Palestinian political prisoner Mona Qa’adan has been denied family visits since her arrest on November 13, 2012.
The Palestinian Prisoners Society said the use of security orders to deny family visits to Palestinian prisoners had been increased by about 30% under the pretext of security, but that these orders fundamentally deprive prisoners of family contact, humiliate and punish them.
Mahmoud Qa’adan, Mona’s brother, called for human rights organizations and in particular the International Committee of the Red Cross, to put pressure on the Israeli state to stop this practice of interfering with family visits. Qa’adan noted that some family members are denied permits to enter, while other family members are given permits and then when attempting to visit are informed they are prohibited from visiting despite having been issued permits.
Ragheb Abu Diak, secretary of the Palestinian Prisoners’ Club, said that the Israeli occupation is preventing prisoners from family visits, and is violating the Fourth Geneva Convention permitting prisoners to receive visits. He noted that many of those banned are older, including prisoners’ mothers and fathers.
Mona Qa’adan has been arrested several times and spent over 3 and one-half years inside Israeli prisons, then was released in the October 2011 prisoner exchange before her re-arrest last year.
