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April 17
Palestinian Prisoners’ Day:
Israeli authorities tighten measures against Palestinian and Arab prisoners in Israeli jails
Re: 17/2001
Date: April 17, 2001
Today, on Palestinian Prisoners’ Day more than 2,300 Palestinian and Arab prisoners are still detained in Israeli jails. This includes more than 300 who were sentenced to life sentences and some of whom have spent over 20 years in prison.
These prisoners have been subjected to dire and miserable conditions and Israeli prison authority policies since Israel first occupied the West Bank and the Gaza Strip in 1967. The conditions, which violate the basic principles of the international law, have deteriorated since the peace agreements were signed between the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) and Israel. All prisoners who were detained or sentenced for resisting Israeli occupation prior to the signing of the Declaration of Principles (DOP) in Oslo in 1993 were to have been released. However, release of prisoners agreed upon in the peace agreements has not been implemented. Successive Israeli governments have not only refuse to implement the agreements, but they also undermined the dignity of prisoners, through oppression and violation of their basic human rights. These governments transformed the prisoners into hostages in order to achieve political gains in exchange. Israel is still detaining more than 400 Palestinian prisoners, who were arrested before the signing of the Oslo Accords. This Israeli denial of prisoner release has proven the Israeli insincerity regarding the peace process, which is now in a state of clinical death.
The Israeli occupation forces have prohibited prisoner visitation since the outbreak of Al-Aqsa Intifada. Moreover, the daily conditions of prisoners in Israeli jails, have worsened, including the provision of medical services, food and clothing. Previous achievements and improvements have been rolled back. Israel also resorted again to policies of forced isolation of prisoners and maltreatment of minor ones. Israeli interrogators have again employed torture on a massive scale and the number of prisoners has sharply increased.
v The Prohibition of Prisoner Visitation
Israel has prohibited prisoner visitation by families on a regular basis, in violation to international conventions and instruments.
The international humanitarian law ensures right of prisoners to be visited by their families, so the occupying state must ensure this right. Article 116 of the Fourth Geneva Convention states that “Every internee shall be allowed to receive visitors, especially near relatives, at regular intervals and as frequently as possible.” Thus, the occupying state must ensure that prisoners be visited by their families according to a specified timetable. Without exception, this timetable must include the place of detention and the times of visitation, with which prisoners. Also, their families must be informed. This is ensured by Rule 27 of the UN Standard Minimum Rules for the Treatment of Prisoners, adopted in 1955.
For more than six months, the Israeli occupation forces have prevented the visitation of families in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip. This has had additional negative consequences for the psychological condition and increased tension in light of the continuous brutal aggression launched by the Israeli occupation forces against the Palestinian people. PCHR urges the ICRC to exert efforts and activate all steps to enforce Israel to comply with the principles of the international humanitarian law, and ensure visitation of prisoners as a basic right. The prohibition of visitation also deprives prisoners of receiving basic personal needs, such as foodstuffs and clothes, to cover the sharp shortage of food and clothes provided by the Israeli jail authority in violation to Article 89 of the Fourth Geneva Convention which states that:
“Daily food rations for internees shall be sufficient in quantity, quality, and variety to keep internees in a good state of health and prevent the development of nutritional deficiencies. Account shall also be taken of the customary diet of internees.”
v The Medical Situation
Approximately 250 out of the total number of prisoners, suffer from various diseases and many are in desperate need of frequently postponed surgeries. The medical situation in Israeli jails deteriorated and patients, especially those arrested during Al-Aqsa Intifada, face increasing neglect. Jails also lack sufficient medical personnel, especially physicians. In some jails, there is no physician or a one is available for limited hours. Moreover, the Israeli jail authority neglects the dietary needs of prisoners, endangering prisoners lives. Therefore, Israeli is in violation of Article 91 of the Forth Geneva Convention, which states that “Every place of internment shall have a have an adequate infirmary, under the direction of a qualified doctor, where internees may have the attention they require, as well as an appropriate diet.” They are also ensured in Rules 22-26 under the heading of Medical Service of the UN Standard Minimum Rules for the Treatment of Prisoners adopted in 1955.
v The Denial of Lawyer Visitation
Palestinian lawyers from the Palestinian National Authority controlled areas have been denied access to Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails since April 8, 1996. Palestinian prisoners have been deprived of legal assistance and consultation. The right of a prisoner to legal representation and assistance of his choice is a foundational principle of fair trials. All international conventions and instruments relevant to the rights of prisoners ensure this right. Article 72 of the Fourth Geneva Convention states that “Accused persons shall have the right to present evidence necessary to their defense and may, in particular, call witness. They shall have the right to be assisted by a qualified advocate or counsel of their own choice, who shall be able to visit them freely and shall enjoy the necessary facilities for preparing the defense.”
Nevertheless, the Israeli occupation authorities violate this basic rule, and continue to prohibit the access of Palestinian lawyers to Israeli courts and jails. The denial of a basic right makes all Israeli practices against Palestinian prisoners illegal and necessitates effective intervention to protect these prisoners.
v Forced Isolation and Poor Conditions
The Israeli authorities increasingly resort to policies of forced isolation, administrative detention and sudden night checking, during which Israeli soldiers and jailers suddenly raid on Palestinian prisoners’ rooms and cells in a terrifying manner. This provokes clashes in which prisoners are injured and their belongings are confiscated.
Prisoners in Israeli jails also face: over-crowding, lack of religious and educational facilities, decrease in daily exercise times, poor lighting, restrictions on internal movement, inability to make phone calls, collective punishment, use of torture in interrogation, detention far away from their areas of residence, humiliating regular checking, and poor conditions and inadequate time for family visitation.
v Conditions of Minors’ Detention
The number of Palestinians who have been arrested by the Israeli occupation forces is approximately 700. The Israeli authorities are still detaining more than 200 Palestinians under 18 and ten female prisoners under conditions that violate the basic internationally accepted standards.
Prisoners under 18 are detained with Israeli criminal prisoners, so they have frequently been exposed to physical attacks by criminal prisoners such as the use of shaving knives. In one such attack, a Palestinian minor prisoner’s artery was cut. These conditions endanger the lives of Palestinian minor prisoners. Consequently, all local and international parties should intervene to put an end to crimes committed against imprisoned minors. Their transferring from criminal prisoners and their immediate release should be ensured.
PCHR warns of further deterioration of conditions in Israeli jails, especially when the extremist Ozi Landao became the Minister of Internal Security in Shraon’s government, responsible for jail management. PCHR calls for the combined efforts of all parties interested in the issue of Palestinian and Arab prisoners in Israeli jails, through establishing a mechanism that seeks to:
1) increase local and international efforts to release prisoners in Israeli jails as a legal, international and humanitarian obligation, and as a basic prerequisite for any peace process that may lead to peace agreement between the PLO and Israel, in a way that the release of all prisoners or at at least the improvement of conditions of detention becomes a pre-condition for any peace agreement between the parties;
2) to provide databases and information about Palestinian and Arab prisoners in Israeli jails, in order to draw attention to their conditions and treatment as well as track Israeli policies which are designed to break their spirit and are in violation of international and humanitarian law
3) to evaluate the conditions of imprisonment in light of relevant internationally accepted standards, especially the UN Standard Minimum Rules for the Treatment of Prisoners adopted in 1955, the Basic Principles to Protect Detained or Imprisoned adopted by the UN General Assembly in 1988, the Fourth Geneva Convention for the Protection of Civilians in Times of War, and the International Convention against Torture of 1948, which Israel joined in 1991.
4) to use all efforts to activate local and international pressure through international governments, institutions and bodies to force Israel to allow Palestinian lawyers from the Palestinian National Authority’s controlled areas to visit Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails. Until this can be achieved, PCHR seeks alternative mechanisms to ensure the provision of legal assistance to Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails;
5) to call upon the ICRC to pressure Israel to ensure to implement a visitation program for prisoners by their families, improve the conditions of visitation and ensure the access of visiting families from the Palestinian National Authority’s controlled areas to Israeli jails and vice versa, and in case that Israel denies all these legitimate demands, we call upon the ICRC to decide its position towards Israeli practices which violate all international conventions and instruments.
PCHR expresses its appreciation for, and solidarity with prisoners’ families who struggle for the release of their sons and daughters, supported by all national and humanitarian parties. PCHR asserts that this is a just issue of national consensus, likewise Palestinian prisoners constitute the conscience of our people and their national case.
Freedom for all our brave prisoners,
Freedom for all prisoners of the world
