17 April 2012
Joint Statement
Today, on Palestinian Prisoners’ Day,
we the undersigned Palestinian civil society and human rights
organisations salute all Palestinian political prisoners, especially
those engaging in brave civil disobedience through ongoing hunger
strikes in protest to the ongoing violations of human rights and
international law. Emphasizing imprisonment as a critical component of
Israel’s system of occupation, colonialism and apartheid practiced
against the Palestinian people, we call for intensifying the global
Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) campaign to target corporations
profiting directly from the Israeli prison system. In particular, we
call for action to be taken to hold to account G4S, the world's largest
international security corporation, which helps to maintain and profit
from Israel’s prison system [1], for its complicity with Israeli violations of international law.
Imprisonment of Palestinians is a
form of Israeli institutionalized violence encompassing all stages of
the incarceration process. Palestinian political prisoners face
systematic torture and ill-treatment during their arrest and detention
at the hands of the Israeli military and are frequently and
unjustifiably denied family and lawyer visits. Wide-ranging and
collective punishments, including prolonged periods of isolation,
attacks on prisoners by special military forces and denying access to
education are used against Palestinian prisoners in an attempt to
suppress any form of civil disobedience within the prisons. As of April
2012, there were 4,610 Palestinian prisoners held in Israeli prisons,
including 203 child prisoners, 6 female prisoners and 27 members of the
Palestinian Legislative Council. 322 Palestinians are currently held in
administrative detention, without charge or trial.[2]
The severity of injustice and abuse
suffered by Palestinian political prisoners has been the drive for many
prisoners to begin hunger strikes at different intervals in protest
against harsh prison conditions, torture and ill treatment and Israel’s
arbitrary use of administrative detention. While the recent hunger
strikes of Khader Adnan, who ended his hunger strike after 66 days, and
Hana Shalabi, who ended her hunger strike after 43 days, resulted in
individual agreements, Israel and the Israeli Prison Service’s policies
therein remain unchanged and are now aimed at containing the hungers
strikers through punitive measures as well as cutting off their contact
with lawyers and family. Today, an estimate of over 1,000 Palestinian
political prisoners are reported to have joined in an open hunger strike
in addition to at least 8 others already engaged in an open hunger
strike, including Bilal Diab and Thaer Halahleh, on hunger strike since
29 February 2012.
In light of this increasing campaign
of civil disobedience from within the prisons, we demand accountability
for all corporations that both enable and directly profit from Israel’s
continued violations of Palestinian prisoners’ rights being committed
with impunity. Specifically, we call for action to hold to account G4S,
the British-Danish security company whose Israeli subsidiary signed a
contract in 2007 with the Israeli Prison Authority to provide security
systems for major Israeli prisons.[3]
G4S provided systems for the Ketziot and Megiddo prisons, which hold
Palestinian political prisoners from occupied Palestinian territory
inside Israel in contravention of international law.[4] The
company also provided equipment for Ofer prison, located in the
occupied West Bank, and for Kishon and Moskobiyyeh detention facilities,
at which human rights organisations have documented systematic torture
and ill-treatment of Palestinian prisoners, including child prisoners.[5] G4S continues to provide equipment to Israeli prisons.[6]
Moreover, G4S is involved in other
aspects of the Israeli apartheid and occupation regime: it has provided
equipment and services to Israeli checkpoints in the West Bank that form
part of the route of Israel’s illegal Wall and to the terminals
isolating the occupied territory of Gaza. G4S has also signed contracts
for equipment and services for the West Bank Israeli Police headquarters
and to private businesses based in illegal Israeli settlements.[7] A
panel of legal experts concluded that G4S may be criminally liable for
its activities in support of Israel’s illegal Wall and other violations
of international law.[8]
We welcome the news that the European Union has announced that it has not renewed its contract for security services with G4S [9]
following pressure from groups campaigning for Palestinian rights, and
salute the previous decision of the Edinburgh University Student
Association to block its contract with G4S.[10] We
call upon other public and civil society institutions and also on
private companies to follow suit and end their relationships with this
company that acts in service of Israeli apartheid and other violations
of international law. We demand that the Palestinian leadership bans G4S
from private and public tenders, and ask for the strict application of
the boycott legislation in the Arab world against companies cooperating
with the Israeli prison system.
We also note that G4S is being
actively opposed by other civil society groups elsewhere in the world
for its role in controversial deportation and imprisonment regimes,
abuse of workers rights, violations of universal human rights standards
and its involvement in the privatisation of public services. Let us work
together to expose not only G4S, but also the roles of imprisonment and
private security companies as political tools to silence and intimidate
communities all over the world.
Amid hunger strikes and the highly
publicized prisoner exchange deal in October, Palestinian prisoners’
issues have gained recent attention in international spheres. However,
despite this increased focus and the criticisms of these practices by
United Nations bodies, there has been no institutional changes made by
Israel in regard to the human rights violations being committed against
Palestinian political prisoners and detainees.[11] In
an attempt to counter Israel’s unwillingness to change its policies and
the lack of accountability for its countless human rights violations,
alternative measures such as preventing participation by companies such
as the G4S proves to be one of the few remaining effective steps towards
pressuring Israel to comply with international law. It is time overdue
to break this chain of international complicity.
Addameer Prisoners’ Support and Human Rights Association
Sahar Francis
General Director
|
Aldameer Association for Human Rights
Khalil Abu Shammala
General Director
|
The Palestinian Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions National Committee (BNC)
Ismat Quzma
Coordinator
|
Al Mezan Center for Human Rights
Issam Younis
General Director
|
Badil Resource Center for Palestinian Residency and Refugee Rights
Najwa Darwish
General Director
|
Defence for Children International
Palestine Section
Rifat Kassis
General Director
|
Ensan Center for Human Rights and Democracy
Shawqi Issa
General Director
|
Hurryyat - Centre for Defense of
Liberties and Civil Rights
Helmi Al-araj
General Director
|
Jerusalem Center for Legal Aid and Human Rights
Issam Aruri
General Director
|
Ramallah Center for Human Rights Studies
Iyad Barghouti
General Director
|
The Palestinian Non-Governmental Organizations Network
Allam Jarrar
Steering Committee Member
Women’s Centre for Legal Aid and Counselling
Maha Abu Dayyeh
General Director
|
The Grassroots Palestinian Anti-Apartheid Wall Campaign
Jamal Jum’a
Coordinator
|
[2] http://www.addameer.org/files/Brochures/addameer-palestinian-political-prisoners-brochure-2010.pdf
[4]
Article 77 of the Fourth Geneva Convention prohibits the transfer of
prisoners from occupied territory to the occupying country.
[6] http://corporateoccupation.files.wordpress.com/2012/01/targeting-israeli-apartheid-jan-2012.pdf, p.135
[7] Ibid.
[9] http://ted.europa.eu/udl?uri=TED:NOTICE:118611-2012:TEXT:EN:HTML&tabId=1 (registration required)