Freedom to the Palestinian prisoners and Detainees in the Israeli prisons
April 17th each year marks the Palestinian Prisoner’s Day, in honour and recognition of the sacrifices the prisoners make to end the Israeli occupation, free Palestine, and establish an independent Palestinian state with Jerusalem as its capital.
The prisoners and detainees in the Israeli occupation prisons experience harsh conditions and are subjected to grave violations by the Israeli authorities and the prison administration. That oppression contradicts Geneva 3rd convention, 1949, regarding the war prisoners. Besides, they violate Geneva 4th convention and the regulations of the human right’s international laws.
The statistics available for us indicate that Israel, the occupying authority, detains about 4450 Palestinian prisoners in its prisons. Among those prisoners are 140 children, 37 female prisoners, 440 administrative detainees without charges or trials. In addition, among the prisoners are 543 prisoners who suffer from different illnesses such as Prisoner Fuad Al Shobaki,81 years old. 300 prisoners suffer from acute and chronic diseases that require immediate medical intervention to save them and protect them against death.
Among the prisoners and the detainees are 25 prisoners detained before Oslo peace agreement in 1993. 13 of them have spent more than 30 years in prison. The oldest of them are Prisoners Kareem Younis and Maher Younis who have been detained since 1983. Besides, there are tens of prisoners who spent long years in prison and got liberated but were rearrested, such as Prisoner Nae’l Al Barghothi who has been in prison for 40 years.
The prisoners and the detainees are kept under harsh conditions and do not receive the appropriate medical care and are subjected to the policy of intentional medical negligence. Such a policy, in the light of the outbreak of the corona virus, has led to 400 prisoners get infected by the virus. This policy has resulted in the martyrdom of a number of the prisoners, which made the total number of martyrs in prions reach 226 since 1967 either because of torture, intentional medical negligence or murder. Hundreds of the prisoners who got released martyred after leaving the prison due to the diseases they contracted while in prison.
We emphasize that Israel as an occupying power bears the full responsibility regarding the prisoners and the detainees. We appeal to the international community to bear its legal and moral responsibility to pressurize the occupation authorities to be responsible and respect the rules of detainees and prisoners’ treatment that are stated in Geneva convention pertaining to war prisoners and according to the human rights international law, ensuring offering them the required medical care. We also invite the World Health Organisation (WHO) and the International Committee of the Red Cross to interfere immediately to pressurize the occupation state to keep it up to the international standards to protect the prisoners from the corona virus and to follow all preventive and medical procedures for the sake of the protection of the prisoners in the Israeli occupation prisons.
We call on all the fighters of freedom and the international community organisations to stand in ultimate solidarity with the prisoners and the detainees and to work hard towards liberating the ill prisoners, the children, the women, and the elderly prisoners in the Israeli prisons.
Freedom to all prisoners and detainees in the Israeli occupation prisons.
The Palestinian Prisoner’s Day – follow up committee
The European Alliance in Defence of the Palestinian Detainees, The commission of Detainees and Ex-detainees Affairs, The Palestinian Prisoner Club, The commission of Detainees and Ex-Detainees Affairs – Lebanon, The National Committee in Defence of the Prisoners in the Israeli Prisons- Lebanon, The Higher Commission of Following up the Detainees and Ex-Detainees Affairs, Khayyam Rehabilitation Center for Torture Victims / Lebanon, Al-Dameer- prisoner support and and human rights association, Abu Jehad Centre for the Captive Movement Affairs, The International Solidarity with Prisoners (TADAMON)- Lebanon, Al- Zaytuna Society for Childhood and Development, The Center for defence of liberties and civil rights “Hurreyat”.
Brussels April 17th, 2021