[News] 8000 Palestinians Inside Israeli Jails, 385 Minors, 83 Females

[News at freedomarchives.org]

8000 Palestinians Inside Israeli Jails, 385 Minors, 83 Females

GAZA, August9,2004 (IPC)-- More than 8,000 inmates are currently held in 
256 Israeli jails and concentration camps including 83 female prisoners in 
Majedo prison, and 385 minors, according to a report by the 'Ansar Al 
Assra' organization.

Nearly 40 prisoners are afflicted with chronic diseases and in urgent need 
of surgical operations, 97 prisoners have been serving for more than 20 
years, while 5000-6000 have been on remand. The number of administrative 
detainees – those held without charge or trial - stands at 1250. Most 
worryingly, nearly all Palestinian prisoners are subjected to some kind of 
torture or abuse.

Beyond severe treatment and physical and psychological pressure in 
interrogation, abuse includes the threat of rape, and indeed the actual 
raping of prisoners in order to force them to admit to committing offenses 
or to provide information about others.

Several minors gave affidavits to the Society’s lawyers in which they spoke 
about being sexually harassed and signing baseless confessions in order to 
avoid being raped.

Wild police dogs are also used to terrify minors and to force them to admit 
to offences or to inform about other people.  These dogs were used for 
example in Keryat Araba’ Detention Station.

These abuses represent a dramatic deterioration in the ethical standards 
throughout Israeli state apparatus.

Ahmed Salam Rebhi from Jenin, serving his sentence in Hadarim prison,
described cells that have become overcrowded, with inmates sleeping on the
ground, denied exercise, and prevented from sending or receiving letters
from their families.

Wae’l Dawoud from Bethlehem said that the prison service prevented them from
going to the toilet at any time other than 8-10 am.

Medical negligence and a failure to provide healthcare to sick and injured 
prisoners inside interrogation cells is another form of torture.  Medical 
care is used by the Israeli authorities to blackmail prisoners to give 
information.  An example on this is the case of Maher Ali ar-Ra’y from 
Qulqelia who had to bargain with intelligence agents in order to get 
medical treatment for his injured arm.

Ansar 3 - Notorious Negev Detention Camp

Ansar 3 consists of tents surrounded by barbed wire and 
watchtowers.  Prisoners are confined with little or no protection from the 
harsh weather conditions of the Negev desert, including temperatures 
ranging from 54 degrees during the day to 0 degrees at night.  Hygiene and 
sanitation conditions at the facility fail to meet minimum international 
standards of conditions for detention, including those specified in Article 
85 of the Fourth Geneva Convention.



In July 2004, inmates at the desert detention camp protested against the 
wretched situation and returned the barely edible meals to the prison 
service and hinted at undertaking an open hunger strike. This met with the 
flexing of Israeli military muscles however, with tanks moving to the 
entrances of the detention camp and troops firing tear gas into the camp. 
The prison service continues to fail to provide inmates with clothes, or 
allow letters and family photos.

Ashkelon & Nafha

These two jails utilize brutal techniques of control. Recently the prison 
service of Ashkelon stormed confinement cells confiscating clothes, radio 
sets and books from the inmates. Afterwards, and with their arms handcuffed 
behind them, inmates were forced into a child-sized chair, the Shabah, with 
shorter legs in front than at the back. The handcuffs were then passed 
through the rungs of the chair, leaving one arm pinioned behind his back and
the other tied over the back of the chair in the prison courtyard all night.

Some others were moved to solitary confinement in the Negev desert solitary 
ward 'Esheil', a notorious graveyard.  Here not even Red Cross or 
international monitoring groups are allowed access.

Female and Child Prisoners
The number of female prisoners now totals 83, most of whom are serving 
long-term sentences. The Israeli prison service has maltreated most of them 
mentally and physically, confining them with Israeli criminals, or placing 
them in solitary confinement. Two prisoners Amna Muni and Ahlam Al Tamimi 
were brutally beaten up by the prison warders.

Many Palestinian women have given birth inside Israeli jails.  The last 
among these was Mirvat Taha from Jerusalem who gave birth to her son Wael 
on February 8th, 2003. Her child has been denied time outside in the sun.

The Freedom Archives
522 Valencia Street
San Francisco, CA 94110
(415) 863-9977
www.freedomarchives.org 
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://freedomarchives.org/pipermail/news_freedomarchives.org/attachments/20040810/e32864ef/attachment.htm>