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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.

California Hunger Strike Action Alert: Pledge of Resistance

banner-solidarityThe following Alert is issued by the Prisoner Hunger Strike Solidarity Coalition:

The California Department of Corrections and ‘Rehabilitation’ (CDCr) has begun to retaliate against the vocal spokespeople for the hunger strikers, who are located in Pelican Bay and Corcoran State Prisons. Our Pledge of Resistance Alert today will focus on the extreme brutality of prison authorities against the Representatives of the hunger strikers, who are in Pelican Bay State Prison.

The CDCr is also trying to undermine legal and community support of the hunger strikers. They have just issued ‘banning’ orders to Marilyn McMahon, an attorney for many of the Reps in Pelican Bay, denying her access to her clients.

Most likely, prison officials will not be thrilled to get your phone calls and emails, so please be determined and polite in trying to send your phone and email messages. Whether you get a voice or a voice mail, they will know you are watching them, and want them to Stop the Torture.

RETALIATION AGAINST PELICAN BAY PRISONER REPRESENTATIVES:
On July 11, PBSP prison authorities removed 14 prisoner Representatives from their solitary confinement (SHU) cells and placed them in Administrative Segregation (Ad Seg) cells which are even worse than the SHU. The hunger strikers, many of whom are elder men and have severe chronic illnesses, are dressed in summer clothing, but the CDC has turned on air conditioning full blast, leaving some of the men sick and freezing.

Meanwhile, the prison officials have raided their SHU cells and confiscated their legal materials, including attorney-client protected documents pertaining to their highly publicized federal class action lawsuit against the state of California (Ruiz v. Brown).

RESPONSE OF THE HUNGER STRIKE REPRESENTATIVES:
“On July 11, 2013, we were placed in Administrative Segregation (Ad-Seg), where we are subjected to more tortuous conditions than in the SHU. Despite this diabolical act on the part of CDCR intended to break our resolve and hasten our deaths, we remain strong and united! We are 100% committed to our cause and will end our peaceful action when the CDCR signs a legally binding agreement meeting our demands.”

NON-ACTION OF GOVERNOR BROWN
Governor Brown has been completely silent on the hunger strike while it has gained international news attention. He is now taking a vacation in Europe, visiting, among other places, Dachau concentration camp in Germany, and promoting California’s environmental advancements to selected European audiences.

WHAT YOU CAN DO TO HELP STOP THE TORTURE:
Tell the PBSP prison authorities to return the 14 prisoner Representatives to their cells. (Their names and prison numbers are at the end of this email.)
Return all their property, especially the legal documents guards have confiscated.
Lift the ban on their attorney, Marilyn McMahon, so that she can again access her clients.
Medically monitor the men to ensure that the prison has not destroyed their health!

1. Contact Pelican Bay Warden Gregory Lewis:
*** phone: 707-465-1000 x5001
*** email: Gregory.Lewis@cdcr.ca.gov

2. Copy to Dr. Jeffrey Beard, Secretary of CDCR
*** phone: 916-323-6001 (alternatively 916-445-5073)
*** fax: 916-442-2637
*** letter: Dr. Jeffrey Beard, Secretary CDCR, 1515 S Street, 5th Floor;
Sacramento, California 94283

3. Copy to Assistant Warden at Pelican Bay, Rawland Swift
*** phone: 465-1000 x6254
*** email: RSwift@cdcr.ca.gov

4. Back up: Public Information Officer at PBSP Christopher Acosta
*** office phone: 707-465-9040
*** cell phone: 707-951-0350

THE 14 PRISONER REPRESENTATIVES:
1. Todd Ashker C58191
2. Arturo Castellanos C17275
3. Sitawa/ R.N Dewberry C35671
4. Antonio Guillen P81948
5. Danny Troxell B76578
6. George Franco D46556
7. Ronnie Yandell V27927
8. Paul Redd, Jr. B72683
9. James Baridi Williamson D34288
10. Alfred Sandoval D61000
11. Louis Powell B59864
12. Alex Yrigollen H32421
13. Gabriel Huerta C80766
14. Frank Clement D07919

Please write to the Reps.* Include one sheet of paper, one envelope and one loose stamp so they can write someone outside the walls. You can address your letter with the person’s name & prison number; Pelican Bay State Prison/SHU; PO Box 7500. Crescent City, 95532.
*Mr. Arturo Castellanos may not be able to receive your letter. He’s on ‘restricted mail,’ by the prison authorities.

Thank you so much for your solidarity,
Prisoner Hunger Strike Solidarity Coalition: Pledge of Resistance work group
(for more info, http://www.prisonerhungerstrikesolidarity.wordpress.com)

California Prisoner Hunger Strike: Attorney Advocate blocked from accessing prisoners

phss-corcoran-th041The following statement – and many more updates – on the California Prisoners Hunger Strike, now entering its 14th day, may be found at the site of the Prisoner Hunger Strike Solidarity Coalition.

Oakland–The California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation continue to retaliate against hunger strikers. Yesterday it was reported that a core group of strikers were moved from the Security Housing Unit in Pelican Bay to even more restricted isolation. Since then, supporters have learned that prison officials have been attempting to break the resolve of strikers by blasting cold air into the SHU and Administrative Segregation (AD-Seg) units at Pelican Bay. Also, in a move to restrict communications between prisoners and their legal advocates, the CDCR has issued an exclusion order denying attorney Marilyn McMahon access to her clients at Pelican Bay State Prison, many of whom are in the 11th day of their protest against indefinite long term solitary confinement.

The order bans McMahon from the prison pending a CDCR investigation to determine whether one of her legal assistants “presents a serious threat to security.” The order says nothing about what the assistant stands accused of. McMahon comments, “I’m struck by how similar this is to the gang validation process, one of the hunger strike issues. Prisoners are sent to solitary indefinitely based on reports that they are not allowed to see, made by prisoners whose identity they are not allowed to know.”

McMahon and fellow attorney Carol Strickman were banned during the hunger strike in 2011 under the same administrative regulations. “All charges against us were eventually lifted,” said McMahon, “but to this day CDCR has never told me the charges against me.” The order prevented the two attorneys from having legal visits with their clients for the remainder of that strike.

Late last week, the CDCR moved 14 supposed hunger strike leaders from the SHU in Pelican Bay to the even more restrictive Administrative Segregation, confiscating their legal papers related to a lawsuit filed against the Department for its policies of indefinite long-term solitary confinement. In further efforts to break the strike, the Department is forcing cold air into the cells of striking prisoners. Supporters and advocates are denouncing the CDCR’s tactics as cruel and inhumane.

“The CDCR wants to cut off communications between prisoners and the outside world, but we are not going to let that happen,” said McMahon. The prisoners are resolute about continuing their hunger strike until a legally binding agreement is reached.

Former hunger striker Eyad Abu Khudeir released to Gaza

abukhudeirPalestinian prisoner Eyad Abu Khudeir was released on Sunday, July 21 to Gaza after 9 years in occupation prisons. Abu Khudeir, who lived in Rafah prior to his arrest on April 12, 2005, was released in Beit Hanoun in northern Gaza, and was met with a rally to receive him. (For more on Eyad Abu Khudeir, and another prisoner from Gaza, Jamal al-Nouri, threatened with deportation, this article at the Electronic Intifada.)

Abu Khudeir launched a hunger strike on June 17, protesting the occupation’s failure to release him; his sentence ended on April 12, 2013, but he was not released – he had lived in Gaza since 1999, where he is married and had three children, but was never given family reunification. He held Jordanian nationality, but Jordan revoked his citizenship after his arrest and imprisonment, and so was stateless.

Until his hunger strike, Israeli officials had refused to release Abu Khudeir to Gaza.

Israel: We will not release Abdullah Barghouthi even if strike will kill him

abdullahbMa’an reported that Israeli officials said Saturday that they would not release hunger-striking prisoner Abdullah Barghouthi, even if his strike action threatens to kill him, a prisoners group said.

Click here to take action to support Abdullah Barghouthi and his fellow hunger striking prisoners.

A lawyer from the Al-Tadamon human rights groups said he was informed by a Palestinian prisoner that a two-hour meeting was recently held between Israeli prison authorities and prisoners’ representatives, with Israeli officials stressing that prisoners with life sentences would not be released.

“I saw him breathing very heavily and he began to have fainting spells,” Hanan al-Khatib, a Palestinian lawyer, said Friday, July 19 after visiting him in Afula Hospital. Khatib said that Barghouthi’s hands continue to be swollen and he is unable to receive injections or intravenous glucose.

Barghouthi is shackled to his bed by both his hands and feet, al-Khatib said, and has not been allowed visits from family members or International Committee of the Red Cross representatives. He is also prohibited from reading newspapers, Khatib reported.

He has been on hunger strike since May 2 along with 4 other Palestinian prisoners who carry Jordanian nationality, Mohammad Rimawi, Muneer Mar’i, Alaa Hammad and Hamza Othman al-Dabbas; all five are demanding to serve the remainder of their sentence in a Jordanian jail, under the Wadi Araba agreement between Jordan and Israel.

The strikers are also demanding that Israel disclose the whereabouts of 20 missing Jordanian prisoners and want Israel to remove the bodies of Palestinians who died in Israeli custody from nameless graves.

Barghouthi is serving 67 life terms, the highest sentence ever handed down by an Israeli military court. He has been detained since March 2003.

Hanan Al-Khatib also reported on July 18 that when she went to Ramle prison clinic to meet with 7 prisoners on hunger strike, she was told that there were new orders that lawyers may not visit with prisoners on hunger strike except by special permission of the director of prisons in the region. Khatib said that these measures are dangerous, arbitrary and attempt to pressure the strikign prisoners to end the strike.

hareebat-atabeeshAl-Khatib was also prohibited from visiting Imad Batran and Ayman Hamdan, who have been on hunger strike since May 7 and April 28, respectively. Both are held in the Assaf Soroka Hospital. The 7 hunger striking prisoners in Ramle are Ayman al-Tabeesh, Adel Hareebat, Hossam Matar, Alaa Hammad, Mohammad Rimawi, Hamza Othman al-Dabbas and Muneer Mar’i.

Palestinian prisoners Ayman Al-Tabeesh, 33, and Adel Hareebat, 39, said on July 20, that they are on their 59th day of open hunger strike, in rejection of the policy of administrative detention without charge or trial.

Hareebat said that the management of Ramle prison clinic sent him to Assaf Soroka hospital for tests due to the deterioration of his health, but he declined medical tests if there is no response to his demand for freedom. He was returned to Ramle and has been informed that he has pancreas and liver problems and now needs surgery for his pancreas.

Al-Tabeesh and Hareebat said that their morale is high despite the deteriorating health conditions and the constant pressures of prison guards and intelligence agents.

Al-Tabeesh said that Ramle prison refuses to place him with his brother Mohammed, who is now on his 38th day of hunger strike in solidarity with Ayman.

They called for urgent action and support from international and Palestinian organizations for their freedom.

Click here to take action to support Abdullah Barghouthi and his fellow hunger striking prisoners.

Protests in Ramallah and Gaza stand in solidarity with hunger striking prisoners

ramallahprotFamilies of Palestinian prisoners along with Palestinian political factions and organizations held a march in Ramallah on July 18, in solidarity with prisoners on hunger strike. The participants raised photos of the prisoners and banners calling for strengthening support for the prisoners, especially those on hunger strike.

Amin Shuman, secretary of the Higher Follow-Up Committee for Prisoners, said that the demonstration called for bringing the struggle of the prisoners to international forums, particularly in light of the danger to their health whether due to hunger strike or the medical negligence of the Israeli occupation. He particularly noted the precarious health of Abdullah Barghouthi after over 78 days of hunger strike.

He announced that additional events and actions will continue to take place to defend the prisoners and support their struggle.

Video of July 18 Ramallah protest:

On July 15, in Gaza, Palestinian prisoners’ families and supporters participated in a sit-in outside the International Committee of the Red Cross, in support of the prisoners. Photos by Joe Catron.