MEDIA RELEASE
Ramallah, 21 December 2009
Palestinian political prisoners must be released, categories of “security detainees” must be cancelled and political offenses must be defined if peace between Israel and the Palestinians is to be achieved.

Reaching the ‘No-Peace’ Agreement: The Role of Palestinian Prisoner Releases in Permanent Status Negotiations (Download PDF ~0.5 MB), a briefing paper from Addameer, examines Israel’s failure to comply with the bilateral agreements regarding the release of Palestinian political prisoners held in Israeli detention for their involvement in activities related to the ongoing belligerent Israeli occupation of Palestinian territory. It concludes that prisoner releases can be instrumental in achieving a lasting peace, but only if prisoners themselves are recognized as political partners in the process. Read the rest of this entry »

An International Law Perspective
November 2009

Download PDF ~0.8 MB

Since the Israeli occupation of Palestinian territory in 1967, Palestinians have been charged with
offenses under Israeli military law and tried in military courts. Over the last 42 years, an
estimated 700,000 Palestinians have been detained under Israeli military orders in the occupied
Palestinian territory (OPT),1 which constitutes approximately 20 percent of the total Palestinian
population in the OPT, and as much as 40 percent of the total male Palestinian population.
There are currently at least 7,390 Palestinians in Israeli prisons, of which 32 are women and 340
are children. Read the rest of this entry »

بيان صادر عن مؤسسات حقوق الانسان الفلسطينية بمناسبة الاعلان العالمي لحقوق الانسان
9/12/2009

مؤسسة الحق  *الضمير لرعاية الأسير وحقوق الإنسان * مؤسسة الضمير لحقوق الإنسان * المؤسسة العربية لحقوق الإنسان
المركز الفلسطيني لمصادر حقوق المواطنة واللاجئين (بديل) * الحركة العالمية للدفاع عن الأطفال – فرع فلسطي
مركز إنسان للديمقراطية وحقوق الإنسان * مركز القدس للمساعدة القانونية وحقوق الإنسان * لجنة مناصرة فلسطين – جنوب أفريقيا
المركز الفلسطيني لحقوق الإنسان  *مركز رام الله لدراسات حقوق الإنسان * مركز المرأة للإرشاد القانوني والاجتماعي

يحتفل العالم في يوم 10 كانون الأول/ديسمبر من هذا العام بالذكرى الواحدة والستين لليوم العالمي لحقوق الإنسان في إطار الاحتفالات بتبنّي الإعلان العالمي من قبل الجمعية العامة للأمم المتحدة. ويركّز الاحتفال باليوم العالمي لحقوق الإنسان في هذه السنة على منع التمييز وتحريمه، وهو أحد الحقوق التي تكفلها المادة (1) من الإعلان العالمي لحقوق الإنسان، بالإضافة إلى جملة من مواده الأخرى:

يولد جميع الناس أحراراً ومتساوين في الكرامة والحقوق. وهم قد وُهِبوا العقل والوجدان، وعليهم أن يعاملوا بعضهم بعضاً بروح الإخاء.

ولكن بعد مرور 61 عاماً على تبنّي الإعلان العالمي لحقوق الإنسان، لا تزال إسرائيل تنفذ سياسات وممارسات لا يخفى توجّهها التمييزي ضد المواطنين الفلسطينيين، كما تواصل انتهاك حقوق الإنسان الأساسية وتزيد من وتيرتها. Read the rest of this entry »

Degrading searches of female prisoners in Hasharon prison

•    On Wednesday 5 August 2009, in section 12 of Hasharon prison, female guards stormed room number three housing Manal, Reema and Warda, three Palestinian female prisoners. The guards walked in and warned the prisoners not to move anything. They then covered Manal, Reema and Warda’s hair with headscarves, shackled their hands and took them one by one to the bathroom, located outside of the room, where they strip searched them. All three prisoners were asked to remove their clothes including their underwear. They were also asked to crouch naked on the ground, but as they firmly refused to do so, the female guards eventually abandoned the idea. After the strip search, the three prisoners were allowed to get dressed and leave the bathroom, but they were forced to wait outside as a special unit was conducting a search of their room. The guards justified their search claiming that Manal, Reema and Warda were hiding a forbidden item in their room, “a phone or a weapon”. The guards confiscated the women’s radio, while all other electronic equipment was dismantled, as was the sink pipe.

Twenty minutes later, the prison’s special intervention unit stormed another room in the same section (room number one), housing three other Palestinian female prisoners. There, too, the guards conducted a search confiscating all electronic equipment and books, dismantling the lights, and throwing personal belongings on the ground. Female guards then subjected the three prisoners to a humiliating strip search. The women were forced to take off their clothes, including their underwear after which they were forced to squat without their clothes on. During the search, only one representative of each room was able to be present and watch the guards. The other women had to wait outside until the search was fully completed. They were allowed to drink water and use the bathroom, but only after long delays. When they were finally allowed to go back to their room after the search ended at 1:30 a.m., they found that their mattresses had been torn apart, with only the inner sponge layer left on their beds. Boxes of spices and beads were mixed together. Both rooms were left in a total mess. The guards read the women’s personal letters and searched through their underclothes.

The next day, they returned the electronic appliances, with some of them damaged. The section’s director suggested that they might have been broken already before and refused to compensate for the damage. One of the books confiscated has not yet been returned. The following day after the incident, the prisoners returned all three meals in protest of the harsh treatment they suffered from. The director of the section, Youssef, came to apologize for the search and promised that such incidents would not happen again. No forbidden item was found in either room.

•    A similar search occurred in the beginning of July in a room housing four female prisoners in Hasharon prison. The special unit burst into the room at around 1:15 p.m. and started a search that lasted around three hours. A big group of 12 male guards entered the room and immediately handcuffed the women, without letting them wear their headscarves. Female guards also subjected the prisoners to a strip search, but allowed them to keep their underclothes on. The guards insulted the four Palestinian female prisoners and purposefully provoked them by saying things such as “give us Shalit back”. Eventually, at the end of the search, nothing was confiscated or broken. The entire room was turned upside down and the guards left them the inner layer of the mattress only, while confiscating the cover. The guards also threw the content of the room’s shelves, food and clothes on the ground and mocked the women’s personal pictures. Recently, the guards came back to the same room, confiscating the letters one of the prisoners received from her fiancé. The guards then read them and have been mocking their contents ever since.

Strip searches violating the dignity of Palestinian female prisoners in Israeli detention are a regular occurrence.

Watch Al Jazeera English report on the humiliation and strip searches of Palestinian female prisoners at the following link:
http://english.aljazeera.net/news/middleeast/2009/09/20099168617357967.html

Legal work on Israeli arrests
In August 2009, Addameer opened 20 new cases of political prisoners held in Israeli detention. In eleven of these cases, Addameer attorneys submitted petitions against the extension of the detention period, followed up on six detainees held in interrogation, submitted two complaints against the denial of family visits, and provided legal representation to one detainee before the military court. In addition, Addameer provided legal follow-up to seventeen additional cases opened in previous months. Follow-up included legal representation, action on administrative detention cases, filing complaints and the submission of one petition to the Israeli High Court of Justice challenging the administrative detention of Walid Hanatsheh.

Legal work on Palestinian arrests

During the month of August, Addameer’s Legal Unit opened 50 new files for political detainees held in the West Bank by the Palestinian Authority. The vast majority of these detainees, 43 out of the 50 people detained, were arrested by the Preventative Security Forces. Out of these 43, 35 were arrested in Nablus. Addameer’s Legal Unit filed 38 complaints against the arbitrary detention of detainees and submitted 38 family visit requests.

On 16 August, Addameer attorney Anas Al-Barghouthi sent a letter to the Palestinian Attorney General requesting an investigation into the arbitrary arrest and detention of 12 civilians by the Preventative Security Forces, Military Intelligence and Palestinian Intelligence. Addameer contends that these arrests were politically motivated. So far, no response has been provided.

On 25 August, Addameer attorney Anas Al-Barghouthi sent a second letter to the Palestinian Attorney General requesting an official investigation into the arbitrary arrest and detention of 36 other civilians by the Preventative Security Forces, Military Intelligence and Palestinian Intelligence. Addameer argues is that these arrests were also politically motivated. So far, no response has been provided.

On 5 August 2009, the Palestinian High Court of Justice issued a decision to release two political prisoners following Addameer’s petitions filed on 26 June and 2 July 2009. The first prisoner released, Rami Rubhi Khader Ayes, is originally from Kafr ‘Ayn in Ramallah, and was arrested by the Palestinian Military Intelligence on 9 February 2009 and later held in Umm Ash-Sharayet detention center in Ramallah. Rami was released on 8 August, three days after the High Court issued its decision. The second prisoner released, Ghanem Tawfiq Salih Salmeh, was arrested on 1 February 2009 and subsequently detained in the Preventative Security Forces’ custody in Jneid prison in Nablus. As the Preventative Security Forces delayed the implementation of the High Court’s decision, Addameer Attorney Anas Al-Barghouthi sent a letter to Prime Minister Dr. Salam Fayyad on 10 August, urging him to use his political leverage to secure Ghanem’s release. Ghanem was eventually released on 13 August 2009.

Prison visits

During the month of August 2009, Addameer’s attorneys visited a total of 13 prisons and collected affidavits from 27 prisoners for the purpose of legal procedures and to monitor detention conditions.

TRAINING AND AWARENESS PROGRAM

•    On 13 July, Addameer’s Training and Awareness Unit held an open public forum in Battir village, located 6 kilometers west of Bethlehem, near the Green Line. The public forum was organized in cooperation with the “Association of the Western villages” (jam’iyyat ar-rif al-gharbi) and focused on prisoners’ and detainees’ rights. The village has been affected by land confiscation, settlement expansion and the construction of the Annexation Wall since 2005. As a result, Battir has been the site of recurrent Israeli incursions and youth arrests. In the meeting, Addameer Attorney Mahmoud Hassan exposed the process of arrest and interrogation, explaining detainees’ rights at each stage of the process and listing the most frequent violations committed by the Israeli Occupying Forces. Approximately 30 people from Battir and other neighboring villages attended the meeting.
•    On 27 July, Addameer’s Training and Awareness Unit held another open forum in Qira village in the Salfeet governorate. The meeting took place in cooperation with the Village Committee and once again focused on prisoners’ rights, the process of arrest and detention and the main proceedings of the military court.
Lawyers’ Training Programme

At the end of August, Addameer finalized the second level of its lawyer’s training programme, which it launched in May 2009.  The course, comprised of 10 weekly three hour meetings, focused on the laws and procedures used in Israeli military courts. Its primary objective is to improve Palestinian lawyers’ efficiency when defending Palestinian detainees before the military courts. The course covered a variety of issues, amongst others the admissibility of confessions in military courts, the right to testify, the role of witnesses in a court case. The course was designed specifically for lawyers representing Palestinian prisoners before the military court. In total, around 20 lawyers from different human rights organizations and governmental organizations benefited from the course.

Addama’er Programme

During July and August, Addameer held four meetings with a group of 40 university students and human rights activists, selected from different parts of the West Bank and East Jerusalem in the framework of its Addama’er programme. The programme aims at reviving human rights activism and volunteerism by working closely with community activists to increase their knowledge of civil and political rights from an international humanitarian law and international human rights perspective.

Following general introductory courses on international humanitarian and human rights law in the spring, on 10 July, Addameer held a training session on activity planning and project implementation. An external trainer, Hassan Karraja, gave a lecture on how to translate objectives into activities and projects. On 17 July and 31 July, Addameer invited another external trainer to hold a special workshop with the Addama’er group on building media campaigns around human rights issues and successful communication with the media to raise awareness. On 20 August, the group was asked to evaluate the first part of the course and design their own work plans for the advancement of a specific human rights issue that each participant had to select him or herself.

PROTECTION OF FEMALE PRISONERS IN ISRAELI PRISONS PROJECT
On Wednesday 5 August 2009, in section 12 of Hasharon prison, female guards stormed room number three housing Manal, Reema and Warda, three Palestinian female prisoners. The guards walked in and warned the prisoners not to move anything. They then covered Manal, Reema and Warda’s hair with headscarves, shackled their hands and took them one by one to the bathroom, located outside of the room, where they strip searched them. All three prisoners were asked to remove their clothes including their underwear. They were also asked to crouch naked on the ground, but as they firmly refused to do so, the female guards eventually abandoned the idea. After the strip search, the three prisoners were allowed to get dressed and leave the bathroom, but they were forced to wait outside as a special unit was conducting a search of their room. The guards justified their search claiming that Manal, Reema and Warda were hiding a forbidden item in their room, “a phone or a weapon”. The guards confiscated the women’s radio, while all other electronic equipment was dismantled, as was the sink pipe.

Twenty minutes later, the prison’s special intervention unit stormed another room in the same section (room number one), housing three other Palestinian female prisoners. There, too, the guards conducted a search confiscating all electronic equipment and books, dismantling the lights, and throwing personal belongings on the ground. Female guards then subjected the three prisoners to a humiliating strip search. The women were forced to take off their clothes, including their underwear after which they were forced to squat without their clothes on. During the search, only one representative of each room was able to be present and watch the guards. The other women had to wait outside until the search was fully completed. They were allowed to drink water and use the bathroom, but only after long delays. When they were finally allowed to go back to their room after the search ended at 1:30 a.m., they found that their mattresses had been torn apart, with only the inner sponge layer left on their beds. Boxes of spices and beads were mixed together. Both rooms were left in a total mess. The guards read the women’s personal letters and searched through their underclothes.

The next day, they returned the electronic appliances, with some of them damaged. The section’s director suggested that they might have been broken already before and refused to compensate for the damage. One of the books confiscated has not yet been returned. The following day after the incident, the prisoners returned all three meals in protest of the harsh treatment they suffered from. The director of the section, Youssef, came to apologize for the search and promised that such incidents would not happen again. No forbidden item was found in either room.

A similar search occurred in the beginning of July in a room housing four female prisoners in Hasharon prison. The special unit burst into the room at around 1:15 p.m. and started a search that lasted around three hours. A big group of 12 male guards entered the room and immediately handcuffed the women, without letting them wear their headscarves. Female guards also subjected the prisoners to a strip search, but allowed them to keep their underclothes on. The guards insulted the four Palestinian female prisoners and purposefully provoked them by saying things such as “give us Shalit back”. Eventually, at the end of the search, nothing was confiscated or broken. The entire room was turned upside down and the guards left them the inner layer of the mattress only, while confiscating the cover. The guards also threw the content of the room’s shelves, food and clothes on the ground and mocked the women’s personal pictures. Recently, the guards came back to the same room, confiscating the letters one of the prisoners received from her fiancé. The guards then read them and have been mocking their contents ever since.

Strip searches violating the dignity of Palestinian female prisoners in Israeli detention are a regular occurrence.

Watch Al Jazeera English report on the humiliation and strip searches of Palestinian female prisoners at the following link:

http://english.aljazeera.net/news/middleeast/2009/09/20099168617357967.html

As of August 2009, there were 387 Palestinian administrative detainees including one child, three women and eight Palestinian Legislative Council members.

•    On 14 August 2009, Hamdi Tamri, who turned 17 on the same day, received his third administrative detention. The order was confirmed for a four month period on 20 August 2009 at the Administrative Detainees Court in Ofer. Hamdi is currently the only Palestinian child in administrative detention in Israel. Click here to read his urgent appeal and find out how you can help.

•    Eteraf Rimawi’s fifth administrative detention order: On 15 June 2009, Addameer attorney Mahmoud Hassan filed a petition to the Israeli High Court of Justice against Mr. Rimawi’s fourth administrative detention order. On 27 June, during the scheduled hearing at the High Court of Justice in Jerusalem, Adv. Mahmoud Hassan withdrew the petition at the Court’s recommendation after its review of the ‘secret information’. According to the judges, the Israeli security services representative had already informed the court of his decision to renew Eteraf’s administrative detention order. Subsequently, a fifth administrative detention order valid for an additional three months, starting 8 July 2009, was issued against Eteraf. At the judicial review for the order, the military judge agreed with Eteraf’s lawyer, Adv. Mahmoud Hassan, that his administrative detention would not be renewed again provided that no “new material” is compiled. The order is now set to expire on 7 October 2009. However, from Addameer’s experience, such a decision does not necessarily mean the release of an administrative detainee, as he can be held further on the premise that new “material” has been brought to the attention of the judge. Click here to read his urgent appeal and find out how you can help.

•    On 29 June, Elected Member of Nablus municipality Council, Ms. Majeda Fidda was informed that her detention without charge or trial would be extended for an additional four months. The date of her potential release is now 30 October 2009. Click here to read her urgent appeal and see how you can help.

Activism – Organize an educational event!

Organize an event in solidarity with Palestinian administrative detainees. Addameer’s powerpoint presentation on administrative detention is now available here.

•    On 30 June, Addameer submitted a report to the United Nations Special Rapporteur on the Independence of Judges and Lawyers. The submission provided a legal analysis of the Israeli Military Court System and found that the basic right to fair trial is systematically denied to Palestinian prosecuted in military courts. It argued that the Israeli military courts and the practice of administrative detention in the occupied territory contravene international legal standards and fundamental human rights. The submission also provided a set of recommendations to the UN Special Rapporteur on the Independence of Judges and Lawyers.

•    On 7 July, Addameer General Director Sahar Francis gave an expert testimony before the UN Fact Finding Mission on the Gaza Conflict, led by Justice Richard Goldstone during public hearings held in Geneva. In her testimony, Ms. Francis concentrated on violations committed against Palestinian prisoners and detainees during the Gaza War in the West Bank and Gaza Strip. To watch Ms. Francis’ testimony on the website of the UN Human Rights Council, please click here.

On 16 September, the UN Fact-Finding Mission led by Justice Richard Goldstone released its report on the Gaza conflict. The report found that concluded “serious violations of international human rights and humanitarian law were committed by Israel during the Gaza conflict, and that Israel committed actions amounting to war crimes, and possibly crimes against humanity”. To access the report on the website of the Fact Finding Mission, please click here.

•    On 1 August, Addameer submitted its shadow report to the UN Human Rights Committee as part of the upcoming review of Israel’s compliance with the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights. The submission included a list of issues and questions for the Committee to pose to Israel regarding its compliance with selected articles of the Covenant. Addameer’s submission and list of comments and questions was limited to those articles related to detention, the prison system and criminal justice, as these issues are the primary focus of Addameer’s mission and work in the occupied Palestinian territory.