DCI submits complaint on behalf of child detainee

 DCI Palestine

[19 September 2011] – On 7 September 2011, DCI submitted a complaint to the Israeli authorities on behalf 17-year-old Ahmad R. The complaint requests that the Judge Advocate General opens an investigation into allegations that Ahmad was mistreated by Israeli soldiers in May 2011.
At around 1:30 am, on 20 May 2011, Ahmad was asleep at the family home in Azzun, in the occupied West Bank, when he was woken by a sound bomb. Ahmad was ordered out of the house with the rest of his family and made to strip naked in front of everybody. After being permitted to re-dress, Ahmad was tied and blindfolded, before being placed in a military vehicle and transferred to the nearby settlement of Zufin. Ahmad reports that he was beaten by soldiers whilst inside the vehicle. On arrival at the settlement, Ahmad was dragged out of the vehicle and fell down on his face, causing both his mouth and nose to bleed.
Four days after being arrested, Ahmad was transferred to Petah Tikva interrogation centre, near Ben Gurion airport inside Israel, in violation of Article 76 of the Fourth Geneva Convention which expressly prohibits such transfers.
Ahmad’s story is available on-line.

Related links: 

Detention Bulletin - Issue 20 - August 2011

Urgent Appeal - (UA - 4/11) - Children of Azzun

How Israel takes its revenge on boys who throw stones

ACRI, DCI-Palestine and Yesh Din demand equality for Palestinian children

Submission: The situation facing Palestinian children detained in the Israeli military detention system (July 2011)

B'Tselem's report: No Minor Matter: Violation of the Rights of Palestinian Minors Arrested by Israel on Suspicion of Stone-Throwing, July 2011

New report by Israeli NGO: “All Guilty! Observations in the Military Juvenile Court”

UK parliamentary report highlights widespread detention of Palestinian children

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.

Israeli jailor takes photos of Palestinian captive during a strip search

[ 10/06/2011 - 11:23 AM ]

RAMALLAH, (PIC)-- The Palestinian Prisoner Society (PPS) has strongly deprecated Thursday the Israeli occupation authority over the "strip search" policy it practices against the Palestinian captives in its jails. Lawyer of the PPS revealed that an Israeli guard in Majeddo prison took some pictures of a Palestinian captive after he subjected him to a strip search prompting the captive to strongly protest this Israeli assault against him. According to a statement issued by the PPS, the administration of the jail decided to transfer four Palestinian captives from Majeddo prison to Shatta prison abruptly prompting altercation between the captives and the jail guards. One of the four, the statement added, was taken by the guards and was forced to strip down before taking pictures of him naked. The Israeli practice was meant to humiliate Palestinian captives and is a blatant violation of international laws and ethics on prisoners. The captive went on hunger-strike for three days to protest the Israeli action against him. He was placed in solitary confinement before the guards forcibly transferred him and his three comrades to Shatta, the PPS pointed out. In the Israeli Ramon prison, Palestinian captives decided to go on hunger strike Friday and Saturday protesting the Israeli strip search policy, saying that the IPA was provoking them and deliberately humiliating them by such policy, and vowed to resist such practices against them at all costs. Palestinian records revealed that nearly 8000 Palestinian are still incarcerated in Israeli jails, many of them for decades now, in very miserable conditions.

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.

Hamas MP blasts Israel's cruel treatment of prisoner

[ 04/04/2011 - 08:03 PM ]

QALQILIA, (PIC)-- Hamas MP in Qalqilia Emad Nofal lashed out at the Israeli prisons service for its inhuman treatment of Palestinian prisoner Othman Younis from Qalqilia district. He said in a statement on Monday that what happened to Younis was the latest in a series of brutal treatment of Palestinian detainees in occupation jails. The lawmaker said that what Younis told his lawyer violated all norms, rules, and ethics. Nofal urged the UN organizations and human rights groups to urgently intervene to end such practices against the Palestinian prisoners. Younis told the lawyer of the Palestinian prisoner's association that six jailors broke into his cell, tied and beat him up after completely striping him. He could not move from his cell bed for a few days even to the bathroom because of the resulting severe pain. He added that the prison administration was not content with the beating, and opened monitoring cameras on him round the clock and did not stop the practice despite his strong objection.

Megiddo prisoners threaten to go on hunger strike over strip searches

[ 05/02/2011 - 08:40 AM ]

NABLUS, (PIC)-- The Megiddo prison administration could be exploiting the world's preoccupation with Egypt to impose heavier restrictions, prisoners say. Prisoners have threatened to kick off an open-ended hunger strike to protest the escalation. The prison administration has engaged in suppressive policies turning life into hell, prisoners wrote in a statement to the public on Friday, saying they are forced into strip searches, severe beatings and property damage during nearly everyday night raids. They complained of prison transfers, hefty fines, denial of visits and canteen, and a critical shortage in books. The administration has refused to respond to dozens of complaints.

Center: Detainee's wife banned from visits

NABLUS (Ma'an) -- Israel's prison administration has banned a detainee's wife from visits for one year because she refused to be strip-searched, a detainees' center said Thursday.

Mahmoud Al-Qawasmi's wife was accused of trying to smuggle a cell phone to her husband during a visit.

She denies the charge, and said she is banned because she refused to submit to a strip-search.

Al-Qawasmi was detained in 2004 and sentenced to 21 years accused of resisting the occupation.

Dozens of prisoners injured in jailors' storming of their wards in Ofer

[ 30/12/2010 - 10:18 AM ]

RAMALLAH, (PIC)-- Special forces of the Israeli prison service known as the Nahshon stormed the Ofer military prison on Wednesday night, beat up prisoners, and fired gas bombs at them hurting dozens. Prisoners reported that more than eight of them suffered fractures and bruises as a result of the sudden storming operation and the beatings while tens suffered breathing problems. They said that the operation focused on ward 14 during which surprise searches were made using dogs in the process after forcing prisoners to strip. The prisoners in all wards of Ofer declared a state of alert as tensions ran high as a result of the storming operation. The Ofer jail includes two main buildings and ten wards in which more than 1,200 Palestinian prisoners are held. Eight Detainees Injured, Dozens Treated For Gaza Inhalation After Being Attacked By Soldiers Thursday December 30, 2010 09:00 by Saed Bannoura - IMEMC & Agencies Undercover Forces of the Nahshon Israeli Military Unit, broke on Wednesday at night into the Ofer Israeli military detention center, and attacked Palestinian detainees wounding eight while dozens suffered the effects of tear gas inhalation. Ofer During Previous Attack - File Eight Palestinian detainees suffered fractures and concussions after being violently assaulted by the soldiers who broke into their rooms, fully armored, fired gas bombs and attacked the detainees with batons and rifle-buts. Although soldiers broke into several sections at the detention facility, the main attack was focused on section 14 as the soldiers searched the rooms, and forced the detainees to undress under the pretext of searching them. The undercover forces also used dogs during the search but did not locate anything “unusual”. It is worth mentioning that Ofer prison includes two main buildings that consist of 10 sections where more than 12000 Palestinian detainees are held. Detainees in Ofer are mainly those who received administrative detention, orders in addition to those who were not sent to court, and the detainees who were sentenced by military courts but were not moved to other prisons.

Radwan: Nothing new concerning prisoners exchange deal

[ 27/10/2010 - 10:23 AM ]

GAZA, (PIC)-- Dr. Ismail Radwan, a Hamas leader, has denied any new progress regarding the prisoners' exchange deal between Israel and the captors of Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit in Gaza. He called for more steadfastness to restore Palestinian prisoners' rights, adding in a press release on Tuesday evening that the so-called freeze on the Shalit law is the result of those prisoners' struggle and resoluteness. Meanwhile, relatives of Palestinian prisoners in Tulkarem district urged the Red Cross to immediately and seriously intervene to halt the Israeli occupation soldiers' practices against them at the Teyba roadblock. They held a protest sit-in on Tuesday against the strip searches and humiliation of the Palestinian relatives. One of the mothers of prisoners said she was forced last Sunday while en route to visit her son to take off her headscarf and external garment to be searched by a female conscript. Another mother said that after crossing the road barrier they are forced to walk a long distance to reach the busses, which affect the health condition of those suffering chronic diseases, adding that she suffers from diabetes, hypertension, and heart ailment.

Freed Prisoner Kifah Afaneh: Full-body Searches Routine for Female Prisoners

19.10.10 - 13:51

Mustafa Sabri – PNN/Exclusive - Recently released prisoner Kifah Afaneh said in an interview that female detainees like her often risk being strip-searched in prison. They fear the interrogation room, she said, where they are stripped in front of hidden cameras as part of procedures at the central prison. Afaneh added that female prisoners, like other Palestinian detainees, first faced military courts before being transferred from one prison to another. Female jailers then demand that they remove all their clothing piece by piece before examining them thoroughly, often provoking or insulting them in the process. “It’s a horrific scene,” said Afaneh. “We’re scared they’ll take pictures of us with hidden cameras or cell phones. Ehsan Dababseh was with me in one room before she was released and that dancing video was made with the soldiers’ camera phones.” “The occupation always says these are isolated incidents,” she continued, “but I’m certain these things happen on a daily basis, and the prison directors know about every one. What is preventing these jailers from making us undergo this treatment, from taking pictures of us naked and putting them on YouTube? It is to break the will of the prisoners and our dignity and to humiliate our families. The occupation knows what it will mean for our honor as Palestinians and Muslims.” Afaneh said inspections happen suddenly at night, without warning, whereupon they are split into groups and forbidden from covering any part of their bodies. Each one is isolated, tortured, and beaten, she said, and many have their hair pulled. Afaneh said how important it was to expose the occupation’s practices and stop strip-searches, particularly of women. The prison authorities, she said, didn’t have any humanitarian standards or moral guidelines in their treatment of Palestinians. The International Solidarity Movement recently released findings showing that seven prisoners came from Nablus, six from Ramallah, four each from Hebron, Tulkarem, and Jerusalem, three from Jenin, and two from Bethlehem.

Palestinian Female Prisoners and the Struggle for Freedom

Qassam

 

by reham alhelsi

Palestinian women have always stood side by side with their fathers, brothers, husbands, comrades to resist the Zionist occupation, to fight for freedom and legitimate rights. They are the first to go to the streets to protest the brutality of the Israeli military occupation, the first to organize sit-ins and marches demanding the release of their children, brothers and fathers from Israeli prisons. They are the protectors, the supporters, but most of all they are the comrades in the fight for a free Palestine.

They protect their children, fathers, brothers and husbands from the Zionist invader come to kidnap, beat or kill. They support their families when their fathers, brothers or husbands are imprisoned or killed by the Israeli terrorist troops. They embrace the land and kiss the olive tree. They pave the way for resistance and shape it with their blood. They are the olive tree steadfast in the face of usurpers in Nablus, Jenin, Bethlehem and Al-Jalil. They are the poppy decorating Palestinian hilltops in Jerusalem, Hebron and Safad.

They are the butterflies kissing the fields of Hebron, Jenin and Bisan. They are the fresh breeze of Haifa, Yaffa, Acca and Gaza. They are the stone, powerful, strong and only taking leave of the soil to hit the usurper in the face. They are the daughters of Palestine; fearless, steadfast, patient. They are the mother, the sister, the daughter and the comrade of the martyr, the freedom-fighter and the prisoner. They are the martyr, the freedom-fighter and the prisoner.

They are the guardians of the revolution and the symbol of steadfastness. They are Palestine embracing its children, protecting them and leading them. Since 1967 more than 800,000 Palestinians, including 15,000 Palestinian women, were detained by the Zionist entity. During the First Intifada 3000 women were detained and during Al-Aqsa Intifada more than 900 women were locked up behind Israeli bars. There are daily raids and detentions.

Sometimes the detained are released after a few days, after a few weeks or remain in detention indefinitely. Alone in June 2010 some 334 Palestinians were detained, including 4 women. Currently, there are 36 Palestinian female prisoners in the Israeli prisons Damon, HaSharon and Neve Tirza: 4 from Jerusalem, 3 from the Palestinian area occupied in 1948, 28 from the West Bank and 1 from the Gaza Strip. 6 of the prisoners await trial, 3 are administrative detainees, 27 are sentenced; of whom 5 are serving life sentences.

Palestinian female detainees, like their brothers in detention, suffer from the brutality of the Israeli Prison Authority. They are exposed to abuse, humiliation and are subjected to more than 20 forms of violations. They are tortured, beaten, harassed, insulted, tied up for hours under hot sun or under rain, deprived of sleep, isolated, punished with high fines for no reason, subjected to the continuous use of tear gas in their cells, continuously denied family visits and calls back home and letters are sent or distributed only once every 3 months.

They are also subjected to harsh and humiliating midnight raids and body searches. On 24.06.2010 Israeli special forces (Golan) in the Damon prison broke into the cells of Palestinian female prisoners in the early morning, assaulted the prisoners, searched the cells and forced them to undress, to sit in a humiliating squatting position for 4 hours under the pretext of inspection.

Also, Israeli prison authority prevents Palestinian female prisoners from acquiring more than one book, doesn’t allow them to send out or get in any embroidery work or magazines and decides the number of clothing pieces each prisoner is allowed to possess. The cells are small, over-crowded, damp, lack hygiene, no sun or fresh air enters them and they are infested with insects and mice. They are cold in winter and hot in summer. Because Palestinian female prisoners aren’t allowed to receive any items from their families, they are forced to buy what they need from the prison canteens. Water is very dirty and undrinkable and food is inedible, forcing the detainees to buy their food and water from the prison canteen for very high prices.

Not only are the prices there extremely high, the canteen also lacks many items Palestinian prisoners need. Some political prisoners are also locked up with Israeli criminals who abuse them regularly while Israeli prison forces watch. One method of punishment favored by Israeli prison forces is reducing family visitation from 45 minutes to 15 minutes, or cancelling all visitations despite the hardships the families endure to reach the prisons. Du’a’ Al-Jayyousi from Tulkarim was detained in 2002. Her only brother isn’t allowed to visit her, and when he got married, the prison authority refused to allow her to phone him.

Hamas prisoners: Violations in Israeli jails rise with every round of peace talk

[ 21/09/2010 - 03:25 PM ]

WEST BANK, (PIC)-- The Hamas senior leadership committee of prisoners in Israeli jails said Tuesday that recent cell raids in Israeli jails recur with every new round of negotiations between PA chief Mahmoud Abbas and Israeli Prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu. What recent press reports and ex-prisoner testimonies revealed on Israeli violations against prisoners is only part of their daily suffering, the committee said in a press statement. The committee, which is the highest regulatory body for of Hamas prisoners in Israeli jails, said violations have become a reality in all prisons lately, explaining that Hamas leaders are placed in solitary confinement and transferred from prison to prison, many of them are strip searched, and there has been a sharp increase in crackdowns in many prisons. The report said that the escalated campaign of abuse against prisoners is the tested Israeli way in light of direct negotiations between the PA in Ramallah. Prisoners say crackdown campaigns on prisoners have risen with every round of negotiations for the past 18 years. The prisoners committee went on to say in the statement there is a need to stand firmly together, take a stand against the conspiracies made by the Israeli prisons department, and deprive Israel the chance to use the peace talks as a cover-up for its crimes.

Palestinian prisoners go on hunger strike to protest IPA abuse

[ 18/09/2010 - 05:08 PM ]

RAMALLAH, (PIC)-- Palestinian prisoners in all Israeli jails have announced they will go on hunger strike next Saturday Sept. 25 in protest of the heightened abuse they have recently suffered from the Israeli prisons authority (IPA). “The IPA has launched an unprecedented campaign against prisoners since the direct negotiations started, which reflected the Israeli government’s lack of integrity in developing the so-called ‘just peace’ with the Palestinian people,” the prisoners said in a statement. The brutal assault against the Ofer prisoners, usage of excessive force, and fierce means of repression, including dogs, batons, and tear gas without reasonable cause indicate that there is a plan targeting prisoners’ rights, the prisoners added. They underscored in the statement that the IPA uses special forces to carry out provocative search campaigns, which include strip searches and other forms of humiliation, and transfers prisoners from one prison to another while holding other prisoners in solitary confinement. The IPA has denied prisoners the right to visits, imposed fines on them, banned books and newspapers, and prohibited prisoners from purchasing needed foods during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan and Eid al-Fitr holiday. Prisoners believe the IPA has kicked off an “open war” against their lives and rights without anyone to fight in their corner. Gaza’s prisoner committee asked the international community to issue international resolutions to protect Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails. The IPA has a long time back set off an open war against prisoners using racist measures that are tantamount to war crimes that should be prosecuted in international courts, the committee’s media official Nashaat al-Wahidi said Saturday. The transfer of sick prisoners from hospitals to prisons was an indication that Israel had begun an open war against prisoners as what happened recently in the Nafha, Ofer, and Hadarim prisons, Wahidi stated. He said the prisoners’ committee in Gaza would back the hunger strike set to take place Sept. 25 for one day.

Relatives of prisoners complain of humiliating search

[ 18/07/2010 - 09:00 AM ]

NEGEV, (PIC)-- Relatives of Palestinian prisoners have complained of the humiliating search on the part of Israeli occupation authorities (IOA) that in certain instances included strip search. The mother of prisoner Mohammed Al-Masri, who is held in the Negev prison, said on Saturday that she was forced to wait for a long time by the prison administration before female recruits thoroughly searched her then forced her to take off most of her clothes at the pretext of looking for mobile phones. The Negev prisoners threatened to go on hunger strike in the event the administration maintained its humiliating and provocative search of the prisoners and their relatives. In another incident related to the Palestinian prisoners, a committee for prisoners' affairs in 1948 occupied Palestine organized a sit-in at the Hadarim jail in solidarity with the prisoners and in protest at the arbitrary measures and continued search campaigns maintained against them for the past week. Relatives of prisoners staged the sit-in near the jail despite the IOA's declaration of the area a closed military zone and closing the jail. The relatives raised photos of prisoners and signs calling for cancellation of the so-called Shalit law that imposed more restrictions on the prisoners. They urged human rights groups to send representatives to the Israeli prisons to inquire about the conditions of the prisoners.

Tension running high at Jalbu' prison

[ 16/07/2010 - 02:17 PM ]

OCCUPIED JERUSALEM, (PIC)-- The Israeli occupation prison authority has intensified its search operations of various sections of Jalbu' prison at the pretext that they found mobile phones smuggled into the prison. These operations have caused a state of restlessness amongst the prisoners. The prison authority has also penalised prisoners because of finding these mobile phones, making it worse for the prisoners who already live harsh conditions. The Palestinian Prisoners Society (PPS) said on Friday that one of its lawyers visited the prison on Thursday that the situation inside the prison is not stable, especially in sections 3 and 5 as the prison administration found one mobile phone in section 3 and seven mobile phones in section 5. Ibrahim Elayan, a prisoner from Jerusalem, said that the prison administration has punished the prisoners in section 3 by barring them from the canteen and from their daily stroll for two weeks and by withdrawing six electric fans leaving the whole sections with only two fans. The punishment for section 5 was the same but for two months. Elayan added that sudden searches which includes searching the prisoners' quarters and strip-searching the prisoners themselves have increased, adding that prisoners' belongings are usually deliberately damaged during such searches. In addition to this, the prisoner said that they are threatened with harsher treatment by the prison officers. The prisoners have responded to these harsh measures by holding more meetings as well as taking some protest steps.

UPDATED URGENT APPEAL - Administrative Detention

June 30, 2010 UPDATED URGENT APPEAL - Administrative Detention

UA - 3/10 : URGENT APPEAL : DCI-Palestine Name  Moatasem Raed Younis Nazzal Age at arrest  16 Occupation  Student Place of residence  Qalandiya refugee camp, Ramallah, OPT Charge  Administrative detention – no charge, no trial Place of detention  Ofer Prison, Occupied Palestinian Territory UPDATE: 30 June 2010 26 September 2010 - Possible release date 26 June 2010             - Second administrative detention order (3 months) 25 March 2010           - First administrative detention order (reduced by court to 3 months) 20 March 2010           - Date of arrest On 26 June 2010, Moatasem was issued with a second administrative detention order for three months. The stated reason for issuing Moatasem with a second order is 'because he endangers security of the region' . The order will now be reviewed by the Administrative Detention Court within 8 days of its issuing. Moatasem has been held without charge or trial since 20 March 2010, and he has no way of knowing how long his detention will last. Please continue to send urgent appeals on behalf of Moatasem. Background information Moatasem was arrested from the family home in the Qalandiya refugee camp, near Ramallah in the West Bank, at 3:00am, on 20 March 2010. He was asleep at the time and woke up to see heavily armed Israeli soldiers in his bedroom. A soldier immediately tied Moatasem’s hands behind his back without asking for his name. Moatasem was led out of the house and on his way saw that the front door had been broken down. Moatasem asked a soldier if he could put on warm clothes and shoes but was only permitted to put on sandals. He was then blindfolded and led 70 metres to the main road where a number of military vehicles were parked. Moatsem’s blindfold was removed and he was asked for his name and to confirm his identity from a photograph. His blindfold was then replaced and he was put into a military vehicle. At some point during his arrest a soldier insulted Moatasem by saying ‘son of an adultress.’ During his transfer, a soldier ordered Moatasem to place his head on his knees and slapped him every time he tried to sit up. Moatasem recalls that this caused him ‘extreme pain.’ At no time during this process was Moatasem told why he was being arrested, or where he was being taken. Inadequate clothing and shelter Moatasem was then transported to an unknown location and given a medical form to complete. He was then left tied up outside between two shipping containers. At some point in the night, Moatasem heard the sound of a weapon being cocked close by, followed by laughter. Moatasem recalls ‘it was very cold and I was shivering. The soldier who arrested me didn’t allow me to put on warm clothes. The entire time I was sitting there I kept hearing dogs and soldiers. In the morning a soldier brought a blanket and covered me with it when I was about to freeze.’ At around 2pm in the afternoon, Moatasem was placed in another military vehicle and transferred to Ofer Prison, near Ramallah. Strip searched and detained with adults On arrival at Ofer Prison, Moatasem was strip searched and ordered to sit naked on the ground until he was given a brown prison uniform. He does not know why. He was then taken to a cell containing adults and children, where he remained for three days. Sometime later Moatasem was placed in a vehicle and taken to Binyamin police station for interrogation Interrogation Moatasem waited to be interrogated at Binyamin police station, from 8:30am until 2:00pm. During this time his hands and feet were shackled. At 2:00pm he was taken into an interrogation room and kept tied and shackled the whole time. Moatasem recalls his interrogation as follows: ‘I sat in the chair in the interrogation room while my hands and feet were still shackled. Then, the interrogator started asking me about the plot without explaining what the plot was. “I don’t know what you’re talking about,” I said to him and he asked me about the riot, bullets and weapons without giving any further explanation. I denied knowledge because I really didn’t know what he was talking about and I really had nothing to do with those things. Then, he asked me about the internet and a guy named Mohammad from Gaza I chat with. I told him I didn’t know Mohammad that well. I met him in some chat room and we talk about school and tests and so on. “Liar,” the interrogator said to me and kept focusing on asking me about this guy.’ The interrogator then threatened to send Moatasem to Al Mascobiyya interrogation and detention centre, a place notorious for its interrogations. The interrogator then handed him a handwritten paper to sign, but Moatasem refused as he could not read the writing. Administration detention order Moatasem was then sent back to Ofer Prison, and on 25 March 2010, was handed an administrative detention order for six months. Moatasem was taken to Ofer Military Court on 1 April, and the Court confirmed the order. Moatasem’s administrative detention order is dated to expire on 27 September 2010. Administrative detention Administrative detention is detention without charge or trial and is often based on ‘secret evidence.’ Israeli Military Order 1591 empowers military commanders to detain Palestinians, including children as young as 12, for up to six months if they have ‘reasonable grounds to presume that the security of the area or public security require the detention.’ The initial six month period can be extended by additional six-month periods indefinitely. This procedure denies the detainee the right to a fair trial and the ability to adequately challenge the basis of his or her detention. Moatasem and another boy are the first children to receive Israeli administrative detention orders since November 2009. There are currently at least 237 Palestinians being held by Israel without charge or trial in administrative detention. For more information visit the DCI-Palestine website at Freedom Now. Recommended action The detention of a child in these circumstances does not conform to Israel’s obligations under the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child or the UN Convention Against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment. Please send Urgent Appeals urging: An immediate end to the practice of detaining persons under 18 years in administrative detention. Immediately and unconditionally release Moatasem Nazzal from administrative detention, or charge him with a recognisable criminal offence and promptly try him in a proper court of law with internationally accepted standards for a fair trial. Appeals to: Your elected representatives The Israeli embassy in your country [see list of Israeli diplomatic missions worldwide] Please inform DCI-Palestine if you receive any response to your appeals and quote the UA number at the top of this document.

Israel’s abuse of female prisoners on the rise

[ 05/07/2010 - 03:40 PM ]

NABLUS, (PIC)-- The  International Tadhamun (Solidarity) Foundation for Human Rights revealed that a special Israeli unit spontaneously raided the cells of female inmates in the Damon prison and proceeded in a barbaric inspection operation a few days ago. Ahmed Beitawi, one of the foundation’s researchers, said that the victims were spontaneously raided by the “Droor” unit, an Israeli prisons authority unit, which specializes in inspecting female offenders, in search of drugs and contraband in their cells at exactly nine o’clock in the morning. The captives were then detained in the corners of their cells and forced to raise their hands. They remained in that position until 3:00 pm. Beitawi said, "The inspection raid operation permeated inspection and destruction of all the prisoners’ belongings, and the procedure ended by removal of prisoners from the cells, and they were 17 captives in number, one after the other, and then they were subjected to humiliating strip searches" by female soldiers. On her part, prisoner Amna Mona, the woman responsible for inmates in the Damon prison, denied the IPA argument that the raid operation was to search for cellular devices, clarifying that the purpose behind it was to "humiliate and terrorize prisoners and to put them in a state of emotional instability". The human rights foundation appeals for serious efforts to stop the policy of humiliating strip searches and successive raids of prisoners’ cells.

Palestinian captive loses eyesight as prisoners agree on strike next month

Palestinian Information Center

March 30, 2010 RAMALLAH, (PIC)-- A Palestinian captive went blind in Israeli occupation jails due to the medical neglect of his case on the part of the Israeli prisons authority (IPA), a released prisoner told the Palestinian center for the defense of prisoners. The center in a statement on Monday said that the captive was primarily diagnosed with spring conjunctivitis but the IPA did not offer him the proper treatment and refused to let a doctor check him, which led to deterioration of his condition few months later at the end of which he lost his eyesight. It warned of the continued IPA deliberate medical neglect of Palestinian prisoners, describing it as "intentional slow death". The center quoted chairperson of the Mandela institution catering for prisoners Buthaina Dukmak as saying that a number of prisoner patients held in Ramle prison hospital were anticipating death as they suffer critical conditions without any proper medical treatment. She said that the Israeli occupation authority (IOA) was incarcerating more than 1,600 sick patients in its jails, adding that they are in dire need of check up by specialized doctors. The center said that the IPA deliberate medical neglect was in violation of international norms and treaties specially the fourth Geneva convention that stipulated among other things a dignified captivity for prisoners. It championed the formation of a regional and international pressure lobby to demand the release of prisoners especially the sick, children and women. Meanwhile, the Palestinian prisoners of all factions agreed on refusing visits during the month of April and on three days of hunger strike, which they specified at 7-17-27 of April. The prisoners said in a statement that the strike is to protest their bad imprisonment conditions, the IPA escalation against them and their relatives on all levels especially preventing family visits, which the Gaza prisoners were deprived of for the past four years. They would also protest the humiliating searches and treatment of relatives when on their way for visits in the West Bank along with banning entry of books, depriving students from accessing Palestinian secondary exams, and barring Al-Jazeera TV network. They said that a number of prisons would go on five days of hunger strike such as the Nafha internees to cope with their special demands. Ra'fat Hamdona, the head of the prisoners' center for studies, urged local and international institutions to launch supportive programs of those prisoners' demands.

Prisoner families to suspend visits for 1 month

Nablus – Ma'an – A committee representing relatives of Palestinian prisoners in Israeli custody announced Monday that family visits would be suspended for one month in protest of Israeli policies.

The committee said the strike would start on 1 April and end on 1 May in protest of "Israeli arrogance" toward families visiting their relatives in prison. They also highlighted that several families were deprived of visits, predominantly those of prisoners from the Gaza Strip.

In a statement, the committee explained that the strike came in protest of Israel's confiscation of permits from certain families when they passed through checkpoints in addition to strip searches during prison visits.

Meanwhile, Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails say they will go on hunger strikes on 7, 17, and 27 April.