Tuesday, 17 April 2012 07:00
Ref: 45/2012
Today, 17 April 2012, marks the Palestinian
Prisoners Day, which has been devoted by the Palestinian people to support the
cause of Palestinian prisoners detained in Israeli jails. Since 1979, Palestinians have commemorated
this day, which marks the anniversary of the release of Palestinian prisoners
in the first prisoner swap deal of 17 April 1974.
This year, the Palestinian Prisoners Day comes
at a time in which the suffering of Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails
doubles as a result of violations of their rights. These violations have recently peaked by the
forcible transfer and deportation of prisoners, the latest of which was the forcible
transfer of a female prisoner, Hanaa Shalabi, to the Gaza Strip on 01 April
2012.
These violations are part of a systematic
policy adopted by Israeli occupation authorities against Palestinian prisoners,
subjecting them to cruel, inhuman and degrading conditions, denying them access
to medical care, constituting medical negligence which has caused deaths;
practicing methods of torture against them; placing some of them in solitary
confinement; depriving them of family visitation; and banning them from
receiving academic education, according to a decision issued by the Israeli
Prison Service on 20 July 2011.[1]
According to the figures and statistics PCHR possesses,
more than 4,700 Palestinian prisoners are still held in Israeli prisons and
detention facilities, mostly inside Israel, in violation of the Fourth Geneva
Convention, particularly Article 76 which stipulates that “protected persons
accused of offences shall be detained in the occupied country, and if convicted
they shall serve their sentences therein.” The majority of the Palestinian prisoners
are from the West Bank, and they include 9 women and 190 children, as well as
320 prisoners who have been placed under administrative detention; the latter
category includes 27 Members of the Palestinian Legislative Council and former
ministers.
PCHR expresses its utmost concern for the continued
deprivation of family visitation of at least 475 Palestinian prisoners from the
Gaza Strip, lasting more than five years now and causing deterioration to these
prisoners’ psychological and health conditions in violation of international
human rights law. At least 1,000
Palestinian prisoners in a number of Israeli jails are expected to start an
open ended hunger strike to pressurize the Israeli Prison Service to heed to their
demands, including abolishing the policy of solitary confinement; ending the
application of the Shalit Law; stopping attacks against prisoners, providing prisoners
with adequate health care; and allowing family visitation to Gazan
prisoners. It is worth noting that at
least 10 prisoners have been on hunger strike in protest against the policy of
administrative detention.
On the Palestinian Prisoners Day, PCHR draws
the attention to escalated violations of the rights of Palestinian prisoners
and the deterioration of their conditions because of Israel’s insistence to
adopt a series of measures against them, which violate human rights principles
and the international humanitarian law, which Israel, as a party to the
relevant treaties, must respect. PCHR
also draws the attention to the international silence regarding such
violations, which proves suspicions towards the international community’s
disregard of international humanitarian law.
Since its establishment, PCHR has
systematically and continually followed up the cases of thousands of prisoners
in Israeli jails. PCHR has provided legal aid to prisoners and their
families, and has documented and reported on violations of their rights. In this context:
1. PCHR calls
upon the High Contracting Parties to the Fourth Geneva Convention to fulfill
their obligations under the Convention;
2. PCHR calls
upon international human rights organizations to follow up cases of Palestinian
prisoners and request their governments to exert pressure on Israel to stop its
illegal practices against Palestinian prisoners and release them;
3. PCHR calls
upon the European Union to activate Article 2 of the EU-Israel Association
Agreement, which provides that both sides must respect human rights as a
precondition for economic cooperation between the EU states and Israel.
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[1] See “PCHR Condemns Punitive Measures against Palestinian Prisoners in
Israeli Jails,” Press Release, Ref: 70/2011, PCHR, 21 July 2011.
