Palestinian prisoners in Israel: Difference between revisions

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*[http://www.addameer.org/index.php ad Dameer]
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*[http://www.phr.org.il/default.asp?PageID=4 Israeli Physicians for Human Rights]
*[http://www.phr.org.il/default.asp?PageID=4 Israeli Physicians for Human Rights]
*[http://www.btselem.org/about_btselem/human_rights_sites BtSelem human rights links]
[[Category:Israeli–Palestinian conflict]]
[[Category:Israeli–Palestinian conflict]]
[[Category:Human rights in Israel]]
[[Category:Human rights in Israel]]

Revision as of 07:31, 11 May 2012

Palestinian prisoners in Israel refers to Palestinians imprisoned in Israel in the wake of the Israeli–Palestinian conflict. The future of Palestinian prisoners detained by Israel is considered central to progress in Israeli-Palestinian peace negotiations.[1]

Most of the prisoners have been tried in Israeli courts, but some are being held in administrative detention. On October 18, 2011, 477 of an agreed 1,027 Palestinian prisoners were released as part of an exchange for a captive Israeli soldier.

In December 2011, 4,772 security prisoners were serving terms in Israeli jails. Of these, 552 were sentenced to life terms.[2]

Number of prisoners

According to the Palestinian Centre for Human Rights, from the Six Day War (1967) to the First Intifada (1988), over 600,000 Palestinians were held in Israeli jails for a week or more.[3] Rory McCarthy, The Guardian's Jerusalem correspondent, estimated that one-fifth of the population has at one time been imprisoned since 1967.[4]

According to B'Tselem, there was a decline, starting in 1998, in the number of Palestinians held in administrative detention. Less than 20 were held from 1999 to October 2001. However, with the start of the Second Intifada (2000), and particularly after Operation Defensive Shield (2002), the numbers steadily rose.[5] According to the Fédération Internationale des ligues des Droits de l'Homme (FIDH), from the beginning of the Second Intifada to April 2003, more than 28,000 Palestinians were incarcerated. In April 2003 alone there were more than 5,500 arrests.[6]

In 2007, the number of Palestinians under administrative detention averaged about 830 per month, including women and minors under the age of 18.[7] By March 2008, more than 8,400 Palestinians were held by Israeli civilian and military authorities, of which 5,148 were serving sentences, 2,167 were facing legal proceedings and 790 were under administrative detention, often without charge or knowledge of the suspicions against them.[8] In 2010, the Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics reported that there were "over 7,000" Palestinians in Israeli jails, of them 264 under administrative detention.[9] Most of the prisoners are held at Ofer Prison in the West Bank and Megiddo and Ketziot prisons in Israel.[8]

In April 2008, Adalah: The Legal Center for Arab Minority Rights in Israel stated that 11,000 Palestinian prisoners were in prison and detention in Israel, including 98 women, 345 minors, 50 members of the Palestinian Legislative Council, and 3 ministers of the Palestinian National Authority.[10] Of these 11,000 Palestinian prisoners, 8,456 were from the West Bank, 762 from the Gaza Strip, and 694 from within Israel itself (including 552 from Jerusalem).[10] In October 2008, Haaretz reported that 600 Palestinians were being held in administrative detention in Israel, including "about 15 minors who do not know even know why they are being detained."[11]

Minors

In 2000-2009, 6,700 Palestinians between the ages of 12 and 18 were arrested by the Israeli authorities, according to Defence for Children International's Palestine Section (DCI/PS). In 2009, a total of 423 were being held in Israeli detention and interrogation centers and prisons. In April 2010 the number dropped to 280. DCI/PS states that these detentions stand in contravention of international law.[12]

Public figures

Marwan Barghouti, a leader of the al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades militia, convicted by Israeli court on five counts of murder and sentenced to five life sentences and forty years in prison.

There are several Palestinian leaders and politicians held in Israeli jails, including 47 Hamas members of the Palestinian Legislative Council, in addition to some ministers and the mayors and municipal council members of various towns and cities in the West Bank.[4]

Marwan Barghouti a leader of the al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades militia and al-Mustaqbal political party, was arrested and tried by an Israeli civilian court for attacks carried out by the Al-Aqsa Martyrs' Brigades. He was convicted on May 20, 2004 on five counts of murder and sentenced to five life sentences and forty years.

Ahmad Sa'adat, secretary-general of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) is currently held by Israel.[8] In 2002, he was tried, convicted and imprisoned in Jericho by the Palestinian National Authority, for his role in the assassination of Israeli Tourism Minister Rehavam Zeevi on October 17, 2001 by the PFLP. The Palestinian Supreme Court later declared his imprisonment unconstitutional. His imprisonment by the PNA, rather than extradition to Israel as required by the Oslo Accords, was negotiated between the PNA, Israel the US and the UK. Under the terms of that agreement, the imprisonment was to be monitored by US and UK observers. On March 14, 2006, after both the American and British monitors, as well as the Palestinian guards of the Jericho jail abandoned their posts, Israeli forces surrounded the prison in Jericho and took Sa'adat, who has been under administrative detention since then.

In 2005, three members of Nablus's municipal council including the mayor Adly Yaish, Qalqilya mayor Wajih Qawas, Beita mayor Arab Shurafa,[13] and two members of the Bani Zeid municipal council — all members of Hamas were arrested.

Prisoner exchanges and releases

Israel has released Palestinians in prisoner exchange agreements concluded with various Palestinian militia factions. In 1985, Israel released 1,000 prisoners, including Sheikh Ahmed Yassin in exchange for three Israeli POWs being held by Ahmed Jibril.[14] The 1995 Interim Agreement on the West Bank and the Gaza Strip called for the release of Palestinian detainees in stages, as part of a series of "confidence-building measures."[15][16] Upon the Israeli withdrawal from populated Palestinian centers in 1995, many Palestinians in military jails were transferred to jails inside Israel, which some Palestinian activists said was a breach of articles 49 and 76 of the Geneva Conventions prohibiting deportations.[16][17] The 1998 Wye River Memorandum specified that Israel was to release 750 Palestinian prisoners, some 250 of which were released by the time of the Sharm el-Sheikh Memorandum in 1999.[15][18] Wye 2 reduced the number of those to be released from 500 to 350, and these were freed by mid-October 1999.[18] Israeli released 26 security prisoners at the beginning of Ramadan,[19] half of whom had a few months left to serve.[18] An additional seven prisoners from East Jerusalem were released the next day after protests from the Palestinian Authority, which had expected more.[18] In 2000, another 18 prisoners were released as a goodwill gesture in March and June.[18]

At a meeting in Sharm el-Sheikh in February 2005, Israel pledged to release another 900 Palestinian prisoners of the 7,500 being held at the time.[20][21] By the spring of 2005, 500 of these had been released, but after Qassam rocket attacks on Sderot on May 5, Ariel Sharon withheld the release of the remaining 400, citing the need for the Palestinian Authority to rein in militants.[20]

On August 25, 2008, Israel released 198 prisoners in a "goodwill gesture" to encourage diplomatic relations and support Fatah leader Mahmoud Abbas.[4] In 2011, the Israeli government released 1,027 Palestinian prisoners in exchange for Gilad Shalit, an Israeli soldier held by Palestinian militants in the Gaza Strip for more than five years.[22]

On December 15, 2008, Israel released 224 Palestinian prisoners from Ofer Prison in the West Bank, 18 of them released to the Gaza Strip.[23]

Allegations of human rights abuse

The IDF has been accused of prisoner abuse by Palestinian advocacy organizations.[24][25][26]

In July 2003, the International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH) reported that "Israel does not recognize Palestinian prisoners as having the status of prisoners of war."[6] The Israeli military sets the conditions of detention and the administrative detention system allows for the imprisonment of an individual for up to 6 months. This detention can be extended without the approval of a judge.[6] The FIDH report noted that, "In the case of administrative detention, the necessary conditions for the execution of a fair trial are far from being achieved given that the lawyers do not even have access to the evidence."[6]

Fourth Geneva Convention

Until the early 1990s, Palestinians were held in detention facilities in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip. Since then, they have been held in Israeli territory inside the Green Line.[27] This was described as a violation of the Fourth Geneva Convention, which states that detained persons have the right to remain in occupied territory in all stages of detention, including serving of sentences if convicted.[28] On March 28, 2010, the Supreme Court of Israel rejected a petition by the human rights group Yesh Din seeking to halt the practice of detention inside Israel.[27]

Physical torture

Until 1999, "moderate physical pressure" was permitted in the interrogation of suspects by the Israeli Shin Bet, as outlined in the Landau Commission report of 1987.[15] B'Tselem drew up a list of alleged interrogation methods that includes: "depriving the interrogee of sleep for a number of days by binding him or her in painful positions; playing loud music; covering their head with a filthy sack; exposing the interrogee to extreme heat and cold; tying them to a low chair, tilting forward; tightly cuffing the interrogee's hands; having the interrogee stand, hands tied and drawn upwards; having the interrogee lie on his back on a high stool with his body arched backwards; forcing the interrogee to crouch on his toes with his hands tied behind him; violent shaking of the detainee, the interrogator grasping and shaking him; using threats and curses, and feeding him poor-quality and insufficient amounts of food."[29]

In 1997, the United Nations Committee Against Torture stated that such methods constituted torture and were in breach of the United Nations Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment, a convention ratified by Israel in 1991.[15] In September 1999, Israel's High Court ruled that the Israeli Security Agency (ISA) does not have legal authority to use physical means of interrogation that are not "reasonable and fair" and cause the detainee to suffer. While the court noted that a reasonable interrogation is likely to cause discomfort and put pressure on the detainee, this is lawful only if "it is a 'side effect' inherent to the interrogation," and not aimed at tiring out or "breaking" the detainee as an end in itself.[30]

Uri Davis wrote that the ruling of 1999 came after 50 years of silence "in the face of systematic torture practiced in Israeli jails and detention centers against Palestinian prisoners and detainees, as well as other prisoners."[31] However, Davis also notes that after the Supreme Court ruling, the Public Committee Against Torture in Israel found that "torture has, in most cases, ceased."[31]

In 2000, an official Israeli report acknowledged torture of detainees during the First Intifada. The report said that the leadership of Shin Bet knew about the torture but did nothing to stop it. Human rights organisations claim some detainees died or were left paralysed.[32]

Detention without charges or trial

Amnesty International stated that Israel imprisoned Palestinians for prolonged periods without charging them or putting them on trial.[33] Israel said that detention without trial was a necessary security measure that can be used to avoid exposing confidential information in trials. The European Union has criticized the policy.[34]

Some examples include:

  • On March 20, 2012, Moatasem Nazzal, a 16-year old Palestinian was arrested from his home in Qalandiya refugee camp without explanation and remained imprisoned until 26 December 2010.[33]
  • On December 17, 2011, Israel arrested Khader Adnan for "activities that threaten regional security." While Adnan was a member of the Palestinian Islamic Jihad, Israel did not accuse Adnan of direct involvement in any attacks by the group. Israeli officials did not charge him with any crime. After Adnan went on a hunger strike, the Israeli justice ministry announced that he would be released. This announcement reportedly cancelled a judicial review of the Israeli practice to hold prisoners without trial.[34]

As of February 2012, 309 Palestinians were held without charges, according to B'Tselem:[35]

  • 16 Palestinians have been held without charge for 2-4.5 years
  • 88 have been held for 1-2 years
  • 80 have been held for 6 months-1 year

Education programs

In 1967, Palestinian prisoners were initially denied pencils and paper.[36] In the wake of prisoner protests, access was granted to pens, pencils, paper, books, newspapers and monitored radio broadcasting.[36] Libraries were established in every prison, and literacy and language courses were organized. Young prisoners were offered classes to prepare for the General Secondary Examination."[36] Thousands of Palestinian prisoners have learned Hebrew in Israeli prisons.[37]

In the 1980s, according to Maya Rosenfeld, the option of armed resistance was completely blocked and prisons became a "sanctuary." Rosenfeld's research among Palestinian refugees in the Dheisheh camp in Bethlehem found that the politicization process of young men from the camp underwent a qualitative transformation during their period of imprisonment, which she attributes to the internal organization practices of Palestinian prisoners and the central role of studies and education.[38]

In June 2011, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced, in response to a halt in the peace talks, that Palestinian prisoners would no longer be granted the right to pursue academic degrees in prison.[39]

Hunger strikes

In 1998, there were nine hunger strikes conducted by Palestinian prisoners in different prisons in Israel.[15] On 1 May 2001, almost 1,000 of the 1,650 Palestinian prisoners being held in Israeli prisons at the time participated in a month-long hunger strike, in protest against "arbitrary treatment by prison officials, substandard prison conditions, prohibitions on family visits, use of solitary confinement, poor medical care, and Israel's refusal to release all the categories of prisoners specified in its agreements with the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO)."[40][41] Mass demonstrations in solidarity with the prisoners erupted throughout the areas of Palestinian self-rule in the days following, culminating in a mass protest on May 15 (the anniversary of the Nakba) and ending on May 18 with 7 Palestinians fatalities, 1,000 injuries and 60 Israeli wounded.[41] The hunger strike was ended on May 31 after Israeli prison authorities promised to review the complaints and ease restrictions on visitations. A report by the Israeli government released in June 2001 on conditions in the Shatta prison noted that the living conditions were "particularly harsh" in the wing where prisoners from the Occupied Palestinian Territories were held, and concluded that the exposed tents and filthy bathrooms in which prisoners were housed and bathed were unfit for human use.[40]

Following his arrest on 17 December 2011, Khader Adnan, an alleged leader of the Palestinian Islamic Jihad, began an ongoing hunger strike protesting the violent raid on his home, what he claimed was a "humiliating" interrogation process and his administrative detention by which Israel holds detainees indefinitely without charge. Adnan's hunger strike has been the longest in Palestinian history and hundreds of other Palestinian prisoners have begun hunger strikes in solidarity with him.

In 2012 approximately 1800 Palestinian prisoners held in Israeli prisons began a mass hunger strike. Israel holds approximately 4,500 Palestinian prisoners, of which about 310 are being held in administrative detention which has been described as detention without trial. Four of the hunger strikers have been without food for over two months. In May 2012, the Israeli Supreme Court rejected the appeals of two of the prisoners who had appealed against their being imprisoned "without charge or trial."[42][43] On 9 May 2012 United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon expressed his concern about the condition of the hunger strikers.[44]

Political and social activism

According to Yezid Sayigh, an "inadvertent consequence" of Israel's internal security measures was to contribute to the social mobilization of Palestinian society.[45] Due to the large number of students and youth in prison from the mid-1970s to early 1980s, the prison population "tended to be young, educated, and familiar with the tactics of civil disobediance and unarmed protest."[45] In prison, they were exposed to political indoctrination and instruction in security and organization from veteran guerillas.[45] Prisoners organized themselves according to political affiliation and initiated educational programs, making the prisons "unsurpassed 'cadre schools'".[45] Upon their release, they became leaders of students movements in Palestinian universities and colleges.[45] An Israeli investigation among Palestinian prisoners in the early stages of the First Intifada found that their political mobilization was not so much ideologically-based, as it was a function of repeated humiliations at the hands of Israeli forces.[46]

Palestinian Prisoners' Document

Main article: Palestinian Prisoners' Document

Five Palestinian prisoners being held in Israeli jails, affiliated with Fatah, Hamas, Islamic Jihad, the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP), and the Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine (DFLP), authored the Palestinian Prisoners' Document in 2006. The document outlined 18 points on the basis of which negotiations with Israel should proceed. Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas attempted to use it as a basis for his negotiations with Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, but Olmert refused.[47]

Benefits for prisoners from Palestinian authorities

Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails, receive different benefits from PNA, including monthly payments for prisoners families (depending on years spent in prison, up to 2800 USD), tax breaks for prisoner's families, tuition fees for prisoners and their children, free medical insurance after release and more. These benefits, which are also provided to people convicted for killing Israeli civilians, including suicide bombings, were condemned by Israeli press and government.[citation needed].

See also

References

  1. ^ Europa Publications (2003). The Middle East and North Africa 2004. Routledge. p. 554. ISBN 1857431847, 9781857431841. {{cite book}}: Check |isbn= value: invalid character (help)
  2. ^ Abbas should change his locks before next wave of Palestinian prisoners freed, Haaretz
  3. ^ Arrests, imprisonment and torture, Palestinian Centre for Human Rights, retrieved June 27, 2008.
  4. ^ a b c Israel releases 198 Palestinian prisoners, The Guardian, Tuesday August 26, 2008.
  5. ^ Administrative Detention, B'Tselem, retrieved June 27, 2008.
  6. ^ a b c d Fédération Internationale des ligues des Droits de l'Homme (FIDH) (July 13, 2003). "Palestinian Prisoners in Israel: The Inhuman Conditions Being Suffered by Political Prisoners". Retrieved 2008-09-12.
  7. ^ 2007 Annual Report: Human Rights in the Occupied Territories, B'Tselem, Special Report, December 2007.
  8. ^ a b c Who are the Mid-East prisoners: Palestinian prisoners BBC News. 2008-03-31.
  9. ^ "'Over 7,000' Palestinians in Israel jails - Yahoo! News". news.yahoo.com. Retrieved 2010-04-16. [dead link]
  10. ^ a b Adalah:The Legal Center for Arab Minority Rights in Israel (17 April 2008). "Palestinian Prisoners in Israel's Prisons" (PDF). Retrieved 2008-09-12.
  11. ^ Fadi Eyadat (October 16, 2008). "Two Palestinian girls detained in Israel without trial for months". Haaretz. Retrieved 2008-10-18.
  12. ^ "Palestinian Prisoners Day 2009: Highest number of children currently in detention since 2000". April 18, 2009. {{cite web}}: Text "Defence for Children International's Palestine Section (DCI/PS)" ignored (help)
  13. ^ Daraghmeh, Ali. Israeli Troops Round Up Hamas Lawmakers Associated Press. Washington Post. 2007-05-24.
  14. ^ Ron Schleifer (2006). Psychological Warfare in the Intifada: Israeli and Palestinian Media Politics and Military Strategies. Sussex Academic Press. p. 38. ISBN 184519134X, 9781845191344. {{cite book}}: Check |isbn= value: invalid character (help)
  15. ^ a b c d e Academie de Droit Internationale, Anis F. Kassim (2000). The Palestine Yearbook of International Law 1998-1999. Martinus Nijhoff Publishers. p. 257. ISBN 9041113045, 9789041113047. {{cite book}}: Check |isbn= value: invalid character (help)
  16. ^ a b Roane Carey and Noam Chomsky (2001). The New Intifada: Resisting Israel's Apartheid. Verso. pp. 198–199. ISBN 1859843778, 9781859843772. {{cite book}}: Check |isbn= value: invalid character (help)
  17. ^ Jerry W. Wright (1999). The Political Economy of Middle East Peace: The Impact of Competing Trade Agendas. Routledge. p. 132. ISBN 0415183952, 9780415183956. {{cite book}}: Check |isbn= value: invalid character (help)
  18. ^ a b c d e Europa, 2004, p. 555.
  19. ^ On page 252 of Politics and Sociolinguistic Reflexes, "security prisoners" is defined as a term used to refer to "Palestinians imprisoned in Israeli jails under the charge of being involved in acts that endanger the security of Israel."
  20. ^ a b Angela Drakulich, United Nations Association of the United States of America (2005). A Global Agenda: Issues Before the 60th General Assembly of the United Nations. United Nations Publications. p. 79. ISBN 1880632713, 9781880632710. {{cite book}}: Check |isbn= value: invalid character (help)
  21. ^ Tanya Reinhart (2006). The Road Map to Nowhere: Israel/Palestine Since 2003. Verso. p. 77. ISBN 1844670767, 9781844670765. {{cite book}}: Check |isbn= value: invalid character (help)
  22. ^ http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2050377/Gilad-Shalit-release-Palestinians-wild-celebrations-1-000-militants-freed.html
  23. ^ Israel releases 224 Palestinian prisoners, International Herald Tribune, December 15, 2008.
  24. ^ Israeli army abuses Palestinian prisoners: group, Reuters, June 22, 2008.
  25. ^ Report: Soldiers routinely abuse Palestinian prisoners, Haaretz, June 22, 2008.
  26. ^ Utterly Forbidden: The Torture And Ill-Treatment Of Palestinian Detainees, B'Tselem & Hamoked, May 2007.
  27. ^ a b HCJ Rejects Petition against Holding Detained Palestinians in Israeli Territory Israeli Democracy Institute
  28. ^ Ongoing Violations of the Rights of Palestinian Prisoners, Al-Haq
  29. ^ "Torture: Background on the High Court of Justice's decision". Btselem: The Israeli Information Center for Human Rights in the Occupied Territories. Retrieved 2008-09-12.
  30. ^ "Torture: Torture and ill-treatment as perceived by Israel's High Court of Justice". Btselem: The Israeli Information Center for Human Rights in the Occupied Territories. Retrieved 2008-09-12.
  31. ^ a b Uri Davis (2003). Apartheid Israel: Possibilities for the Struggle Within. Zed Books. pp. 196–197. ISBN 1842773399, 9781842773390. {{cite book}}: Check |isbn= value: invalid character (help)
  32. ^ BBC - Israel admits torture
  33. ^ a b "Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territories". Amnesty International.
  34. ^ a b "Longest Palestinian hunger strike ends in deal". Reuters. 2012-02-21.
  35. ^ "Sharp rise in Palestinians held without trial: NGO". Al-Arabiya. 2012-02-21.
  36. ^ a b c Joshua A. Fogel (2005). Children of Palestine: Experiencing Forced Migration in the Middle East. Berghahn Books. p. 138. ISBN 1845451201, 9781845451202. {{cite book}}: Check |isbn= value: invalid character (help); Invalid |display-authors=1 (help); Unknown parameter |author-separator= ignored (help)
  37. ^ Hanah Hertsog and Eliezer Ben-Rafael (2000). Language & Communication in Israel: Studies of Israeli Society. Transaction Publishers. p. 277. ISBN 1560009985, 9781560009986. {{cite book}}: Check |isbn= value: invalid character (help)
  38. ^ Maya Rosenfeld (2004). Confronting the Occupation: Work, Education, and Political Activism of Palestinian Families in a Refugee Camp. Stanford University Press. p. 265. ISBN 0804749876, 9780804749879. {{cite book}}: Check |isbn= value: invalid character (help)
  39. ^ http://www.haaretz.com/print-edition/news/netanyahu-israel-to-toughen-conditions-for-palestinian-prisoners-1.369314
  40. ^ a b Human Rights Watch (2001). World Report 2001: The Events of 2000. Human Rights Watch. p. 394. ISBN ISBN 1564322548, 9781564322548. {{cite book}}: Check |isbn= value: invalid character (help)
  41. ^ a b Europa Publications (2002). The Middle East and North Africa 2003. Routledge. p. 896. ISBN 1857431324, 9781857431322. {{cite book}}: Check |isbn= value: invalid character (help)
  42. ^ Israeli court rejects Palestinian hunger strike prisoners' appeal
  43. ^ Two Palestinians on hunger strike nearing death, lawyer says
  44. ^ http://www.un.org/apps/news/story.asp?NewsID=41959&Cr=palestin&Cr1=
  45. ^ a b c d e Yazīd Ṣāyigh, Institute for Palestine Studies (Washington, D.C.) (1997). Armed Struggle and the Search for State: The Palestinian National Movement, 1949-1993. Oxford University Press. p. 478. ISBN 0198296436, 9780198296430. {{cite book}}: Check |isbn= value: invalid character (help)CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  46. ^ Laetitia Bucaille and Anthony Roberts (2004). Growing Up Palestinian: Israeli Occupation and the Intifada Generation. Princeton University Press. p. 159. ISBN 0691116709, 9780691116709. {{cite book}}: Check |isbn= value: invalid character (help)
  47. ^ "Olmert's Mission", Cape Times, June 11, 2006.

External links

Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Palestinian_prisoners_in_Israel&oldid=491961036"