Tag: Administrative Detention

Addameer Releases Latest Report on the Continued Targeting of Palestinian Human Rights Activists by Israeli Forces

13th January 2014 | Addameer Prisoner Support and Human Rights Association | Ramallah, Occupied Palestine

Addameer Releases Latest Report on the Continued Targeting of Palestinian Human Rights Activists by Israeli ForcesAddameer Prisoner Support and Human Rights Association are pleased to announce the publication of its latest report ‘Courageous Voices, Fragile Freedoms’.

The report examines Israel’s increasing use of arrest and detention of Palestinian human rights activists taking part in protests and other peaceful acts of resistance against the illegal Annexation Wall and settlements in the West Bank.

Although the popular resistance that arose in response to the continuing construction of the Annexation Wall has been facing acts of repression and violence from Israeli forces since regular demonstrations and international advocacy initiatives gained momentum in 2005, the report shows that beginning in 2009 there was a shift in tactics by the Israeli forces that should be viewed in the context of increasing recognition of the legitimacy of the actions by the Palestinian human rights activists.

Now in 2013, over ten years since the original construction of the Annexation Wall began, Addameer’s findings in this report suggest that it is precisely because of this international recognition of, and support for, the actions of the Palestinian activists that Israel has responded with the increasing use of military regulations, which allows it to continue its campaign of repression behind the veneer of legal authorization.

This report is part of Addameer’s ongoing efforts to support Palestinian human rights defenders, whose imprisonment is a deliberate violation of their fundamental freedoms and special protections provided under international law.

An electronic version of the report is available at: http://www.addameer.org/files/Wall%20Report%20-%20Final.pdf

About Addameer

Addameer Prisoner Support and Human Rights Association (Addameer) is a Palestinian non-governmental human rights civil institution that focuses on political and civil rights issues in the occupied Palestinian territory, especially those of prisoners. Established in Jerusalem in 1992 by a group of activists and human rights advocates, Addameer offers support to Palestinian prisoners and detainees, advocates for the rights of political prisoners, and works to end torture and arbitrary detention and to guarantee fair trials through monitoring, legal procedures and advocacy campaigns. For more information on Addameer’s work please visit www.addameer.org.

CONTACT

To find out more about the report please contact:

Gavan Kelly, Advocacy Unit Coordinator – gavan@addameer.ps

“No-one can explain to me why”

22 May 2012 | International Solidarity Movement, Nablus Team | Kafr Qalil, Occupied Palestine

The Israeli army invaded seven family homes in the village of Kafr Qalil, south of Nablus, between 1am and 2am on 20th May. They trashed the properties and people’s possessions and stayed in them for several hours apiece. Lastly, they arrested a university student, Saleh al-Amer, 22.

Saleh al-Amer had thought administartive detention was done with and he could look to his future
Saleh al-Amer had thought administartive detention was done with and he could look to his future

Instead of just ringing the bell, they obliterated the homes’ heavy metal doors, creating fear and manifesting uncertainty for the innocent residents. They were given no reason for the destruction of their property despite repeatedly asking for one. Nader Soloman, one of those who had his home invaded, having his 2 and 4 year-old daughters terrified in the process, even spoke in Hebrew but answers were still refused. The army ransacked their homes, ordered the adults and children about, broke their furnishings and emptied cupboards of clothes, throwing them on the floor to then continually walk all over them. The army remained in the homes for 4 to 5 hours.

At 2am the army changed tact and knocked on the door of the al-Amer family house, home to eleven people. The army didn’t enter the house and asked the family’s father who the sons of the household were. He said the two names and the officer requested Saleh, was then placed under arrest and taken to Huwwara military base for a few hours, before being moved to Salem prison on the Green Line for another couple of hours. At which point he was able to contact his lawyer and tell him of his whereabouts before being transferred to Megiddo prison in Israel.

The younger children are now traumatized by the event, crying when they see images of the army on the TV, while other family members are unable to sleep. Saleh’s younger sister explained to the activists who came to speak with the family that Saleh had done nothing wrong; “my brother is the most lovely person, we can’t live without my brother. He needs to come back to his house, to his family, his village, study”. Saleh had just finished his first-year university exams and was happy about the changes to the family home to accommodate him and his soon-to-be wife. Saleh studied hard and also worked to bring money into the home, he enjoyed sport and caring for and playing with the younger children.

Saleh was arrested two years previously and held in administrative detention for five months, only seeing his family once, when they were in court. At that time the army officer during his arrest told him he was being arrested so that he wouldn’t be able to go back to university.

Administrative detention is the imprisonment of Palestinians without charge or trial by administrative rather than judicial procedure. International law, as set out in the Fourth Geneva Convention, allows for it only in very extreme cases of ensuring security and even then grants the right for those interned to be held within the occupied territory with support to be given to their family and dependents. They are also due greater privileges than ordinary prisoners. The Israeli government has claimed that administrative detention is not an arbitrary form of internment, in part, because detention orders are subject to review. However they can be renewed indefinitely every six months, leaving prisoners and their loved ones with no countdown to their release.

The front doors of one house look as if they were broken with more than human strength
The front doors of one house look as if they were broken with more than human strength (photo: ISM)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Huge metal chunks flew off the door and its frame into the corridor
Huge metal chunks flew off the door and its frame into the corridor (photo: ISM)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The door will be replaced, a sense of safety is harder to come by (photo: ISM)
The door will be replaced, a sense of safety is harder to come by (photo: ISM)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Call to Action: Join Addameer’s Global End Administrative Detention Campaign!

8th April 2013 |Addameer, Occupied Palestine

Addameer calls on activists and people of conscience to stand in solidarity with all political prisoners and join Addameer Prisoners’ Support and Human Rights Organization’s upcoming global campaign against administrative detention.

Over 4,743 Palestinians are currently detained by Israel; 10 of them women, 193 of them children, and 178 of them held under administrative detention, a decrepit policy that Israel uses to hold Palestinians on secret information indefinitely without charging them or allowing them to stand trial.
Not only are these prisoners held arbitrarily, but Israel’s use of administrative detention violates several international standards, such as deporting Palestinians from the occupied territory to Israel, denying regular family visits and failing to take into account the best interests of child detainees as required under international law.
We need your support to break their chains and the silence on administrative detention.
 
Today, Israel has outsourced security for prisons where Palestinians are held to a British-Danish company named G4S. Along with the Israeli Prison Service, G4S is responsible for the harsh conditions the prisoners faced during the historic 2012 hunger strikes that thousands of Palestinians participated in, including two hunger strikers that neared death in protest of their arbitrary detention, Khader Adnan and Hana Al-Shalabi. G4S is also complicit in Israel’s detention of nearly one-third of the Palestinian Legislative Council since 2006, and for dozens of human rights defenders being arrested every year for participating in popular resistance.
The government of Israel should release all administrative detainees, and in the meantime, all administrative detainees must be granted their rights in accordance with international law.
Addameer supports the international boycott, divestment and sanctions (BDS) campaign against G4S to end its complicity in detaining administrative detainees and  to put pressure on the Israeli government to release the prisoners. Addameer calls on solidarity organizations, individuals and human rights organizations around the world to join our End Administrative Detention campaign launching on 17 April 2013.
 
TAKE ACTION!
You can help us pressure the Israeli government to release the prisoners by:
  • Participating in a mass day of mobilization in your city on 17 April, the annual Palestinian Prisoners Day.
  • Organizing an “End Administrative Detention” week on 17-24 April 2013 in your city or university campus using Addameer’s forthcoming campaign materials.
  •  Joining a local G4S BDS campaign in your city.
  • Raising awareness about administrative detention in your community using our forthcoming Activist Toolkit.
 

An appeal to the international community to save the lives of Palestinian administrative detainees on hunger strike, al-Sharawna and al-Eissawi

20 December 2012 | Palestinian Centre for Human Rights

The Palestinian Centre for Human Rights (PCHR) expresses extreme concern over the fate of Ayman al-Sharawna and Samer al-Eissawi, who have been on hunger strike in Israeli jails. PCHR holds the Israeli Occupation Forces accountable for these lives, and calls upon the international community to exert pressure on the IOF to immediately release al-Sharawna and al-Eissawi.

Ayman al-Sharawna, 36, from Hebron, and Samer al-Eissawi, 33, from Jerusalem, have now been on hunger strike for 173 days and 143 days respectively. Al-Sharawna started the hunger strike on 1 July, while al-Eisswi, started it on 1 August, in protest against being re-arrested and placed under the administrative detention. The two detainees were released in the context of the prisoners’ swap deal between Palestinian armed groups and Israeli authorities in October 2011, under which 1,027 Palestinian prisoners were released in exchange for the captured Israeli soldier, Gilad Shalit.

According to various human rights sources, the health conditions of the two detainees are continuously deteriorating because of the long periods of their hunger strikes, and they have recently abstained from drinking water. They suffer from various health problems, including leanness, general weakness, anemia, protein shortages, sugar shortage, deteriorated visions, and others. Their lives are at stake.

In spite of their serious health conditions, Israeli authorities have refused to release al-Sharawna and al-Eissawi, and exerted heavy pressure on both of them to stop their hunger strikes, in exchange for departing them abroad, but the two detainees have rejected these attempts and have insisted on continuing their hunger strike demanding their release to their homes.

In another development, on Wednesday, 19 December 2012, Israeli soldiers violently beat al-Eissawi in Jerusalem courtroom during the hearing held for considering the appeal to release him on bail or placing him under house arrest until his trial is concluded. The Israeli soldiers attacked al-Eissawi and his family members who came to see him, although he entered the courtroom on a wheelchair and handcuffed as he is unable to walk because of the long period of his hunger strike. They pulled al-Eissawi out of the courtroom and transported him back to Ramla Hospital. Additionally, Israeli forces raided al-Eissawi’s house and arrested him sister, Shirin al-Eissawi, who was presented to a judge. She was released yesterday, but was placed under house arrest.

PCHR has extreme concern over the fate of al-Sharawna and al-Eissawi, who are on hunger strike in Israeli jails, and seeking to save their lives:

1. Calls upon the international community to exert pressure on the IOF to immediately release them, in order to save their lives.

2. Calls upon human rights organizations and international solidarity organizations to put an end to the misuse of administrative arrests by the IOF, based on the term of ‘unlawful combatant,’ in violation of the fundamental right to a fair trial.

3. Notes with grave concern the deterioration of living conditions of more than 4,700 Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails.

Palestinian hunger strikers insist on gaining their freedom even if the cost is their lives

5 December 2012 | Addameer

Ayman Sharawnah, 158 days on hunger strike

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.