[Pnews] UN experts urge ‘Israel’ to either release or charge hunger-striking Palestinian prisoners

[Prisoner News]

 UN experts urge ‘Israel’ to either release or charge 6 hunger-striking
Palestinian prisoners

October 24, 2021 - https://qudsnen.co/?p=30692

UN independent rights experts have urged on Friday ‘Israel’ to either
release or charge the five hunger-striking Palestinian prisoners held in
its jails, calling on ‘Israel’ to completely end the “unlawful practice “
of administrative detention.

In a statement, the experts said that ‘Israel’ continues to detain more
than 500 Palestinians – including six children – “without charges, without
trials, without convictions”.

They are being held on the basis of “classified secret information” that
the detainees cannot access or challenge, and they do not know “when, or
if, they are going to be released”, according to the Human Rights
Council-appointed experts..

The experts noted that ‘Israel’ has regularly violated its legal duty under
the Fourth Geneva Convention of 1949, which states that an occupying power
cannot transfer prisoners from occupied territory, to detention centres in
its territory.

UN calls for ‘Israel’ to comply with its obligation have come to no avail,
the experts said.

“In international law, administrative detention is permitted only in
exceptional circumstances, and only for short periods of time. Israel’s
practices exceed all of the international legal boundaries.”

The independent experts also called upon ‘Israel’ to end its harsh
detention conditions of Palestinian prisoners: “the imposition of solitary
confinement on detainees already weakened by months of hunger strike, must
stop immediately” they said.

Six Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails continue their open hunger
strike in protest of their unfair administrative detention without a charge
or trial despite of health deterioration.

The six hunger-striking prisoners’ health condition has been deteriorating
severely, as they have been suffering from powerful fatigue, exhaustion,
headache, severe weight loss, and deficiency of fluids in the body.

The longest hunger-striker is Kayed Fasfous, as he has been on hunger
strike for 102 days, and he lost over 30 kilograms of his weight, and
suffers from pain all over his body.

Fasfous is currently held at Barzilai Hospital, as Israel’s High Court has
lately frozen his administrative detention.

Fasfous is followed by Miqdad Qawasmi, who has been on a hunger strike for
95 days.

Qawasmi’s health condition has been deteriorating severely as he lost over
25 kilograms of his weight, and he is held now in the Kaplan hospital as a
patient, rather than as a detainee.

Qawasmi’s family said that he has started losing a part of his memory.

Israeli doctors in Kaplan hospital tried to force-feed Qawasmi while he was
tied to his bed in the ICU yesterday and break his hunger strike.

Three Israeli jailers are surrounding his room and deliberately eat in
front of him. His right arm and left leg are shackled to his bed the whole
time although he is facing the danger of sudden death.

Israel’s High Court has also frozen Qawasmi’s administrative detention.

The court’s order does not release Qawasmi and Fasfous from administrative
detention – it simply freezes the order for the period of their treatment
and observation.

The court’s decision also means that the administration of prisons and the
Intelligence device are not responsible for their lives, and turning them
into an unofficial prisoner held at the hospital, under the guardianship of
the hospital’s security instead of the jailors.

But both Qawasmi and Fasfous said they will continue their strike until
they gain freedom.

The 6 hunger-striking prisoners are:
•Kayed Fasfous (102 days of hunger strike)
•Alaa Al-A’raj (78 days of hunger strike)
•Miqdad Qawasmi (95 days of hunger strike)
•Hisham abu Hawash (69 days of hunger strike)
•Ayyad Harimi (32 days of hunger strike)
•Shadi abu Akaer (61 days of hunger strike)

Around 40 Palestinian detainees started hunger strike since the start of
2021, in protest against Israel’s detention without a charge or trial.

Administrative detention is illegal under international law, however, the
occupation state uses it to repress the Palestinian people.

‘Israel’ routinely uses administrative detention and has, over the years,
placed thousands of Palestinians behind bars for periods ranging from
several months to several years, without charging them, without telling
them what they are accused of, and without disclosing the alleged evidence
to them or to their lawyers.

Thus, the hunger strike is a method of a non-violent resistance which the
prisoners use to protect their lives and their fundamental rights and a
response to the occupation racist policies which they face in the prisons.

There are 4,650 Palestinian political prisoners held in Israeli jails,
among the prisoners are 520 administrative detainees held without charge or
trial, 200 child prisoners and 39 female prisoners.
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://freedomarchives.org/pipermail/ppnews_freedomarchives.org/attachments/20211024/87a9dfa6/attachment.htm>