Press Release
Freedom for Palestinian Prisoners in Israel
Ref.: 45/99
Date: 18th April, 1999
Yesterday, April 17, the Palestinian people commemorated Palestinian Prisoners’ Day while almost 2,500 Palestinians and Arabs remain in Israeli prisons and detention centers. Palestinian and Arab prisoners in Israel continue to suffer difficult living conditions while being denied their basic rights and being subjected to torture during interrogation. Almost 100 prisoners are being held without charge or trial under administrative detention.
Nearly five years after the signing of the Interim Agreement between the PLO and the government of Israel, the Israeli government continues to turn its back on its obligations under the peace process regarding the release of Palestinian prisoners. Israel continues to deprive prisoners of the right to receive legal aid by prohibiting Palestinian lawyers from visiting them. Palestinian prisoners are also deprived of the right to receive regular family visits in a decent and humane way.
Many prisoners suffer from deteriorating health conditions as Israel does not provide proper medical treatment. Many of the ill prisoners are struggling against disease and will probably die if not released from prison. Israel continues to disregard appeals from human rights and international humanitarian organizations to release prisoners in critical health conditions or to provide them with proper medical care to save their lives.
Many Palestinian prisoners are isolated in individual cells and subjected to oppressive measures threatening their lives. Israel continues to practice different methods of torture against Palestinian and Arab prisoners despite international and local condemnation. Israel is the only country worldwide to have legalized torture, apparently in a conspiracy between the judicial, legislative, and executive branches of the government. On December 11, 1998, the Israeli daily Yerushaleim published that the head of the Israeli General Security Services (Shabak) admitted that no interrogator from the Shabak had not used torture. His statement, according to the daily, was made in a workshop commemorating the 50th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.
PCHR, in commemorating Palestinian Prisoners’ Day, calls for the following:
- The international community should exert pressure on Israel in order to release Palestinian and Arab prisoners – particularly the elderly, the ill, and juveniles.
- To bring all those involved in the perpetration of torture to justice.
- To provide proper medical aid for ill prisoners or to outright release them.
- To guarantee that all prisoners are able to receive regular and humane family visits.
- To allow Palestinian lawyers to visit Israeli prisons in order to provide legal aid to Palestinian and Arab prisoners.
For More Information Contact:
Palestinian Centre for Human Rights
Tel/Fax: (+) 9727 2824776/2823725
E-mail: pchr@trendline.co.il , Web page: www.pchrgaza.org
