Ref: 24/2021

Date: 17 March 2021

On Wednesday, 17 March 2021, Mr. Iyad al-‘Alami, PCHR’s Deputy Director for Legal Affairs, received a delegation representing the Commission of Detainees and Ex-Detainees Affairs. The delegation included the members of the Commission’s Administration Committee in the southern governorates, Jamal Mukhahel and Abed al-Naser Farwana, and the Director of the Commission’s Legal Unit, Wissam Abu Sultan.

Al-‘Alami welcomed the commission’s delegation and reviewed PCHR’s activities, services and aid provided for detainees, ex-detainees and their families, as well as cooperation and partnership with the Commission of Detainees and Ex-Detainees Affairs. Al-‘Alami emphasized that the cause of Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails is among PCHR’s priorities and agenda since its foundation until present day.

The delegation expressed its appreciation for PCHR’s remarkable and outstanding role regarding the prisoners cause over the past years. The delegation also thanked PCHR for its response to the proposals made by the Commission that aim to enhance cooperation and joint work between PCHR and the Commission of Detainees and Ex-Detainees Affair in a way that services prisoners cause.

In the meeting, PCHR and the Commission agreed to continue their cooperation to serve the cause of prisoners their families, and to initiate practical steps, including: conduct emergency visits to detainees in Israeli jails by PCHR’s lawyers, especially for patients; provide legal assistance for ex-detainees; build legal capacities and conduct training courses for the Commission of Detainees and Ex-Detainees Affair; follow-up the detention of the corpses of detainees who died in the Israeli jails; and hold workshops to discuss the causes of prisoners and International Criminal Court (ICC).