Al Mezan Condemns Escalating Israeli Mistreatment of Palestinian Detainees in Israeli Prisons and Calls for Solidarity with Them

The arbitrary procedures and systematic violations of human rights committed by the Israel Prison Service (IPS) against the roughly 6,000 Palestinian detainees in Israeli prisons have continued.
In the face of ongoing violations, the Palestinian detainees resort to peaceful struggle, which typically has serious consequences, including aggressive reactions and imposition of collective punishment on the detainees.
  In this context, facing Israeli conduct and procedures amounting to gross violations of international humanitarian law and human rights standards, on Tuesday 27 September 2011, detainees affiliated with the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) announced an open-ended hunger strike.
  In their public statement, the detainees declared that the strike is a step taken after exhausting all other options and methods in their daily struggle to protect their right to well-being and end violations of their rights and dignity, as well as the dignity of their families, who regularly suffer delays in family visitation.
  Detainees have also asserted their right to receive medical treatment and are demanding an end to medical negligence, which caused the death of tens of detainees in the past.
They also stated that the IPS is carrying out an ongoing campaign of violation of the detainees’ right to pursue their education in prison and is preventing them from receiving new books.
The IPS deprives the detainees of their right to choose the lawyers who represent them before the prison administration.
It has even banned representation by lawyers entirely.
Prison authorities deprive detainees of their right to watch TV, particularly Arabic channels.
In addition, the IPS continues to conduct frequent arbitrary raids and searches of prison cells at night.
Moreover, the Palestinian detainees are subjected to strip searches and solitary confinement in violation of human rights standards.
Israeli actions against Palestinian detainees constitute a form of torture.
The consequences of Israeli conduct with respect to Palestinian detainees appear not only during detention but also after release.
According to expert opinions from psychologists, detainees’ mental suffering continues even after being released.
  The latest Israeli escalation against detainees comes amidst Israeli arrests of Palestinians, including elected members of the Palestinian Legislative Council (PLC).
It also comes in the context of continuing denial of family visits for detainees from the Gaza Strip, a policy in its fifth consecutive year.
  The Al Mezan Center for Human Rights views this new Israeli escalation as part of Israel’s ongoing policy of denying Palestinian detainees of their rights.
The Israeli Government has proposed a bill, the “Shalit Law,” which aims to deprive Palestinian detainees of their most basic rights, such as family visitation and pursuit of education in prison.
The Israeli authorities have also implemented the unlawful combatant law, which violates principles of international justice.
  The Al Mezan Center for Human Rights condemns the practice of torture and other forms of cruel and degrading treatment against Palestinian detainees, including solitary confinement, strip searches, and deprivation of family visitation.
Al Mezan notes that the Israeli violations of Palestinian detainees’ rights start from the detention stage and continue through interrogation, trial under unfair standards, and detention under inhumane conditions.
  Al Mezan therefore calls on the international community to exert pressure on Israel to respect its obligation under international law, especially the right of detainees to periodic prison visits from relatives.
Al Mezan also calls on the international community to ensure that Israel abides by the United Nations Standard Minimum Rules for the Treatment of Prisoners adopted in 1955, as well as other relevant international standards.
It also calls on the international community to take effective action on an urgent basis in order to ensure the release of all Palestinian detainees, starting with PLC members.
  The Al Mezan Center for Human Rights reiterates its call for peace, democracy, and human rights supporters around the world to start a widespread campaign of solidarity with Palestinian prisoners and detainees in Israeli prisons, and to exert pressure on their governments to uphold their moral and legal obligations under international law and to end the systematic Israeli violations of Palestinian rights.
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