Hunger strike by human rights defender Ms Shireen Essawi as trial postponed by one year

17th May 2014 | Front Line Defenders | Occupied Palestine

Shireen Essawi holding a photograph of her brother Samer
Shireen Essawi holding a photograph of her brother Samer

On 8 May 2014 human rights defender and lawyer Ms Shireen Essawi began a hunger strike after learning of the postponement of her trial for nine months and a day. She is charged with cooperating with actors who are working against the state of Israel.

Shireen Essawi is a human rights lawyer who has participated in monitoring and documenting human rights violations committed against Palestinian prisoners in Israeli prisons, especially children, women, and prisoners from the Gaza Strip. The human rights defender also reported on practices adopted by Israeli authorities for Palestinian and Arab prisoners in Israeli jails that she believes violate human rights, such as preventing visits by lawyers.

The postponement of her trial on 7 May 2014 follows several court appearances by the human rights defender since her arrest on 6 March 2014. It is reported that under Israeli law, a trial may be suspended and detention can continue upon the condition that a final judgment and sentence is issued within nine months and a day of the adjournment.

Shireen Essawi began her hunger strike out of solidarity with Palestinian prisoners, and has declared she will continue it in protest at the adjournment of her trial. The human rights defender was arrested at her home in Jerusalem as part of a wave of arrests targeting lawyers. Her colleagues have since been released on bail, pending trials.

Front Line Defenders expresses its concern at the postponement of the trial and continued detention of Shireen Essawi, which is solely related to her peaceful and legitimate human rights work, in particular concerning the rights of Palestinians and Arab Israelis.

Front Line Defenders urges the authorities in Israel to:

1. Immediately and unconditionally drop all charges against and release Shireen Essawi, as it is believed they are solely motivated by her peaceful and legitimate work in defence of human rights;

2. Ensure that the treatment of Shireen Essawi, while in detention, adheres to the conditions set out in the ‘Body of Principles for the Protection of All Persons under Any Form of Detention or Imprisonment,’ adopted by UN General Assembly resolution 43/173 of 9 December 1988;

3. Guarantee in all circumstances that all human rights defenders in Israel and the occupied Palestinian Territory are able to carry out their legitimate human rights activities without fear of reprisals and free of all restrictions.

Hunger strike solidarity tent in Nablus

16th May 2014 | International Solidarity Movement, Nablus Team | Nablus, Occupied Palestine

Photo by ISM
Photo by ISM

Erected in the duar (city center) in the northern Palestinian city of Nablus, is a large tent utilized throughout the day by those in solidarity with the exceeding-one-hundred Palestinian administrative detainees.

“We will stay here as long as it takes” says Yousef, a Lawyer and University Lecturer, implying that the tent will remain until the hunger strike ceases.

Within the tent sits two fathers who are holding posters of their sons’, both married with children, one a journalist with a masters degree, the other with a doctorate; hence encapsulating the political motives behind these illegal incarcerations.

There have been dispersed hunger strikes by activist groups for one day at a time in solidarity with the prisoners.

Currently on its 24th day, the hunger strike is in objection to the ‘administrative detainee’ prisoner status, prisoners can be detained without a criminal charge, little to no visitation (in some cases none for months), inadequate to no legal representation, exploitative prisoner treatment, and lengthy/nonexistent trials.

On the 20th day salt was excluded from the diet, which now consists entirely of water.

Detainees are constantly denied proper medical care, while clothing is confiscated. Beatings, isolation, and violent raids of prisoner cells are common realities.

In recent developments, the Knesset (Israeli Legislative branch) is debating legislation to grant Israeli personnel authority to force feed hunger strikers.

Meanwhile, the occupants of the tent are calling for more honest and widespread media coverage, alongside an increase in foreign support.

Update on Hunger Strikes: Administrative Detainees put in Solitary Confinement, Denied Salt Supplements

7th May 2014 | Addameer Prisoner Support and Human Rights Association | Ramallah, Occupied Palestine

 

(Image by the Global End Administrative Detention Campaign)
(Image by the Global End Administrative Detention Campaign)

The latest wave of mass hunger strikes continue for the 14th day as Palestinian prisoners demand the end of the policy of administrative detention. Administrative detention is a procedure in which Palestinians are arbitrarily arrested and detained without charge or trial based on a secret file. There are currently 183 Palestinians under administrative detention, 9 of them members of the Palestinian Legislative Council.
 
On 24 April 2014, the administrative detainees announced a mass hunger strike to demand their freedom. Detainees will periodically continue to join the hunger strike if the demands are not met. There are currently 95 detainees on hunger strike in Ofer, Megiddo and Naqab prisons. It should be noted that Ofer and Megiddo prisons are provided services by the British-Danish company G4S, which installed cameras and surveillance equipment used to control the Palestinian prisoners.
 
According to one hunger striker who spoke with Addameer lawyer Mahmoud Hassan, the detainees in the Naqab Prison have all been transferred to an isolated section, separate from the other prisoners. The cells are covered in sand. They have been ill-treated; suffering from daily searches of their cells and being permitted to change their undergarments only twice since the beginning of the strike. They are bound and handcuffed in their cells for ten hours a day.
 
Three of the hunger strikers in Naqab prison, Fadi Hammad, Fadi Omar and Soufian Bahar, are now in solitary confinement and one detainee, Ahmad Abu Ras, was transferred to an undisclosed location.
 
Furthermore, the IPS has been denying the hunger strikers salt for the last two weeks. Prisoners who engage in hunger strikes still take liquids and salt, as they are essential for survival.
 
Denial of salt is a continuation of the punishments against hunger strikers, and despite the grave danger  it imposes on the lives of the detainees, has been institutionalized by the Israeli Supreme Court. In 2004, the Israeli Supreme Court denied a petition by Adalah: The Legal Center for Arab Minority Rights in Israel, and several other Palestinian and Israeli NGOs that demanded the IPS provide salt on a daily basis to hunger-striking prisoners as its denial breaches the constitutional rights of the prisoner.
 
The hunger strikers can potentially face harsher punishments if the IPS’s most recent proposed bill to legalize force-feeding is approved in the Knesset. The memorandum is currently up for public critique.
 
In addition, 42 hunger strikers have been transferred to Ayalon / Ramleh Prison, including Abd Al Rizziq Farraj and Salem Dardasawi. On 4 May 2014, their cells were raided and the hunger strikers beaten. Mohammad Maher Badr’s finger was broken during the attack and Mohammad Jamal Al-Natsheh had to be hospitalized for the injuries sustained from the attack. The prisoners are in overcrowded isolation cells, with seven hunger strikers in each. They are in their cells at all times and denied recreational hours in the yard.
 
Addameer maintains that the Occupation’s authorities are solely responsible for the lives of the hunger strikes. Addameer also demands that all contracting parties to the Fourth Geneva Convention pressure Israel to immediately release all administrative detainees and cease the use of administrative detention.

Mass Hunger-Strike Launched by Palestinian ‘Administrative Detainees’

24th April 2014 | Addameer Prisoner Support and Human Rights Association | Ramallah, Occupied Palestine

(Images by the Global End Administrative Detention Campaign)
(Images by the Global End Administrative Detention Campaign)

Addameer Prisoner Support and Human Rights Association can confirm the launch of a mass open-ended hunger strike involving over 100 Palestinian political detainees. All those involved are being held under administrative detention, which is a procedure whereby detainees are held without charge or trial.

Today’s hunger strike can be traced back to May 2012 when an agreement was reached between the Israeli Prison Service and representatives of the prisoners, which brought an end to a mass hunger strike involving approximately 2,000 political prisoners. As part of this agreement Israel agreed to limit its use of administrative detention to only exceptional circumstances. However, since then Israel has reneged on the agreement and has continued to use administrative detention on a systematic basis leaving the detainees with little choice but to launch a fresh strike.

The strike is currently taking place in Ofer, Megiddo and the Naqab Prisons and there are plans to escalate the strike should the striking detainee’s demands not be met. The general demand of the hunger strikers is an end to the use of administrative detention. The hunger strikers are also specifically demanding that extensions to administrative detention orders are limited to one extension only.

As of 1 March 2014 there were 183 Palestinians being held without charge or trial under administrative detention, including 9 Palestinian Legislative Council (PLC) members. This number has been steadily increasing over the last year. In 2014 alone, Israel has used administrative detention against 142 detainees, including renewing existing orders and issuing new orders.

Addameer lawyer Samer Sama’an today visited a number of administrative detainees, including PLC member Yasser Mansour, at the Naqab Prison. It was confirmed that 55 administrative detainees being held in the Naqab Prison have launched a hunger-strike. All striking detainees were immediately isolated by the Israeli Prison Service from the rest of the prison population and are currently being held in tents.

As mentioned administrative detainees are held without charge are trial. They are detained on completely ‘secret evidence’ and neither they nor their lawyers have access to such evidence. Some detainees have spent over eight years in prison, never knowing
what was contained in the ‘secret evidence’. While administrative detention is legal under international law, it must be used in very Mass Hunger-Strike Launched by Palestinian 'Administrative Detainees'specific circumstance and on a case-by-case basis. This is clearly not the case given Israel has used administrative detention against tens of thousands of Palestinians.

In another development Mr. Sama’man reported that prisoners and detainees being held at the Naqab Prison wishing to meet their lawyers are forced to wait for long periods of time in tiny cells which lack any sort of ventilation. As a result many are choosing not to meet with their lawyers due to the humiliating procedures that the Israeli Prison Service has imposed on them.

Addameer holds the Israeli authorities solely responsible for the health of all hunger strikers. Addameer also demands that all contracting parties to the Fourth Geneva Convention pressure Israel to immediately release all administrative detainees and cease the use of administrative detention. Furthermore, Addameer calls on global civil society to mobilize without delay in support of the striking detainees and 5,000 Palestinian political prisoners currently being held in Israeli prisons.


For more information please see Addameer’s recent administrative detention factsheet and visit www.stopadcampaign.com

PHOTOS: Gaza calls for the rights of Palestinian prisoners and the freedom of Ahmad Sa’adat

27th March 2014 | International Solidarity Movement, Rosa Schiano | Gaza, Occupied Palestine

(Photo by Rosa Schiano)
(Photo by Rosa Schiano)

On Monday, at the International Committee of the Red Cross in Gaza City, the weekly rally in solidarity with Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails saw the participation of many prisoners’ families, released prisoners, and international and Palestinian activists.

Each week, the rally focuses on certain topics, ranging from administrative detention to the health condition of sick prisoners, women prisoners and ill-treatment, to the prisoners on hunger strike.

Many women show photographs of their detained children, grandchildren, husbands or relatives.

On Monday, the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine protested to demand the release of its general secretary, Ahmad Sa’adat, on the eight anniversary of his abduction by Israeli forces.

Eight years ago, on 14-15 March 2006, Israeli forces surrounded the Palestinian Authority prison  in Jericho, where Sa’adat was held with his comrades Ahed Abu Ghoulmeh, Majdi Rimawi, Basil al-Asmar and Hamdi Qur’an. The Israeli forces attacked and destroyed the prison, kidnapping the Palestinian prisoners held inside. United States and British guards, under whom Sa’adat and the other prisoners were held, left the prison in advance, knowing it would soon come under attack from the Israelis.

Eight years after his abduction, Sa’adat is considered a leader in and out the prison, and protests for his release, as well as broad international support, are the proof.

There are 5,200 Palestinian political prisoners in Israeli jails.

Many of them suffer from diseases, included cancer. Due to medical negligence, their conditions worsen day by day.

Prisoners on hunger strike have also suffered punitive measures by the Israeli Prison Service in response to their strikes. These measures include solitary confinement in small and cold rooms with no blankets, denial of the right to take showers, denial of family visits, investigations and searches during the night.

Israel continues to arrest Palestinian children and apply administrative detention, arresting Palestinians without charge or trial. Yesterday an Israeli court has extended the detentions of Shireen, Medhat and Shadi Issawi, siblings of former Palestinian hunger striker Samer Issawi.