IOF soldiers arrest Palestinian woman, six other Jerusalemites

[ 19/09/2011 - 08:51 AM ]

OCCUPIED JERUSALEM, (PIC)-- Israeli occupation forces (IOF) arrested a Palestinian woman from occupied Jerusalem alleging that she was planning to smuggle mobile phones to Palestinian prisoners. An IOF statement on Sunday said that the woman, who was not named, was detained in Afula, in northern occupied Palestine 1948, with four mobile phones in her possession, which she was planning to smuggle to Palestinian prisoners. It said that the 35-year-old woman was also in possession of 32000 shekels, which she intended to bribe jailors with in order to allow the smuggling of those phones. The statement noted that a former Palestinian prisoner was also arrested with the same charge, adding that they would appear at Nazareth central court on Monday. Meanwhile, Israeli security forces arrested six Jerusalemite youths in the Old City of occupied Jerusalem on Sunday at the pretext they threw stones at Jewish settlers’ houses in the Islamic suburb late last week.

Women's affairs ministry condemns 'humiliating' HaSharon strip search

[ 12/06/2011 - 08:35 AM ]

GAZA, (PIC)-- The Gaza ministry of women's affairs has condemned the humiliating strip search of four women held in Israel's HaSharon prison. The women affairs ministry held the Israeli government responsible for what happens to the women it holds prisoner and called on Palestinian rights groups to publicize Israel's crimes against them internationally. The ministry also called on Palestinian factions to ”look at the crime with anger and consider a mechanism of response”. A force of ten female and five male prison guards alongside security and intelligence officials raided Room 2 of the security prisoners section at HaSharon and carried out an intense search of the women and the room. The women said they were strip searched in a ”humiliating, unethical, and immoral” manner, as the force was looking for a cell phone alleged to have been smuggled into the prison. The cell that was raided was no larger than a square meter and was covered by a thin plastic curtain. The women reportedly nearly panicked as the female prison guards rushed in and the male guards stood by the entrance bracing to enter.

Families of captives call for an end of strip searches

[ 20/05/2011 - 01:21 PM ] 
 

RAMALLAH, (PIC)-- Families of Palestinian captives in Israeli occupation jails called on local and international human rights organisations to pressure occupation authorities to end the policy of strip searching captives’ relatives during prison visits.

The families said that prison administrations deliberately insult captives and their families by insisting on thorough offensive searches to the extent of complete strip searches under the pretext of looking for mobile phones.

The families further called for popular protests similar to those marking the Nakba day in support of the captives and to pressure the occupation to stop its practices against them.

Hadarim prisoners face harsh sanctions after mobiles found in searches

[ 19/05/2011 - 08:36 AM ]

RAMALLAH, (PIC)-- Heavy sanctions have been imposed on Palestinians held at the Israeli Hadarim prison after mobile phones were seized during search raids. Sanctions were harsh, the Palestinian Prisoner Society said. They included crackdowns and isolation as well as the closure of the public laundry, reduction in recreation time, and restrictions on movement within the prison. The PPS also received complaints of surprise night inspections and strip searches where the prisoners' property is left damaged. The prisoners emphasized that they would not surrender to the sanctions and would take appropriate action. Relatives of prisoners held in Hadarim have complained of not knowing their prisoners' whereabouts following the crackdown. The prison has refused to disclose that information.

Shin Bet interrupts cell phone service inside prisons

[ 03/04/2011 - 07:01 PM ]

OCCUPIED JERUSALEM, (PIC)-- The Israeli Prison Service has reached an agreement with the country's general security service Shin Bet to cut off cell phone chips of Palestinians jailed in Israeli prisons, the prisoners said in a letter that was leaked Sunday. The move came as Israeli occupation authorities attempt to isolate Palestinian prisoners from the outside world and tighten restrictions. Shin Bet had previously clinched a deal with Cellucom to cut off dozens of cell phone chips belonging to Palestinian prisoners after cell phone numbers were discovered through agents working inside the prison population. The prisoners said they learned about the deal after cell phone chips had stopped working within the past two days.