The Commission of Detainees' Affairs revealed in a report issued today the details of detention process and torture against Abdullah Asfour Barghouthi, 28, from Koubar/ Ramallah, where an Israeli special forces stopped his car while he was in his way to work in 17/5/2023. Three soldiers were wearing civil clothes dragged him from his car, handcuffed him, and beat him on the face which caused him bleeding pains and bruises all over his body, where the soldiers kept beating him in this brutal way for half an hour and them they took him to a military camp and then he got held at Itzion prison. The advocate of the commission, Jackleen Fararjeh, said that the Israeli authorities did not start the interrogation process until now, and that he has a session at the military court in Ofer. It is worthy to mention that this is not the first arrest for Abdullah, where he spent 22 months under the administrative detention.
From behind the prisons' bars, the detainees of Nafaha prison launch a campaign to support sick detainees, especially the detainee Walid Daqqa. The slogan of the campaign is titled "death is our only option if you won't save our lives"
A new victim of medical ignorance The Commission of Detainees' Affairs: the life of the detainee Muhammad Khateeb is on a critical stage May 7, 2023
The Commission of Detainees' Affairs stated that the detainee Muhammad Khateeb, 40, from Tulkarem has reached to a critical health stage, where he is unable to move and has stiffness in his toe due to the painkillers he was taking on a daily basis. He also has troubles in the kidney and backache due to herniated disc. The administration of prisons pursues a medical crime against him, where they refuse to send him to a civil hospital to have the appropriate medical treatment. It is worthy to mention that his suffering started since more than two years. In this context, the Commission of Detainees' Affairs called upon the International Committee of the Red Cross to visit him in prison, accompanied by a medical staff to diagnose his case . The detainee Muhammad Khateeb is detained since 2003 and sentenced to 21 years, and he is supposed to be released in 10 months.
The Commission of Detainees' Affairs called upon the WHO to procced immediately to the so-called "Hospital of Al-Ramla prison", to save the lives of our detainees, who are waiting for death in the light of medical ignorance. The Commission stated that the WHO has to initiate from today in preparing a specialized medical team and to extract its authority to visit sick detainee in the so-called "Hospital of Al-Ramla prison" to conduct the necessary medical examinations and diagnoses for all detainees held in this place, and to write obvious reports that exposes the Israeli occupation and its crimes against our defenseless heroes. The Commission indicated that the suffering is not limited to pathological and therapeutic aspects, routine medications and painkillers, but exceeded this to affect the personal aspects, which makes this detention a real crime and that the leaders of the occupation should be held responsible for it, especially that this crime is committed against sick persons who have chronic diseases and against detainees who got shot directly. The commission underlined a variety of demands needed in this place which lacks aall therapeutic, life, human and moral essentials: 1. The difficult and complicated psychological and medical conditions, especially the case of the detainees Walid Daqqa and Asef Refaei who suffer from cancer, where they need to communicate with their families on a daily basis. 2. Allow sick detainees to obtain the needed cloths. 3. Bring out the detainees Fatima Shahin and Itaf Jaradat from the section of civil criminals. 4. Stop the supervision of criminal detainees on the process of cooking and distributing meals on other detainee, especially sick ones. 5. Allow sick detainees to receive funds for using the canteen, and take into account the quality of served food that suits their diseases. 6. Intensify the staff supervising the sick detainees, to relieve the pressure on the two heroes Iyad Radwan and Samer Abu Diak. The commission confirmed that sick detainees will initiate a struggle plan to achieve their demands, where the detainees Walid and Asef will return their meals and medications until they get to communicate their families at least by phone, and the struggle steps will increase in case there is no response for their demands.
Thw head of the Commission of Detainees' Affairs, Qadri Abu Baker, condemned the assassination of the detainee Khader Adnan, after going through an open hunger strike for 87 days. Abu Baker stated " the martyr detainee Khader Adnan has been assassinated by a military political order by Israel, where he was kept a victim to pain and hunger. He was not informed about his health condition in order to get to this situation, which is one of the racist, inhumane and unethical methods used by the Israeli occupation in dealing with the Palestinian strugglers in Israeli prisons ". Abu Baker stated that the Israeli authorities shall hold full responsibility on this crime and that the international community who participated to this crime by its silence is also responsible. By the martyrdom of the detainee Khader Adnan, the number of Captive Movement martyrs has risen to 237, which proves that the occupation pursued a criminal procedure to kill our detainees. It is worthy to mention that the martyr Khader Adnan is from Arraba /Jenin, and he went through many hunger strikes.
Minors from Jerusalem are under the Israeli targeting May 14, 2023
Tge Commission of Detainees' Affairs published in a report issued today that children from Jerusalem are subjected to bad treatment and physical and psychological abuse since the first moment of arrest and during interrogation and court sessions. The advocate of the Commission, Hiba Ighbarya, stated according to the testimony of children detainees that they where mistreated by the Nahshon Special forces, without taking into account that they are minors, where they beat, cursed and humiliated them. The series of violence continues during interrogation at Maskoubya detention centre, where jailers attacked Palestinian children and abused them taking advantage from not installing surveillance cameras in these rooms. Children are also subjected to threatening in order to confess guilt. Then they appear before the courts and they get sentenced to long years of imprisonment in addition to high fines. In this context, the Commission stressed on the human rights organisations and the Red Cross to intervene immediately to save children's lives, and called upon them to visit detention centres and to meet their requirements and to practice pressure against the United Nations to release minor detainees.
April 17 marks the Palestinian Prisoner's Day, which comes in coincidence with the escalation of the Israeli aggression against the Palestinian people, and implementing more systematic violations and crimes. The previous year witnessed remarkable turns in the light of the changes imposed by the Israeli elections and the heading of the right wing government by Ben Gvir, who used all measures to incite against detainees' and martyrs' families.
This incitement has reached to unprecedented level, especially in the light of developed measures used by the occupation's devices and the administration of prisons such as , passing racist laws and practicing firm and systematic policies aiming at imposing control over Palestinians.
Detainees' institutions: ( The Commission of Detainees' Affairs, The Palestinian Society Prisoner's Club, Addameer Association for Human Rights and Wadi Hilweh Information centre) confirmed in a joint report that the only variable is the occupation authorities and its devices, which developed more violations procedures aiming at taking away detainees' effectiveness and undermining any state of struggle.
There are currently (4900) detainees in Israeli prisons, including (31) women, (160) minors and more than (1000) administrative detainees including (6) minors and (2) women.
Moreover, there are (23) detainees who are imprisoned since before the Oslo Accord, the oldest of whom is the detainee Mohammed Tous, who is detained since 1985.
Besides, there are (11) detainees who have been released under an exchange bargain, but have been rearrested, such as the detainee Nael Barghouthi who is serving the longest period of imprisonment in the history of the Captive Movement.
There are (400) detainees who spent more than (20) years in prison, called (senior detainees).
Furthermore, there are currently (554) detainees who are serving life sentences, where the longest sentence goes for the detainee Abdullah Barghouthi who is sentenced to (67) life sentences.
Regarding the martyrs of the Captive Movement, (236) detainees have been martyred since 1967, in addition to hundreds of detainees who died after being released due to illnesses they got in prison.
With regard to martyrs whose remains are withheld, there are (12) martyrs: Anees Dolah, who martyred in Ashkelon prison in 1980, Azeez Ewaisat whose remain is withheld since 2018, Fares Baroud, Nassar Taqatqa, Bassam Sayeh since 2019, Saadi Gharabli and Kamal Abu Waer since 2020, Sami Emour since 2021, Dawood Zubaidi and Muhammad Turkman since 2022, in addition to the detainee Naser Abu Hmaid who martyred in December 2022, and the last detainee is Wadee Abu Rmouz who martyred on January 2023.
Regarding the sick detainees, there are (700) sick detainees who suffer from different diseases and in need of intensive medical care, including (24) detainees who have cancer, where the most difficult case is the detainee Walid Daqqa, who is detained since 37 years, in addition to the detainee Asef Refaie.
Arrest cases since the beginning of 2023
The Israeli authorities pursued its firm policies against Palestinian detainees and their families, where the crime of field executions was the most prominent procedure practiced during arrest.
(2300) arrest cases have been recorded since the beginning of this year, including (350) minors, the majority of them are from Jerusalem, in addition to (40) women.
The highest rate of arrests goes for Jerusalem in comparison with the West Bank with (3000) cases in the West Bank out of (7000) cases in Palestine.
(1200) arrest cases have been recorded in Jerusalem, besides to house custody, deportation, imposing taxes, fines, house demolishing and seizing funds of detainees' families.
Detainees and their families are subjected to systematic violations and crimes that start with the first moment of arrest, such as collective punishment, attacking detainees and their families, threatening, arresting family members, torture in interrogation centers, preventing them from meeting lawyers and holding them for long periods in interrogation centers.
However, the policy of administrative detention constituted the most prominent crime escalated by the Israeli authorities, aiming at undermining any struggling act by detainees.
The number of administrative detainees exceeded one thousand, which is the highest rate since 2003. It included children, elderly, sick persons and women, where there are (6) children held under the administrative detention and (2) women: Raghad Fanni and Rawda Abu Ajamiya.
Moreover, (860) orders of administrative detention have been issued since the beginning of 2023 under the pretext of a confidential file.
The situation of detainees in Israeli prisons with the systematic violations and crimes
The Israeli authorities and the administration of prisons pursued their systematic and firm policies against detainees, such as the crime of medical ignorance, where last victim of medical ignorance was the martyr Ahmad Abu Ali, who died on February 2023.
There are currently (700) sick detainees, including (24) who suffer from cancer, such as the detainee Walid Daqqa who is detained since 37 years, and subjected to the policy of medical ignorance.
Furthermore, the Israeli authorities pursued the policy of solitary confinement, which increased remarkably since 2021, especially after the operation of "freedom tunnel ". (35) detainees are currently held in solitary confinement, including sick detainees, such as Ahmad Manasra who is still isolated despite of his difficult health condition, in addition to the detainee Muhammad Khalil who has been isolated since more than 15 years.
Additionally, the Israeli authorities pursued using the policy of incursions to the sections of prisons, where many incursions have been recorded since the beginning of this year, the difficult of which was conducted on January, and collective punishments have been imposed against detainees including solitary confinement.
Moreover, the Israeli occupation authorities put more obstacles in front of family visits, especially detainees from Gaza as a punitive procedure.
Detainees have implemented a series of struggle and rebel acts since the beginning of 2023, protesting against the procedures of the extremist Ben Gvir, which targeted the quantity of water and bread provided for detainees and hours of using toilets.
After a confrontation for 37 days, detainees were able to force the Israeli authorities to retreat from its measures, but it doesn't mean that Israel will stop its abusive measures against Palestinian detainees, which became part of the prisons system.
Detainees' institutions confirm, in the light of the consistent aggression against our people, that human rights organisations all over the world have to do its role in defending the rights of Palestinian people, who are struggling against this occupation since decades, and who were subjected to countless crimes.
We call on human rights organisations all over the world to provide international protection for Palestinian detainees, in light of killing tens and arresting hundreds of the Palestinian people, and also we call for deterrent decisions against the occupation's crimes.