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Palestinian prisoner Bassam Obeid protests isolation in Ramon prison

prison-cellPalestinian prisoner Bassam Obeid, of Arraba village outside Jenin, has been held in isolation in Ramon prison for 39 days, as part of the policy of arbitrary transfers exercised against him and his fellow prisoners by the Israeli Prison Service.

Raghab Abu Diak of the Palestinian Prisoners Society said that the prison administraion regularly engages in arbitrary transfers in order to break the prisoners’ ranks and confuse the prisoners’ movement, and create instability.

Abu Diak noted that Obeid’s health situation is difficult, and that he has suffered significant hearing loss. When he is isolated and apart from his fellow prisoners, he does not receive needed care to support his life and health.

Walid Obeid, Bassam’s brother, called for the International Committee of the Red Cross to pressure the Israeli Prison Services to move Bassam to a collective cell so that his fellow prisoners can provide necessary care for him. Obeid has been imprisoned for over 9 years.

Palestinian student detained for Facebook ‘likes’ and comments

facebook_prisonIsraeli investigators detained a Palestinian Ph.D. student for affiliation to Islamic Movement Hamas, based on comments and ‘likes’ on Facebook, the Solidarity Foundation for Human Rights (SFHR) reported in the Middle East Monitor.

SFHR researcher, Ahmed al-Betawi, said that the Israeli forces detained the 26 year old Palestinian student, Mosab abul-Reesh, who is carrying out Ph. D research in Cyprus, when he entered the country to spend the holiday with his family in Hebron.

Investigators at an Israeli prison accused him of being a member of Hamas based on comments and ‘likes’ that he had made on Facebook.

Information from Abul-Reesh’s Facebook account indicates that he ‘liked’ several comments of Palestinian Facebook users who the Israeli’s accused of being affiliated to Hamas.

Ahmed Al-Betawi said that Israeli investigators have recently started asking prisoners whether they have Facebook accounts or not. “It they answer yes, they are obliged to give the investigators access to it and they search the accounts, violating the right to privacy,” he said.

Israeli prison guards raid Negev prison

Israeli prison guards broke into ward eight in Negev prison on August 2, the Palestinian Prisoners Society reported, causing a number of injuries among the prisoners.

The PPS charged, in a statement on Saturday, August 3, that the Israeli guards brutally assaulted and attacked the prisoners while praying.

The statement pointed out that the Israeli prison service (IPS) isolated seven prisoners, imposed heavy fines on them, and deprived them of family visits, in addition to confiscating all electric appliances in the room.

The IPS guards routinely break into the prisoners’ rooms under the pretext of searching for mobile phones.

Protest at Ramallah police headquarters demands freedom of detained protesters

Palestinian protesters took to the streets outside the Ramallah police headquarters on the evening of July 28, 2013, demanding the release of five detainees, Ali Amer Hamdullah, Fayeq Meri, Yousef Farouq Hamdullah, Tamer Arar, and Iyan Ayaydeh, held by Palestinian Authority security forces following the demonstrations to reject resumed negotiations earlier in the day. The protest was attacked by PA security as it sought to proceed to the Muqata’ presidential compound. The protesters are demanding that the PA retreat from its decision to return to negotiations with Israel under US auspices.

As of 12:45 am, July 29, the 5 detainees were released after their families and the demonstrators refused to leave the area outside the police station:

Video of the protest:

PA police attack and arrest demonstrators against negotiations with occupation

ramallah1Palestinian Authority security forces attacked Palestinian protesters as they marched in Ramallah on Sunday, July 28, 2013, injuring dozens and arresting a number of protesters. The marchers were protesting the PA’s return to negotiations with Israel, warning that the negotiations represent threats to Palestinian rights and a path to dangerous concessions. ramallah2The protest, organized by the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, was attacked as the approximately 200 demonstrators marched toward the Muqata’, PA presidential headquarters. Security forces attacked the protesters with batons in order to prevent them from reaching the Muqata.

Photo via Addameer of injured protester taken from Ramallah Hospital in police van
Photo via Addameer of injured protester taken from Ramallah Hospital in police van

In a statement following the police attack, the PFLP said, “The PA decision – the individual act of President Mahmoud Abbas – was contrary to the decisions of Palestinian national institutions, including the PLO Central Council – and reflects a culture of recklessness, irresponsibility, lack of accountability, and disregard for the law and the national traditions of our people,” and demanded that those responsible be held accountable for their actions.

Addameer Prisoner Support and Human Rights Association reported that among the dozens of injured was Khalida Jarrar, member of the Palestinian Legislative Council, PFLP leader and longtime prisoner advocate. Injured demonstrators were arrested and taken away from Ramallah Hospital, where they were receiving treatment. Demonstrators said that the Sunday protest is just the beginning of a popular movement against negotiations, both inside and outside Palestine, including “ending the absurd negotiations and the entire path of Oslo, holding accountable those who normalize with the occupation, returning to international institutions, including the UN, to struggle for Palestinian rights, ending the division, and creating an alternative national strategy of resistance.”

A rally was held simultaneously in Gaza City as well in protest of the negotiations. A protest will take place at 9 pm tonight outside Ramallah police station demanding the release of the 5 people who are currently in PA detention following the protest.

Imprisoned Palestinian leader Ahmad Sa’adat had issued a statement supporting the protests, calling for Palestinians to “Break the barriers of silence and bang on the walls of the tank” against the negotiations.

Video of the protest in Ramallah:

Motassem Raddad, suffering from cancer, calls for early release

motasemraddadPalestinian prisoner Motassem Raddad, 32, from Tulkarem, is suffering from intestinal cancer and continuous bleeding and must be released immediately for medical treatment, said Palestinian lawyer Fadi Obeidat.

Obeidat, who visited Raddad in Hadarim hospital, reported that he is suffering from chronic and acute intestinal bleeding. For the past five years, he has been moved to multiple hospitals. His disease is impacting all areas of his body, including his heart, joints and abdomen.

Raddad was transferred to Soroka Hospital and the Hadarim and received a blood transfusion as he had lost so much blood. Nevertheless, he is transferred by “Bosta” (a prisoner transport vehicle) rather than by ambulance, increasing his suffering. No paramedics are available during travel by Bosta.

Raddad reported he had no new medical tests or scans since last year, despite such being required every 6 months. A previous application for early release due to health reasons was declined, and Obeidat emphasized that Raddad’s life is at stake and must be released now.

 

Palestinian patients and family members arrested at Beit Hanoun crossing

29283_345x230Ma’an reported that Israeli forces arrested a Palestinian man at the Erez crossing in northern Gaza on Tuesday, Palestinian security officials said.

Hussam al-Zanin was accompanying his sick mother to Israel for treatment, but was detained by Israeli forces. Al-Zanin’s mother was then asked to return to Gaza by Israeli forces at the border.

In response, Al-Mezan Centre for Human Rights strongly denounced the ongoing Israeli practice of arresting Palestinian patients and their families while seeking entry to Israel or the West Bank for treatment through Beit Hanoun/Erez crossing. Use of the crossing requires prior travel permits, which are already highly difficult to obtain.

Al-Mezan said that the kidnapping of patients at Beit Hanoun crossing violates Israel’s legal obligations under the international humanitarian law, especially the fourth Geneva convention.

The center outlined some incidents in which patients from Gaza were taken prisoners by the Israeli occupation forces, including al-Zanin’s case, although they had obtained travel permits, noting that the detention of patients at this crossing increased during the current month. Other cases in the past month include those of Ibrahim al-Harbi and Mahmoud Shamallakh.

The center urged the international community to urgently intervene to curb Israel’s violation of the international law regarding the right of Gaza citizen to have access to health care outside the besieged Strip.

Beit Hanoun crossing is almost the only passage for Gaza citizens whose medical conditions cannot be treated in Gaza hospitals, especially after the Egyptian army closed the Rafah border crossing and imposed travel restrictions, said the centre.

 

Abu Sisi remains in solitary confinement

abusisiPalestinian Prisoners Society (PPS) said on July 23 that Palestinian prisoner Dirar Abu Sisi, 42, from Gaza is the only Palestinian prisoner still held in solitary confinement, at Eshel Prison, where he has been isolated since he was abducted by Israeli intelligence while traveling by train in the Ukraine, his wife’s homeland, in 2011.

PPS called for an immediate intervention to end Abu Sisi’s isolation and suffering, as Abu Sisi suffers from several diseases and living in a cell which is not suitable for human living. In addition, Abu Sisi is held in the section of the Israeli criminal prisoners, who frequently scream and curse.

The PPS warned from the seriousness of Abu Sisi’s situation, considering the continued isolation against Abu Sisi is a means to humiliate him. Solitary confinement and isolation are a form of torture, with significant medical and physical impacts on those forced to undergo it. Ending solitary confinement was one of the key demands of the mass Palestinian hunger strike in April-May 2012.

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Hunger Strikes Update: Punishments escalate against the 12 remaining hunger strikers

The following statement was released by Addameer on July 24. In addition, Abdelmajid Khdeirat, from Tubas, who has been striking since July 1, was transferred to Ramle prison clinic. Khdeirat is a former prisoner freed in an exchange who was rearrested, and the Israeli occupation is threatening to re-impose his entire original sentence:

Ramallah, 24 July 2013 – Addameer Prisoner Support and Human Rights Association condemns the treatment of the 12 Palestinian and Jordanian hunger strikers languishing in the Israeli prisons. Addameer lawyers visited four of the Jordanian prisoners earlier this week and gathered details of the harsh and difficult conditions they are undergoing during their hunger strike. The twelve current hunger strikers are: Ayman Hamdan [88 days], Emad Al-Batran [79 days], Ayman Tabeesh [63 days], Mohammad Tabeesh [43 days], Adel Hareebat [63 days], Husam Matir [54 days], Abd Al Majid Khdeirat [24 days], Abdallah Barghouthi [84 days], Mohammad Rimawi [84 days], Munir Mar’ee [84 days], Alaa Hamad [84 days] and Hamza Othman [79 days].
It should be noted that as their punishments escalate, the hunger strikers are beginning to be denied lawyers visits, such as in the case of Adv. Fawaz Shaloudy, who is now denied visits based on the Israel Prison Service’s (IPS) claims that he is transferring information between the hunger strikers. A similar visitation ban was placed on Addameer lawyers Anan Odeh and Samer Simaan during the mass hunger strikes in 2011 and 2012. This continuous policy of banning lawyers who visit the hunger strikers restricts the work of human rights organizations and further isolates the prisoners from the outside world in an attempt to break their strike.

Mohammad Tabeesh, who has been on hunger strike for 63 days at Ramleh Prison Hospital in solidarity with his brother, administrative detainee Ayman Tabeesh, reported being assaulted and treated violently by the IPS upon announcing his hunger strike. When Mohammad announced his hunger strike, he was immediately moved to isolation where the IPS attempted to conduct a strip search and when he refused, the doctor, nurses and prison guards held him down and attempted to remove his clothing. They forced him onto the floor and began to beat him violently, especially on his hands and legs where he still has scars until today. Mohammad was transferred several times to isolation in different prisons, including in a 1×2 meter cell in Jalameh, confiscated of his clothing, and fined 450 NIS for starting the strike. He is also denied family visits for a period of 2 months, denied sending letters to his family and, according to a threat from the prison director, any other infraction inside the prison will mean a monetary punishment of 5,000 NIS. While in isolation, his 1×2 meter cell in Jalameh Prison was without a window and had freezing air continuously pumping into the cell as well as a fluorescent light that stayed on 24 hours a day. During that time, Mohammad was denied blankets, laundry detergent, soap and shampoo. Today, he is still refusing vitamins and is only taking water, salt and sugar.

Alaa Hammad, who has been on hunger strike for 84 days, has reported being threatened to be force-fed if he does not end his strike. Alaa began taking vitamins during his hunger strike but developed a rash as a result, at which point the doctor switched him from tablet to liquid vitamins. Upon his return to Ramleh Prison Hospital on 11 July, he was denied liquid vitamins and therefore decided to stop drinking water and taking any supplements. He is also subjected to humiliating searches twice a day and had his hands and legs cuffed during his lawyers’ visits.

Hamza Othman, who has lost 26 kilograms since the beginning of his 79 day hunger strike, described the inhumane conditions in the various isolation cells and hospitals he has been transferred to since the beginning of his hunger strike. Upon announcing his strike, he was put in a filthy, concrete, 1.8×1.8 meter cell and banned of all forms of communication with his family until September. Hamza was also transferred to different prisons several times, including to Marash Prison Hospital where he developed a skin rash but was refused treatment in an attempt to coerce him to end his strike. Furthermore, Hamza is routinely examined while being cuffed in his hands and legs, and when he escalated his strike in response to this, he was banned from using the restroom for 12 hours.

Munir Mar’ee, who has been on strike for 84 days, was also immediately put in isolation upon announcing his strike and transferred several times between prisons where he was held in small isolation cells and denied basic necessities for hygiene. When Munir was transferred to Suroka Hospital, he was verbally abused by the physician who was treating him. He is currently taking water, vitamins, salt and sugar but has lost 17 kilograms and remains in a dangerous health condition.

The descriptions from these hunger strikers are an illustration of the conditions that all twelve hunger strikers are enduring. The inhumane treatment of the prisoners who join the hunger strike is not a new phenomenon. Prisoners have reported that the IPS has tried many tactics to break their hunger strike, including putting them in cells with criminal prisoners, cooking and eating near their cells, and “roughing them up” while they are handcuffed to their hospital beds.

The punishments of the hunger strikers is in light of new legislation that the Israeli Justice Ministry is preparing to propose to legalize force-feeding of Palestinian security prisoners, subject to court approval. This proposed legislation is in direct violation of the World Medical Association’s Declaration on Malta that states “forcible feeding is never ethically acceptable. Even if intended to benefit, feeding accompanied by threats, coercion, force or use of physical restraints is a form of inhumane and degrading treatment.”[1] The adoption of this new “force-feeding” bill will institutionalize the degradation of the Palestinian prisoners and put them in danger as they fight to gain their basic rights.

Addameer is gravely concerned for the health and well-being of the twelve hunger strikers, and calls on the international community, namely the General- Secretary of the United Nations, Mr Ban Ki-Moon, the European Union and the International Committee of the Red Cross to guarantee the rights of the prisoners.

 

Ill prisoners in Ramle prison clinic suffer from medical negligence, threaten hunger strike

Mansour Mowqada
Mansour Mowqada

Severely ill Palestinian prisoners are suffering inside the Ramle prison clinic, reported the Palestinian Prisoners Society on July 21. Mansour Mowqada, one of the prisoners in the most difficult of circumstances, has cancerous tumors, uses a wheelchair, and must use “plastic stomach” and colostomy bags for digestion and excretion. New tumors are currently being studied. He has in the past engaged in hunger strikes to demand proper medical treatment, as he did in April 2013.

Nahed al-Aqra, another Palestinian prisoner held in Ramle prison clinic, is facing a fourth amputation of more of his leg; he has already had three parts of his leg removed and is refusing further amputations unless the doctors in the prison clinic specify the reasons and cause for his ongoing suffering. Aqra told his lawyer that his suffering is due to medical mistreatment and negligence, and that prisoners suffering will no longer be silenced.

The ill prisoners in Ramle Prison Clinic are threatening an open hunger strike if they are not released and are not given proper medical care.

Riad Amour, spokesperson for the ill prisoners, said through his lawyer that Mahmoud Suleiman, Mansour Mowqada, Khaled Shawish, Nahed al-Aqra and Riad Amour have begun to return meals ona partial basis, to pressure the medical staff to perform medical examinations and provide proper treatment.