10th December 2012 | International Solidarity Movement, Jordan Valley, Occupied Palestine.
5am in Homsa in the northern Jordan Valley. Abdullah Ghanni, his family and his livestock are on the move under the watchful eyes of the Israeli Army. Two days earlier Ghanni had received a visit from soldiers informing him that military training would take place on land belonging to him and his fellow villagers. Ghanni and five other families were evicted from their land for the duration of the training – 7am to 5pm on the 9th December and 5am to 1pm the following day. All people in the village and their animals were required to leave. Continue reading More evictions for army training in the Jordan Valley
On 10 December 2012, on the occasion of Human Rights Day, PCHR is launching its ‘Palestine to the ICC‘ campaign. The campaign aims to encourage the relevant stakeholders, namely the State of Palestine, the Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court and the international community, to fulfil their responsibilities in ensuring justice and redress for Palestinian victims on violations of international law. 10 years after the creation of the International Criminal Court, the institution created to put an end to impunity for the perpetrators of the most serious crimes of concern to the international community as a whole, PCHR is demanding accountability for the countless Palestinian victims who have been denied access to justice for so long.
The drafters of the Rome Statute recognised that “all people are united by common bonds, their cultures pieced together in a shared heritage.” The values that form the Court are indeed universal, building upon the rights that were proclaimed in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights in 1948. As article 2 states “…no distinction shall be made on the basis of the political, jurisdictional or international status of the country or territory to which a person belongs, whether it be independent, trust, non-self-governing or under any other limitation of sovereignty.”
64 years later, countless peoples are still discriminated against and huge distinctions are made between individuals, simply because of the political status of the land into which they are born. The Palestinian people have consistently been discriminated against precisely because of the lack of independence in their territory and the limitation of sovereignty imposed on them since the creation of the State of Israel – that very same year.
The human rights situation in the occupied Palestinian territory is worsening year after year. The right to self-determination and the achievement of a Palestinian State appear as lofty ideals vis-á-vis the reality on the ground. The situation in the West Bank and in Jerusalem is deteriorating under occupation and expanding settlements, with the entire world as a witness. In the Gaza Strip, 1.7 million people are subjected to a heinous form of collective punishment, cut off from the outside world and forced into de-development.
These same people, protected persons of international humanitarian law, are subjected to relentless attacks. During the so-called ‘Operation Cast Lead’, it was the civilian population in the eye of the storm, denied even the possibility to flee. Over 80% of all casualties were civilians. All this happened under the eyes of the international community. Nearly 4 years later, there has not been any proper investigation at the national level.
Worse still, the international community has looked on once more as Israel carried out yet another offensive involving disproportionate and indiscriminate attacks which caused the loss of many civilians lives. Almost two-thirds of those killed and 97% of those injured during ‘Operation Pillar of Defence’ were civilians. Even before ‘Operation Cast Lead’ has been properly investigated, yet another large-scale offensive has left many more victims in its wake.
The UN Fact Finding Mission on the Gaza Conflict found that war crimes and crimes against humanity had been committed during ‘Operation Cast Lead’. Most importantly, the Report outlined mechanisms of accountability at the national and, in case of failure, the international level. As concluded by the UN Committee of Experts “the official inquiry must be conducted by a truly independent body, given the obvious conflict inherent in the military’s examining its own role in designing and executing ‘Operation Cast Lead’”.
PCHR recognises that the ICC is the principle independent body which is capable of conducting such investigations and, in this context, PCHR is launching its campaign, ‘Palestine to the ICC’, which aims to encourage the relevant actors to fulfil their responsibility in ensuring that Palestine gains access to the ICC. Firstly, the State of Palestine should sign and ratify the Rome Statute without undue delay, and lodge a declaration with the Court’s Registrar under Article 11 (2) and 12 (3) of the Statute, accepting the exercise of jurisdiction by the Court from the date of entry into force of the Statute, 1 July 2002.
Following the accession of Palestine to the Rome Statute, the Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court should initiate an investigation proprio motu into alleged war crimes and crimes against humanity which are committed in Palestine in violation of the Statute, and request an authorization of the Pre-Trial Chamber to proceed with an investigation, pursuant to article 15 of the Statute. Thereafter, the Prosecutor of the
International Criminal Court should reopen the preliminary examination, and take into account the proper elements in order to finally open an investigation into the situation in
Palestine, bringing the issue before the Pre-trial Chamber for a judicial determination of the matter. Finally, it falls upon the international community to support the efforts of the Palestinian people to seek justice for violations of international humanitarian and human rights law through use of the principle of universal jurisdiction.
9th December 2012 | International Solidarity Movement, Occupied Palestine.
On Sunday 9th December at 4pm the bulldozers rolled into the small sleepy town of Hajja near Kufr Qaddoum, in the northern part of the West Bank. They rolled past the Illegal Israeli Settlements, where many Palestinians from the surrounding villages work, with less workers’ rights than the Israeli Settlers who work in the same factory.
Addameer Prisoner Support and Human Rights Association expresses its deep concern for the health and lives of five Palestinian political prisoners that are on hunger strike to protest their unjust detention in Israeli Occupation’s prisons. The five current hunger strikers are: Ayman Sharawna (158 days), Samer Al-Issawi (127 days), Oday Keilani (46 days), Jafar Azzidine (8) and Tarek Qa’adan (8 days).
On 3 December Addameer lawyer Fares Zayyad visited Ramleh prison clinic and met with two of the hunger striking prisoners, Ayman Sharawneh and Samer Al-Issawi. He also attempted to meet with Oday Keilani but was denied by the prison administration. Oday Keilani has been held under administrative detention since 3 April 2011 and on hunger strike for 46 days to protest the recent renewal of his administrative detention.
Samer Issawi (who was previously released in the prisoners exchange deal) has been on a partial hunger strike for 127 days. Despite the rapid deterioration in his health Samer insists that he will not end his hunger strike unless he gains his freedom or dies.
On a number of recent occasions Samer was transferred to Assaf Harofeh Medical Center after severe decreases in his pulse, which at one point dropped to 48 beats per minute, but was transferred back to Ramleh prison clinic once his condition slightly improved. He was only admitted to the intensive care unit when his heart fell to 36 beats per minute. Initially Samer refused treatment but was threatened with a glucose injection by force, a very dangerous and life threatening procedure, and therefore was forced to comply and accept medical treatment. He was transferred back to Ramleh prison clinic on 29 November 2012.
Addameer lawyer Fares Zayyad confirms that despite Samer’s strength and resistance, he is suffering from many ailments and at times faints unexpectedly. Like the other prisoners, Samer is not being treated as an ill patient by the Ramleh prison clinic. On Saturday 1 December 2012 during an examination with the prison clinic doctor, Samer tried to stand and lost consciousness. Instead of assisting him, the doctor left him lying on the floor and exited the room.
Ayman Sharawneh (36 years old) has been on hunger strike for 158 days. He was previously released in the prisoners exchange deal and re-arrested on 31 January 2012. Israeli intelligence officer’s conducts daily sessions with Ayman in an attempt to pressure him to end his hunger strike. However Ayman refuses to end his strike without written confirmation that he will be released.
Addameer holds the Israeli occupation totally responsible for the health and lives of all of the hunger strikers, and considers the protection of their lives a national and moral duty of all Palestinians.
Addameer calls on the Palestinian leadership represented by the PLO and Islamic factions to call for the freedom of the prisoners and support their cause, and calls for Egypt, the sponsor of the October 2011 prison exchange deal, to intervene and pressure the IOF to release the hunger strikers immediately and without conditions.
ACT NOW!
Write to the Israeli government, military and legal authorities and demand the release of the hunger strikers:
Brigadier General Danny Efroni
Military Judge Advocate General
6 David Elazar Street
Harkiya, Tel Aviv
Israel
Fax: +972 3 608 0366; +972 3 569 4526
Email: arbel@mail.idf.il; avimn@idf.gov.il
Maj. Gen. Nitzan Alon
OC Central Command Nehemia Base, Central Command
Neveh Yaacov, Jerusalam
Fax: +972 2 530 5741
Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Defense Ehud Barak
Ministry of Defense
37 Kaplan Street, Hakirya
Tel Aviv 61909, Israel
Fax: +972 3 691 6940 / 696 2757
Col. Eli Bar On
Legal Advisor of Judea and Samaria PO Box 5
Beth El 90631
Fax: +972 2 9977326
Write to your own elected representatives urging them to pressure Israel to release the hunger strikers.
06 December 2012 | International Solidarity Movement, Burqa, Occupied Palestine
Around 500 Israeli soldiers invaded the village of Burqa, north-west of Nablus, in the middle of the night, ransacking homes and causing damages amounting to thousands of euros.
Soldiers arrived in over 30 military jeeps at around 1:00 am and broke into 36 houses where whole families were asleep. People in Burqa recounted their horror at finding armed soldiers with dogs surrounding their beds, and at being forced to leave their homes and stand in the rain as the Israeli military carried out its operation. One old woman who complained that the conditions were detrimental to her weak state of health was simply told to ‘shut up’ by the soldiers. Another man described how he had to wait for hours in the rain with his one-year old daughter dressed only in her pyjamas.
When the families were allowed back into their homes they found everything turned upside down. Furniture, electronic appliances, water pipes, tiles and windows had been spitefully broken. As villagers took us from home to home we witnessed the same scene of disaster repeating itself in each place. Clothes and mattresses were all over the place, drawers were broken, fridges and washing machines had been slammed on the floor. A newly married couple showed us their brand-new furniture that had been smashed when the soldiers threw the wardrobe onto the bed. In another house buckets of paint had been tipped over, spilling all over the floor and a man took us to his animal shelter where one of his lambs had been killed by the Israeli soldiers. Most families were not given reasons why this raid was taking place, while one man whose house was ransacked was told by the soldiers they were searching for weapons. However, in his opinion this was simply revenge by the Israeli state following the UN vote which granted Palestine an observer status within the general assembly.
The villagers said that the soldiers came from the nearby Israeli settlement, Homesh and returned there after the operation ended at around 7:00am. The illegal Homesh settlement was said to have been dismantled by the Israeli authorities. Nonetheless, it is presently inhabited by around 20 settlers living in caravans. The land surrounding the settlement is off-limits to the villagers of Burqa, including farmers who have land there. Furthermore, a few days before, settlers had come into the village and started shooting in the air. This is the latest in a series of attacks meant to scare the people of Burqa.
Ghanni, his family and his livestock are on the move under the watchful eyes of the Israeli Army. Two days earlier Ghanni had received a visit from soldiers informing him that military training would take place on land belonging to him and his fellow villagers. Ghanni and five other families were evicted from their land for the duration of the training – 7am to 5pm on the 9th December and 5am to 1pm the following day. All people in the village and their animals were required to leave. Continue reading More evictions for army training in the Jordan Valley
