provision of medicines and medical equipment necessary for the treatment of some sick prisoners. In addition, these administrations ignore the dietary requirements of some detained patients. * Torture IOF subject Palestinians detained in Israeli prisons to numerous instances of torture, and cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment. Apart from using poor detention conditions as a means to exert psychological pressure and cause physical weakness, IOF also mistreat Palestinian detainees in order to extract confessions. Known methods include: preventing detainees from meeting with their lawyers, beatings, verbal abuse verbal abuse Psychology A form of emotional abuse consisting of the use of abusive and demeaning language with a spouse, child, or elder, often by a caregiver or other person in a position of power. See Child abuse, Emotional abuse, Spousal abuse. and insults, threats, the use of Shabhah, sleep deprivation sleep deprivation Sleep disorders A prolonged period without the usual amount of sleep. See Driver fatigue, Poor sleeping hygiene, Sleep disorders, Sleep-onset insomnia. , forcing detainees into the 'frog crotch' and the 'banana' positions, tightening handcuffs hand·cuff n. A restraining device consisting of a pair of strong, connected hoops that can be tightened and locked about the wrists and used on one or both arms of a prisoner in custody; a manacle. Often used in the plural. tr.v. and shackles around hands and legs, suspending by legs, and so on. The isolation of prisoners in poorly-ventilated solitary confinement solitary confinement n. the placement of a prisoner in a Federal or state prison in a cell away from other prisoners, usually as a form of internal penal discipline, but occasionally to protect the convict from other prisoners or to prevent the prisoner from causing cells, where they are denied visitation rights and contact with other prisoners, is one of the cruelest punishments applied to Palestinian prisoners. Solitary confinement cells are narrow, poorly ventilated and highly humid; conditions that facilitate the spread of diseases. * administrative detention: IOF hold Palestinian detainees for long periods without bringing them to trial or informing them of the reasons for their detention. This is a flagrant violation of detainees rights to: fair judicial proceedings judicial proceedings n. any action by a judge re: trials, hearings, petitions, or other matters formally before the court. (See: judicial) , an adequate defense, to be informed of charges against them, and the right to be brought to trial. These periods of administrative detention may be renewed indefinitely. Administrative detention orders are not limited to new detainees; these orders may be applied to prisoners who have ended their terms. Prisoners may thus be forced to stay in detention for indefinite periods, in some cases past their initial release date. IOF violations of Palestinian prisoners' rights The nature and extent of the privileges afforded to individuals kept in custody or confinement against their will because they have been convicted of performing an unlawful act. For most of U.S. constitute serious violations of International Humanitarian Law International humanitarian law (IHL), also known as the law of war, the laws and customs of war or the law of armed conflict, is the legal corpus "comprised of the Geneva Conventions and the Hague Conventions, as well as subsequent treaties, case law, . In particular, ill-treatment of prisoners, denial of visitation rights, medical negligence, torture and administrative detentions are violations of the Fourth Geneva Convention The Fourth Geneva Convention (or GCIV) relates to the protection of civilians during times of war "in the hands" of an enemy and under any occupation by a foreign power. of 1949 relative to the protection of civilians in times of war, and against the United Nations Standard Minimum Rules The United Nations has adopted sets of Standard Minimum Rules addressing the following topics:
See also Isolation. Alcatraz Island former federal maximum security penitentiary, near San Francisco; “escapeproof.” [Am. Hist.: Flexner, 218] Altmark, the German prison ship in World War II. [Br. Hist. sanctions on civilians from Gaza, Israel issued the Criminal Procedure (Enforcement Powers - Special Provisions for Investigating Security Offenses of Non-Residents) Law, 5765 -- 2005. This Law grants the internal security service broad powers to detain Palestinian "suspects" and extend their detention periods without trials. In addition, Israel amended its Penal Code no. 5737 of the year 1977 and added amendment 6a, relative to imprisonment sanctions imposed on Gaza prisoners to the Law Extending the Validity of the Emergency Regulations (Judea, Samaria and the Gaza Strip) of the year 1967. Furthermore, Israel began to utilize the contested "illegal combatant" concept with respect to Gazan prisoners. The use of this concept grants the Army Chief of Staff the power to issue an arrest warrant against whoever it considers an "illegal combatant". Classification criteria is determined by the Army Chief of Staff and the disclosure of evidence is not required. * Recently, Israel established a ministerial committee aimed at intentionally worsening the conditions of Palestinian prisoners. The committee will examine a number of potential measures, including reducing the monetary allowances transferred to prisoners by their families to supplement living and dietary conditions, restricting means of communication and news sources, reducing family visits and education possibilities, as well as preventing any physical contact between detainees and their families. It is believed that these measures aim to reduce detention conditions to perceived 'minimal standards'. Worsened conditions may negatively impact on prisoner's physical and psychological well-being psychological well-being Research A nebulous legislative term intended to ensure that certain categories of lab animals, especially primates, don't 'go nuts' as a result of experimental design or conditions .* Israel continues to arrest hundreds of Palestinian civilians, including members of the Palestinian Legislative Council The Palestinian Legislative Council, (sometimes referred to as the Palestinan Parliament) the legislature of the Palestinian Authority, is a unicameral body with 132 members, elected from 16 electoral districts in the West Bank and Gaza. , in the West Bank. In addition, during their recent offensive on the Gaza Strip, IOF arrested dozens of civilians from the Gaza strip. PCHR remind Israel that, as a signatory to the Fourth Geneva Convention, it is legally bound by the terms and provisions of the Convention, which regulates its actions in occupied Palestinian territory.PCHR also highlight the consequences of the international community's silence with respect to the treatment of Palestinian prisoners. Such silence serves to effectively endorse violations of International Humanitarian Law, compromising overall respect for the rule of law. There are many actions that the international community can take, if its members have the desire and the will, to ensure Israel's respect for Palestinian prisoners' rights. Through its silence, the international community encourages Israel to continue, and even increase, its violations. In view of the above above, PCHR calls upon: * The European Union European Union (EU), name given since the ratification (Nov., 1993) of the Treaty of European Union, or Maastricht Treaty, to the European Community to activate Article 2 of the Euro-Israel Association Agreement, which provides that Israel must respect human rights as a precondition for economic cooperation between the EU states and Israel. PCHR further calls upon the EU to reconsider and backtrack on its decision to lift partnership levels with Israel that was taken in last December. * The High Contracting Parties to the Fourth Geneva Convention to fulfill their legal obligations, especially the obligation to ensure respect for the Convention. * International institutions working in the field of human rights and prisoners' rights to take action in order to improve the detention conditions of Palestinian prisoners, reduce violations committed against them, and ensure the fulfillment of their rights, as guaranteed under International Humanitarian Law. Copyright Palestine News Network The Palestine News Network is an Arabic language media network run by Palestinians in the Palestinian Territories (West Bank and Gaza). It cooperates with the International Middle East Media Center which translates many of its reports into English for international, non-Arabic , 2003 - 2009 Provided by Syndigate.info an Albawaba.com company |
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