IOA refuses visits to detainees in Hawara

[ 13/03/2011 - 05:52 PM ]

NABLUS, (PIC)-- The Israeli occupation authority (IOA) has barred lawyers of the international Tadamun society for human rights from visiting Palestinian detainees in Hawara detention center near Nablus. Ahmed Al-Beitawi, a researcher with Tadamun, said that most of the detainees are from Orta village, who were rounded up following the Itamar murders on Saturday, and were taken to Hawara. He said that his society managed to obtain a list of those held in Hawara but was denied visiting them. Beitawi noted that all of them were detained after midnight and need clothes.

The Etzion prison administration forces captives out in the cold

[ 11/03/2011 - 12:39 PM ]

File photo of Palestinian captives

AL-KHALIL, (PIC)-- Dr. Azzam Salhab, member of the PLC said, through his lawyer, that the administration of the Etzion prison forced captives to stay outside in the cold in their underwear. He told Jaclyn Fararjeh,a lawyer working with the Palestinian Prisoners Society (PPS),  that prison officers forced the captives out into the prison yards in their underwear and made them stay there for several hours as a punishment for them because they refused to take their dinner. Palestinian captives held there have recently announced a hunger strike in protest of inhumane treatment at the facility, especially the refusal of the prison administration to allow blankets and clothes to be brought to the prisoners and the poor quality and quantity of food provided to the prisoners. The PPS further said that conditions at the Nafha desert prison are extremely harsh and that the prison administration continues to punish the captives by strip searching them,  surprise raids on their cells and refusal to provide treatment for sick captives. The PPS emphasised in its statement that the are a number of captives there who need immediate medical attention, some of them have been waiting for years to get treatment and their situation is worsening all the time.

Palestinians held in Etzion prison to announce hunger strike if demands not met

[ 07/02/2011 - 01:01 PM ]

RAMALLAH, (PIC)-- Palestinians held in the Israeli Etzion prison are in the process of announcing a hunger strike in protest of inhumane treatment at the facility, the Palestinian Prisoner Society said. The prison administration has yet to offer a reason for its stubborn refusal to allow blankets and clothes, the PPS's attorney said. The captives also complain of the poor quality and lack of food there. Separately, prisoners jailed in Nafha have begun taking steps to see their demands are met. They are demanding that university students there are permitted to complete studies, blankets, treatment for the sick and an end to degrading searches, the PPS said. Meanwhile in the Eichel prison, administration has recently replaced the once large yard there for a restricted area with a concrete roof blocking the sun, another human rights group said in statements on Sunday. Because of crowding, prisoners force the prisoners not to stay there more than ten minutes, the Tadhamon (Solidarity) rights group. As the oldest Israeli prison, built in 1970 and holding 350 Palestinians, it is rife with abuses. In addition to a food crisis, prisoners are medically neglected, many of them not provided medicines they require. They have filed several requests for improvements on conditions, but the prison administration has yet to respond. ------------------ Group: Prisoners denied basic needs   RAMALLAH (Ma'an) -- Palestinian detainees held in Israel's Etzion prison near Bethlehem are denied basic needs, Palestinian Prisoners' Society lawyer said Sunday. The lawyer said Israeli authorities refused to allow the organization to bring blankets, clothing or food to detainees. He said the prisoners were considering starting a hunger strike in protest at conditions in the facility.

Detainees ask rights orgs for warm blankets

GAZA CITY (Ma’an) -- Palestinians held in Israel's Negev prison sent word last week to the Detainees Center in Gaza City, asking for the center to help them secure warm cells for the remaining winter months.

In a letter smuggled out of the prison, detainees said the tents in the desert compound were cold and drafty, and that prisoners neither had warm clothes nor heavy blankets to keep them warm.

Head of the center and former detainee Abdul Naser Farawneh said he personally receive the smuggled letter, and issued a statement of appeal.

IOF troops storm Negev prison, confiscate captives’ winter clothes

[ 24/12/2010 - 11:03 AM ]

Gaza, (PIC)-- The National Supreme Committee for supporting Palestinian captives in Israeli jails said on Thursday that the Israeli occupation troops stormed the Negev desert jail and wreaked havoc on it before confiscating coats and winter clothes of Palestinian captives there. Riyadh Al-Ashqar, the information officer of the committee, said in a statement he issued in this regard that the storming operation lasted for several hours where the jail guards backed by IOF troops assaulted the captives and confiscated their coats and dress they use for the biting winter season. The jail is located in the desert of Negev, which is known for its extreme cold climate during winter. According to Ashqar, the Israeli prison authority alleged that the captives own mobile phones and other communication devices, and that they videoed parts of the party they held in the prison to celebrate Hamas 23rd founding anniversary and distributed it to media outlets. He added that the IPA used such fabrications to transfer a number of the captives to different Israeli jails, accusing the Israeli occupation authority of deceiving the world by trying to show that Palestinian captives in Israeli jails live in luxury. "In fact, the IPA wants out of such allegations to suppress the captives further, to confiscate all the achievements they have made while in prison, to deny them their legal rights, to justify imposing fines on them, and to send them to solitary confinement", Ashqar pointed out. He urged all human right institutions to protect the captives against the "barbaric" Israeli occupation measures against them. Commenting on the matter, Palestinian lawmaker MP Salah Al-Bardaweel of the Hamas change and reform bloc described the Israeli storming of the prison as "criminal" and a form of the Israeli extortion of the Palestinian people. He also said in a statement he issued on Thursday that the practices of the Fatah militia against the Palestinian people and the political prisoners in Fatah jails in the West Bank have encouraged the Israeli occupation to escalate aggression against the Palestinian captives in Israeli occupation  jails. "It seems that they [the Israeli occupation and Fatah militia] are sharing the roles in blackmailing the Palestinian people and squeezing the Palestinian resistance", Bardaweel underlined. He also called on the Palestinian factions as well as human rights and institutions to consolidate efforts to protect the captives and to expose the Israeli crimes against them.

PA sends winter provisions to prisoners of Israel

RAMALLAH (Ma’an) -- The Palestinian Authority's Ministry of Prisoners Affairs sent Tuesday a shipment of warm winter clothing and blankets to the 2,200 Palestinian detainees rendered shelter-less at Israel's Negev prison in the wake of a wind-storm that knocked down the tent-homes of prisoners.

The ministry said the blankets and clothing cost 150,000 shekels ($41,713), and was being sent to the detainees after a series of reports from lawyers visiting the centers about the near freezing temperatures and inadequate resources being provided by the Israeli prison service.

In addition to the resources for detainees in the Negev, the ministry said, Gaza residents at the Ramon, Ashkilon and Beesheba prisons whose families are prohibited from making visits and bringing clothing would be handed blankets and warm sweaters from the fund.

Strong winds uproot tent housing detainees at Negev prison

[ 13/12/2010 - 11:30 AM ]

GAZA, (PIC)-- Strong winds uprooted and tore up a tent housing detainees at the Negev prison, prisoners there said, adding that other sections of tents in the prison are under threat of similar incidence. Negev adjoined nine tented sections to the prison, most of them threatened to be torn to pieces by low air pressure and lack of necessary capabilities for prisoners to protect themselves, the prisoners told the prisoners study center on Monday. Detainees complained also that their possessions have been covered in sand, and that rips in the tents will allow water to leak on them if it rains. They added that they suffer breathing difficulties and allergies from the airborne dust. Prisoner study center director Raafat Hamdouna warned of serious threats against the prisoners' lives, especially those from Gaza who have been denied the right to family visits for the past four years, as a wave of cold and rain overcasts amid deprivation of basic needs, such as clothes, shoes, and blankets. Hamdouna said the prisoner's family members, especially those deprived of visits, are deeply concerned over their loved ones having proper clothing and blankets to cover their needs as the winter sets in.

Health risks threatening detainees in Israeli jails for lack of winter clothes

[ 12/12/2010 - 10:53 AM ]

GAZA, (PIC)-- The prisoners' center for studies said that the Israeli prison authority prevents Palestinian prisoners from getting winter clothes in its jails for the fourth consecutive year, the thing which exposes them to health risks, especially because of the low temperatures this season. The center expressed its concern over the health conditions of prisoners, especially those who are banned from seeing their families who usually provide them with their clothing needs. The center appealed to human rights organizations to urgently intervene to pressure Israel to provide prisoners with their needs of winter garments. In a separate incident, 58 Palestinian detainees in Megiddo prison on Saturday took a number of protest steps against the restrictive measures they are exposed to by the Israeli administration.  Palestinian sources said that the detainees in this prison declared they would not meet their families as long as the jailers shackle their hands and legs during visits. They also demanded the prison administration to order its jailers to stop verbally abusing them, and backtrack on its arbitrary decisions regarding separating brothers from each other and denying detainees their right to educational attainment. Their demands also include the improvement of medical services and the extension of bath hours.

Gaza prisoners ass'n says detainees need coats

GAZA CITY (Ma'an) -- The Center for Detainees in Gaza City said Wednesday that they had received word from several inmates kept in Israeli detention centers that they were in dire need of warm clothing and blankets.

The complaints, the center said, came from the Ramon and Nafha prisons, in central Israel and the Negev dessert.

Because none of the relatives of the detained men and women from Gaza are permitted to receive family visits - with bans still in place for Gaza mothers and fathers wishing to see their detained children - families cannot deliver the necessary warm clothing that the prison service does not provide.

The statement appealed the Red Cross to intervene and allow parents and siblings in Gaza to visit their relatives in prison to bring warm clothing for the winter.