The head of the Commission of Detainees' Affairs, Qadri Abu Baker, mourned the former detainee Fatima Bernawi, the first detainee in the modern Palestinian revolution, who passed away today in Egypt.

Major General Qadri Abu Baker extends his condolences to her family and all Palestinian people and its leaders and the Captive Movement .

Abu Baker praised the late struggler, who etched her name in the record of immortal persons of our great people. Fatima Bernawi was born in 1939 in Jerusalem , and she's of a Nigerian father. She was of the first group of Fatah Movement fighters in 1965, where the late president Yaser Arafat delegated her with organisational and martial missions.

She was the heroine of an operation inside a cenima in Jerusalem, and then she has been arrested in October 1967, and sentenced to life imprisonment.

She has been released after ten years in 1977 in accordance with an exchange bargain.

Thirteen women are detained in Israeli prisons, two of them under the administrative detention 26/10/2022 The Commission of Detainees' Affairs stated that more than (17000) arrest cases have been recorded against Palestinian women since 1967, including mothers, wives, pregnant women, minors and representatives in the Legislative Council.

(125) Palestinian women had been arrested since the beginning of 2022.

The first Palestinian woman detainee was the militant "Fatima Bernawi" from Jerusalem, who has been arrested in 14/10/1967 and served (10) years in prison.

The Commission pointed out that the Israeli authorities is holding (30) women in its prisons, including the detainees Shurouq Badan and Bushra Taweel under the administrative detention.

Testimonies of detainees showed that the Israeli authorities implement the same measures and abusive practices used against men during detention, and that all women have been subjected to physical and psychological torture and degrading treatment, without taking into consideration their physical and psychological safety.

The Commission stated that the experience of women in prison confirmed that the Palestinian women have maintained their dignity and principles and confronted the brutality and barbarism of the Israeli jailer.

The Palestinian women succeeded in turning the prison into a school and stood firmly in front of the Israeli suppression.

They succeeded in building a cultural and intellectual organisation inside the prisons, making a state of challenge in spite of all restrictions. It is worthy to mention that Palestinian women in Israeli prisons are suffering from difficult health conditions, the hardest of whom is the detainee Israa Jaabees (36 years). She has been arrested in 11/10/2015 and sentenced to 11 years.

With the approach of the National day of the Palestinian woman

The Commission of Detainees' Affairs publishes a fact sheet on Palestinian women detainees in Israeli prisons

24/10/2022

The Commission of Detainees' Affairs published a fact sheet highlighting the suffering of women detainees in Israeli prisons, with the approach of the National Day of Palestinian women, which marks 26th of October each year.

This day had been adopted by the Palestinian Council of Ministers in 2019. The Commission pointed out that the Palestinian organisations decided to organise events starting today, where many protests and marshes in solidarity with Palestinian detainees will be held in all cities.

* facts about Palestinian women detainees:

_the total number of detainees in Israeli prisons is 4700

_ 30 women detainees _ 2 women under the administrative detention

_ the first female detainee is Fatma Bernawi, who was detained in 1967 and sentenced to life imprisonment.

_ 2550 women had been arrested since the Oslo Accord

_ 17.000 women had been arrested since 1967

_ the highest rate of women arrests was in Jerusalem with 45% of the total arrests _ 17 women had high sentences, the highest of which goes for ( Shurouq Dwayat and Shatella Abu Ayyad) who were sentenced to 16 years and the detainee ( Aysha Afghani) with 15 years.

_ there is a minor in the Israeli prisons called Nufouth Hammad from Shiekh Jarrah/ Jerusalem

_ There are 6 injured women in Israeli prisons, the worst case is the detainee Israa Jaabees _ there are two women who died in Israeli prisons (Saadeya Faragallah and Fatma Taqatqa.

The Commission confirmed that the Palestinian women participated in struggle over the past decades, and has been subjected to detention and torture such as men, without taking into consideration their privacy.

Women detainees face difficult life conditions in Damoun prison, where cameras still installed in the yard.

In addition, they are detained in rooms with high humidity, and they are subjected to medical ignorance and prevented from family visits under feeble excuses.

The head of the Commission of Detainees' Affairs, MG. Qadri Abu Baker, paid tribute to the leaders of Arab countries in the wake of the thirty- second session of the Arab summit, which was held on 1st and 2nd of this month in Algeria.

Abu Baker stated : " the presence of the Palestinian detainees cause in this session confirms its fairness and regional and national importance.

It also confirms on the close correlation with arab people and governments, where the recommendations included clear and obvious clauses related to the Palestinians right of self-determination ,ending the occupation and stopping all violations such as detention and other unethical practices".

Abu Baker pointed out that " the presence of detainees cause in the summit shall be realistic to all arabs , where the past few years witnessed a retreat in the financial and moral obligations, which affected the status of this cause on regional and international levels".

The head of the Commission stressed on the necessity of creating Arab initiatives to call on releasing detainees of long terms, sick detainees, minors, women and administrative detainees.

Abu Baker paid a special tribute to the republic of Algeria, the president, people and government, especially the media system that publishes the cause of our detainees to the whole world.

The Commission of Detainees' Affairs clarified in a statement issued today, the details of health conditions for 4 detainees in Remon and Nafaha prisons, where they are suffering from bad health conditions due to medical ignorance, depriving them of treatment and giving them only painkillers.

A case in point is the detainee Baker Abu Obaid (41 years) from Tulkarem. He suffers from severe headache, and his health condition deteriorated after going on a hunger strike in 2017.

He is just given painkillers and sedative drugs. Another case in point is the detainee Issam Zain Al-deen (38 years) from Nablus.

He is currently held at Nafaha prison, and suffering from skin allergies and he is in need for medical checkups to have the appropriate treatment. Moreover, the detainee Iyad Qawasmeh (55 years) from Hebron, is suffering from back pain, and he is waiting for having a surgery, but the administration of Remon prison procrastinate in conducting medical checkups to diagnose his case.

The last case in point is the detainee Ali Sbaih (45 years) from Jenin. He suffers from severe toothache since 2012 , where he cannot sleep out of pain. The clinic of Remon prison only provides him with painkillers.

The Commission of Detainees' Affairs commended the report prepared by the special rapporteur, Francheska Albanees, on human rights in the Palestinian territories occupied in 1967, which was submitted to the Human Rights Council in its seventy- seventh session.

The Commission stated that the report showed many issues related to human rights, especially the Palestinians right to self-determination.

Moreover, the United Nations confirmed in its report that the right of self-determination is an inalienable right for Palestinian people, and that recognizing the Palestinian struggle by the General Assembly to regain the right of self-determination represents a significant recognition of Palestinian national resistance.

In this context, the Commission called for implementing what has been provided in the report to refute the Israeli narrative and reinforce the legal status of the Palestinian detainees and the legitimacy of their resistance .

The Commission also pointed out that the report has highlighted the collective arbitrary arrests, administrative detention, and arresting children, ministers, teachers and human rights defenders.

The Commission considers this report as a significant bill which contains confirmations on the Palestinians right to self-determination and resistance.

Moreover, the report included many paragraphs and frank statements denouncing the collective arbitrary arrests and the administrative detention without charges or trials. The Commission pays tribute to all efforts done in this context, especially the diplomatic and official levels, and the role of human rights organisations, in addition to the popular role and hunger strikes which affected the international public opinion.

The Commission called on the concerned authorities to invest in this report and build on it in order to practice pressure against the Israeli authorities to respect the international law when dealing with the Palestinian people, especially detainees .

The head of the Commission of Detainees' Affairs, M.G Qadri Abu Baker, condemned the fierce campaign of arrests launched by the Israeli authorities against our people in many cities of the West Bank and Jerusalem.

Abu Baker said the Israeli army tend to use excessive force, torture and abuse during arrests in the Palestinian cities and refugee camps, where they are subjected to severe beating, degrading treatment, storming their homes and destroying their belongings.

In addition, Palestinian detainees are exposed to physical and psychological abuse during arrests and in interrogation centers.

Abu Baker confirmed that implementing these measures against our detainees contradicts all international charters and agreements that guarantee human rights.

Abu Baker pointed out that these procedures won't break the will of Palestinians, but it actually increases their power a d steadfastness until establishing their state with Jerusalem as its capital.

The Commission of Detainees' Affairs confirmed that the detainee Sabe' Titi (33 years) from Balata camp/ Nablus, is going through a hunger strike since 9 days, protesting against his isolation and depriving him of using the canteen.

The lawyer of the Commission, Yousef Mateya, stated after his visit to Remon prison that the administration of prisons still isolating the detainee since a month, where the Israeli forces arrested him in 10/4/2022.

The Salem court sentenced him to 6 months under administrative detention, and renewed the sentence for additional 6 months, under the pretext of a confidential file.

It is worthy to mention that the detainee Sabe' Titi is the brother of the female detainee Aseel Titi, who has been arrested during visiting her brother at Remon prison, under the pretext of committing stabbing attack against a jailer.

The Commission of Detainees' Affairs called on the International Committee of the Red Cross to intervene immediately with the occupation authorities and prisons administration to stop the policy of cancelling family visits.

The Commission pointed out that the Red Cross informed us about the cancellation of family visits in all prisons without any real justification, relating this to the incidents took place at Remon prison during family visits before two weeks.

The Commission stated: cancelling family visits is based on vengeful intentions and aims at manipulating any event in their favour.

The Commission expressed its deep concern about these procedures and practices which increase the suffering of detainees and their relatives, and stopping these actions should depend on humane and legal basis, where the visits should be organized by international sides headed by the International Committee of the Red Cross.