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<font size=3><br>
</font><font face="tahoma" size=2><b>From:</b> Yehudith Harel
[<a href="mailto:ye_harel@netvision.net.il" eudora="autourl">mailto:ye_harel@netvision.net.il</a>]
<br>
<b>Sent:</b> Thursday, January 27, 2005 8:29 PM<br>
<b>To:</b> "Undisclosed-Recipient:;"@bladepost2.tau.ac.il<br>
<b>Subject:</b> The crucial situation of Palestinian Prisoners.<br>
<b>Importance:</b> High<br><br>
</font><font face="arial" size=3>Dear All,<br>
</font> <br>
<font face="arial" size=3><b>The fate of ca 8300 Palestinian prisoners -
men and women </b>- in the Israeli prisons and military detention camps
is a most crucial issue. It is considered to be at the head of priorities
for the Palestinian people and political leadership concerning any
possible agreement with Israel in the near future. These
prisoners are POW and should be treated accordingly. The immediate
release of these prisoners is expected within the framework of any peace
agreement. <br>
</font> <br>
<font face="arial" size=3>In the present there is an uprecedentedly
high number of convicted prisoners - ca 8300 - including many women
who have children outside the prison with no one to take care of them.
When small, under the age of two, these chidren are living with their
mothers in the prison in inhuman conditions. Some were born in the prison
and spent their first years of childhood there. Sometimes, as a result of
the mistreatment of their mothers, these babies become themselves subject
to abuse. (see the Novemeber 2004 events reported at the end of the
following one.) According to reports by various human rights
organizations and lawyers, the conditions inside the prisons for both men
and women have deteriorated and are very difficult - in many cases
starkly contravening the Geneva covenant. Some of the the main
problems:<br>
</font> <br>
<font face="arial" size=3>- ca 1500 prisoners who were convicted for
their involvement in military and armed operations causing the death of
Israelis, are sentenced to 1 - 48 times life sentence, with no chances
whatsoever that their sentence period be "limited" the same way
as it is done with Jewish criminal or political murderers ( Like Ami
Popper) who have life sentences. This means that the Palestinian
prisoners are actually sentenced for life, have no chance whatsoever of
getting a parole, no matter what the circumstances are, or for shortening
the period of imprisonment due to repentance or good behaviour, or have
the possibility of release even when they are very old or close to death.
They actually die in the prison.<br>
- Needless to say that no Palestinian prisoner has the right to go out
for a visit... unlike Jewish criminal murderers who are allowed home
visits and then commit more murders - which happens again and
again...<br>
- Visiting rights are most limited. The only people who are granted
permission to visit the prisoners are first degree relatives: parents,
spouses, and children.<u> Even brothers are not allowed to visit
them</u>. If a person has none of the above, like happens in many cases
when parents are dead and the person was not married - he or she can have
no one to visit them, except a lawyer. Visiting rights are
completely denied to ca 200 prisoners on 'security grounds'. Even if
contested in court, and the right is granted by a court verdict - the
authorities find many "creative" ways to effectively deny
the visiting rights. <br>
- Denial of visiting rights is a common method of punishment. Prisoners
are often denied their visiting rights as a most arbitrary way of
administrative punishment. <br>
- Visiting conditions are very difficult. According to standard
procedures in the prisons - a long row of Palestinian prisoners -
sometimes up to 20 - sit behind a wire wall or bars, in the same
hall, and try to discuss with their visitors, 3 for each person, together
ca 60 people... Everybody is shouting at the same time and people cannot
talk to each other at all. Parents cannot touch nor hug their children
and vice versa. <br>
- It is most difficult for most relatives to realize their visiting
rights Relatives living in the Occupied territories need special
permits to enter Israel, and many are denied on 'security grounds'. For
others, the expenses are very high. Some families who have 5 - 6 members
in the prison at the same time cannot manage to visit all of them. <br>
- There are recurring complaints about lack of sufficient food for both
men and women. The prisoners are forced to purchase all their needs in
the prison canteen, but many of them have no means to do this.<br>
There a recurring complaints of torture and inhuman treatment of both men
and women, especially sexual harrassment of the women
prisoners.<br>
*This information is based upon a report made by The Mandela Institute
for the protection of the Palestinian Prisoners. <br>
</font> <br>
<font face="arial" size=3>We will try to bring more updated information
concerning this most crucial and painful subject from various
sources. In the meantime we provide you with the January and
December reports of the :<br>
</font> <br>
<font face="arial" size=3 color="#FF0000"><b>Women`s Organization for
Political Prisoners (WOFPP)<br><br>
</b></font><font face="arial" size=3>E-mail:
havakell@012.net.il<br><br>
Newsletter January 2005<br>
<b>HASHARON PRISON</b> <br><br>
There are at present about 90 women in Hasharon Prison, after another 30
women were transferred <br>
from Neve Tirza at end of November 2004.<br><br>
In the wake of the incidents at the end of November 2004, the women had
to remain without electricity <br>
in their rooms for ten days. The electrical appliances that were
confiscated were returned in mid-<br>
January. Manal Ghanem, the mother of Noor, received a room heater after
three weeks, but the hotplate <br>
was only given back with the rest of the electrical appliances, which
means that Noor had been without <br>
heating for three weeks and without hot food and drink for six weeks.
During this whole period the <br>
baby was sick.<br>
</font> <br>
<font face="arial" size=3>To read more ( in English) go to:<br>
<a href="http://www.kibush.co.il/show_file.asp?num=477">http://www.kibush.co.il/show_file.asp?num=477</a><br>
</font> <br>
<font face="arial" size=3>For Hebrew go to:<br>
<a href="http://www.kibush.co.il/show_file.asp?num=488">http://www.kibush.co.il/show_file.asp?num=488</a><br>
</font> <br>
<font face="arial" size=3>Yehudith Harel <br>
<br>
</font><x-sigsep><p></x-sigsep>
<font size=3 color="#FF0000">The Freedom Archives<br>
522 Valencia Street<br>
San Francisco, CA 94110<br>
(415) 863-9977<br>
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