Ref: 67/2011

On Wednesday, 16 October 2011, the Palestinian
Centre for Human Rights (PCHR), the Jerusalem Legal Aid and Human Rights
Center, the Civic Coalition for Defending the Palestinians’ Rights in
Jerusalem, Al Mezan Center for Human Rights, Ramallah Center for Human Rights
Studies, Defence for Children International – Palestine Section, and the Arab
Association for Human Rights sent a joint letter to the High Representative of
the European Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, Honourable Baroness
Catherine Ashton.

The letter calls upon the European Union to
fulfill its commitment to combating impunity and protecting human rights. The
sending of the letter coincided with the prisoner exchange taking place between
Hamas and Israel.

We ask the European Union to seize the
opportunity to examine the conditions of those prisoners who remain in Israeli
detention and those civilians who remain imprisoned in the Gaza Strip as a
result of the illegal closure. After the prison exchange over 4,300 politically
related Palestinian prisoners remain in Israeli detention, 164 of whom are
children.

Here you find a copy of the letter to the High
Representative of the European Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy:

_________________________________________________________________________

19
October 2011

The Honourable Baroness Catherine Ashton

High Representative of the European Union for
Foreign Affairs and Security Policy

Vice President of the European Commission

Dear
Baroness Catherine Ashton,

This week has seen the
welcome conclusion of a prisoner exchange agreement between Israel and Hamas.
In a rare moment of unified celebration, families in both Palestine and Israel
celebrated the return of loved ones and the prospect of future reunifications
in the second phase of the exchange. However, it is essential that this event,
welcome as it is, be recognised as a once-off ad
hoc measure. The core issues
underlying the situation in Israel and the occupied Palestinian territory
remain unaddressed and demand urgent attention. The necessity of this message is
underlined by your statement of 12 October, which welcomed the release of Gilad
Shalit, but failed to acknowledge the continued detention of thousands of
Palestinian prisoners, and the associated systematic violations of
international human rights law and international humanitarian law.

After
the prisoner exchange over 4,300 Palestinian politically related prisoners will
remain in Israeli detention. These individuals are routinely subject to
torture, or cruel, inhuman, or degrading treatment. Detainees are
systematically denied their basic human rights, inter alia, through substandard conditions of detention, abusive
interrogation practices, or collective sanctions and punishments. Furthermore,
not a single prisoner from Gaza has been allowed a family visit in over five
years, while prisoners are routinely held in prolonged isolation or solitary
confinement. Mahmoud Issa has been held in isolation since 2002, while Hassan
Salama has been held in isolation since 2003. These are but two examples of
many.

Equally,
there are currently at least 164 Palestinian children in Israeli detention, of
whom 35 are under the age of 16. These children are often detained following
procedures and under conditions that violate international law, including the
Convention of the Rights of the Child. Another area of concern is the administrative
detention of approximately 270 Palestinians. These administrative detainees are
held without charge, for indefinitely renewable periods of up to 6 months each.
They do not know what crime they are accused of, or when they will be released.

The harshness
of the detention regime is underlined by the fact that on 27 September
prisoners launched a  hunger strike
protesting their detention conditions. The Israeli authorities responded to the
hunger strike with a number of collective punishments and sanctions, such as an
increase in night raids and cell searches, including individual strip searches.
Access to university education and educational materials has also been
cancelled, while punitive measures such as reducing the duration of family
visits, prohibiting physical contact during the visit, and shackling to and
from all visits have also been imposed.

Criminal
complaints relating to the treatment of Palestinian detainees have been
systematically rejected by the Israeli authorities. This lack of accountability
with respect to prisoner issues is symptomatic of a broader accountability
deficit. Not once, in the history of the occupation, has a senior Israeli
military or governmental official been held to account for crimes committed
against Palestinians.

This
impunity represents the crux of the issue. In the absence of the rule of law
and accountability, violations of international law have become the norm.
Palestinians’ human rights have been systematically denied with the effective
acquiescence of the European Union. A glaring example of this dual standard,
and unwillingness to uphold the law, has been the European Union’s acceptance
of the absolute closure imposed by Israel on the Gaza Strip. Statements have
described this unequivocally illegal situation as ‘unsustainable’, while no
concrete efforts are exerted to require Israel’s compliance with
the law. As some prisoners are exchanged, 1.8 million Gazans remain imprisoned
in the world’s largest open air prison.

We
ask that the European Union fulfil its commitment to combating impunity and
ensuring respect for international law, as required, inter alia, by internal European Union regulations and Article 1
common to the four Geneva Conventions of 1949. The European Union should use
this prisoner exchange as an opportunity to examine the conditions of those
prisoners who remain in Israeli detention, and those civilians who remain
imprisoned in the Gaza Strip.

As
human rights organisations, our demand is simple, we ask for the equal, and
universal, application of the law. The European Union should use all available
mechanisms in order to ensure all parties’ compliance with the rule of
international law. As a result of Israel’s systematic violations of
international law, a clear consequence should be the suspension of the
EU-Israel Association Agreement on the basis of the human rights clause
contained in Article 2.

Yours
sincerely,

Raji
Sourani

Director,
Palestinian Centre for Human Rights

Issam
Aruri

General
Director, Jerusalem Legal Aid and Human Rights Center

Iyad
Barghouti

General
Director, Ramallah Center for Human Rights Studies

Rifat
Kassis

General
Director, Defence for Children International – Palestine Section

Zakaria
Odeh

General
Director, Civic Coalition for Defending the Palestinians’ Rights in Jerusalem

Issam
Younis

General
Director, Al Mezan

Mohammad
Zeidan

General
Director, Arab Association for Human Rights