Ref: 20/2013

Following the return of the Palestinian Center
for Human Rights’ (PCHR) delegation of Palestinian prisoners’ families from
their international tour in Cairo, Switzerland and France, PCHR held a press
conference on Monday, 18 March 2013, in front of the Headquarters of the
International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) in Gaza City to address the
international tour, its outcomes and future prospects to internationalize the
cause of Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails.

Members of PCHR’s delegation of prisoners’
mothers and former prisoners attended the conference as well as a crowd of
Palestinian prisoners’ families whose weekly sit-in in front of the ICRC
headquarters coincided with the time of the conference.  The conference was covered by many media
institutions and journalists.

Jaber Weshah, head of the delegation and PCHR’s
Deputy Director for Branch Affairs, pointed out in the conference the
importance of the international tour and its goals to serve the prisoners’
cause, as the tour addressed the suffering of Palestinian prisoners and their
families, mobilizing international support for the prisoners’ cause both on the
popular and the official scales, and the improvement of their detention
conditions as well as their eventual release. 
Weshah outlined as well the most important stops of PCHR’s delegation, the
most prominent of which was the participation in the sessions of the United
Nations Human Rights Council (HRC), as well as other various activities,
official and non-official meetings.

Moreover, Weshah recapped the main points of
the delegation’s official meetings with a number of international officials,
pointing out that PCHR’s delegation emphasized the importance of sending a
fact-finding mission to investigate the detention conditions in Israeli jails
and detention centers, particularly following the death of prisoner ‘Arafat
Jaradat and Israel’s attempt to deny that his death resulted from torture in
its prisons.

In addition, Weshah mentioned the agreement
that was concluded with committees and organizations for the solidarity with
the Palestinian people, marking the coming Palestinian prisoners’ day, April
17, an international day for solidarity with Palestinian prisoners.  It will be celebrated differently across the
cities of the world in order to mobilize the public opinion to support the just
cause of the Palestinian prisoners.

Weshah also stressed the importance of
repeating the example of PCHR’s delegation’s international tour both officially
and popularly, in light of the positive response the delegation received from
diplomatic missions and HRC officials, particularly for the participation of
the mothers of the prisoners themselves.

Um Ibrahim Baroud (75), a member of the
delegation, praised PCHR’s initiative and role in promoting the prisoners’
cause.  Um Ibrahim demanded that all
official and civil society organizations and political factions involve the
families of prisoners in all official meetings and activities for the
prisoners.

For her part, Um Diaa al-Falouji (65), a member
of the delegation, expressed the prisoners’ families’ appreciation for all
activities addressing the suffering of their children inside Israeli
prisons.  She also pointed out that the
international tour gave the participants the opportunity to meet with many
international organizations and officials.

It should be mentioned that PCHR organized the
international tour in the context of its continuous efforts to support
Palestinian prisoners.  This tour was
preceded by a campaign organized by PCHR in May 2012 to mobilize international
public opinion for supporting the Palestinian prisoners’ cause.  The campaign included the organization of and
participation in numerous relevant activities, the most important of which was
the organization of conference for solidarity with Palestinian and Arab
prisoners inside Israeli jails in Cairo in May 2012.