[Ppnews] Addameer Offices Raided by Israeli Occupying Forces This Morning

[Political Prisoner News]

  BREAKING: Addameer Offices Raided by Israeli Occupying Forces This
  Morning

http://www.addameer.org/etemplate.php?id=549

At 3 am this morning, 11 December 2012, the Addameer Prisoner Support 
and Human Rights office was raided by the Israeli Occupation Forces 
(IOF). Four laptops, one hard disk and a video camera were taken among 
other materials. The IOF destroyed the office; desks, ransacked filing 
cabinets and files and scattered files around the office. At this 
moment, we are not clear as to what has been confiscated, but in the 
coming days we will know more about the level of destruction and damage. 
This is the first raid by the IOF since 2002, when the Addameer office 
was raided during the invasion of Ramallah.
The offices of the Union of Palestinian Women's Committee and the 
Palestinian NGO Network were also raided and ransacked last night. 
  Addameer condemns this attack on human rights and civil society 
organizations, and sees it as an attempt to cripple solidarity with the 
  prisoners
movement.
/UPDATED STATEMENT/
/12 / The Israeli Occupation Forces raided three non-governmental 
organizations (NGOs) in Ramallah at 3 am this morning, including 
Addameer Prisoner Support and Human Rights Association. Five computers 
and a camera were stolen from Addameer, as well as a number of legal 
files, pictures and posters of prisoners and detainees on hunger strike. 
Ironically, this attack coincides with the 64^th  anniversary of the 
ratification of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights
Addameer believes that this brutal assault is part of the constant 
targeting of the association's staff and mission to defend Palestinian 
political prisoners. Since 2002, Addameer has been subjected to raids 
and attacks and arrest campaigns of staff members in past years. Most 
recently, Addameer's researcher, Ayman Nasser, was detained on 15 
October 2012 and is charged for supporting Palestinian prisoners and 
detainees and calling for their freedom. Similarly, in midst of the 
prisoners' hunger strike between 17 September and 13 October 2011,  the 
IOF issued an arbitrary order that bans Addameer's chairperson 
Abdullatif Ghaith from entering the West Bank, a ban that is still in 
effect.
The work of Addameer's lawyers was hindered by the Israeli Prison 
Service (IPS) during the past two years and during the hunger strikes, 
as two lawyers have been repeatedly banned from visiting Palestinian 
detainees in Israeli prisons. In addition, and as part of the 
occupation's ways to restrict Addameer's work, the IOF banned a number 
of Addameer's staff from travelling for "security" reasons, which 
severely restricts our ability to attend international events and 
speaking tours to provide a voice for Palestinian prisoners rights in 
the international arena.
Addameer believes that these ongoing attacks aim to destroy the 
legitimacy of non-governmental organizations, and by disregarding our 
status as human rights defenders, raiding and ransacking resources and 
arresting staff members, they delegitimize human rights work and 
normalize the attacks on our offices. We see a similar trend in the 
attacks on the Gaza Strip in November 2012, where the international 
protection and immunity of journalists was denied and they became 
legitimate targets for the IOF.
Addameer Prisoner Support and Human Rights Association reiterates its 
firm commitment to support the Palestinian detainees and prisoners 
rights at any cost, as Addameer's researcher Ayman Nasser proclaimed in 
the military court: "I will support the prisoners' issue even if the 
cost is my freedom."
Click here for photos of the aftermath of the raid 
<http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10151616228375200.606291.82295125199&type=1>
We will provide more information in the coming hours as the situation 
develops. Follow our Twitter <https://twitter.com/Addameer_ps> account 
at @addameer_ps and ourFacebook 
<http://www.facebook.com/pages/Addameer-Prisoner-Support-and-Human-Rights-Association/82295125199?ref=hl> page 
for the latest news.
-- 
Freedom Archives 522 Valencia Street San Francisco, CA 94110 415 
863.9977 www.freedomarchives.org
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