I.C.S.P.R: CALL UPON ALL INTERNATIONAL, ARAB AND PALESTINIAN EFFORTS TO SUPPORT PALESTINIAN AND ARAB DETAINEES RIGHTS.

Ref.no: 17/2017

Press Release (Flash Appeal)

I.C.S.P.R: Call upon all International, Arab and Palestinian efforts to support Palestinian and Arab detainees rights.

International Commission to Support Palestinian Rights (I.C.S.P.R) expressed its deep concern for the lives of Palestinian detainees in Israeli prisons, especially journalist Mohammed Al- Qiq, who began an open hunger strike for nearly three weeks, to stop escalating Israeli violations against him and other Palestinian detainees, most important, to stop administrative detention policy.

This, over the past years, especially the last six years (2012-2017) a number of Palestinian prisoners initiated open hunger strike individually or collectively, to put pressure on the Israeli prisons administration to stop the systematic policy of violation of the most elementary rights accorded to them under international conventions, in particular the four Geneva Conventions of 1949 and additional Protocol I of 1977 to the Fourth Geneva Convention.

The continued Israeli occupation state treated in a way that its above international law, inevitable result of the lack of international , Palestinian and Arab intervention to protect the rights of these detainees, who exposed serious violations carried out by the Israeli occupying force, aim of undermining their dignity, Through the policies of administrative detention, medical neglect, isolation, torture, stealing the cantina, added to the harsh sanctions, torture in the investigative stage, and an assault on detainees with beatings and excessive force, and application of legislation contrary to international law.

Facts and statistics showed that more than third of the Palestinian people had entered prisons throughout the years of conflict with the Israeli occupation and the Zionist movement, with an estimated of arrested Palestinians cases since 1948 almost 800.000 case, 25% of the Palestinian people, In one of the biggest arrests in modern history. Palestinian uprising that began in 1987, and second intifada that began in 2000 considered one of the hardest historical stages, where random arrests of the Palestinian people happened, as the number of daily arrests occurred in cities and towns and Palestinian refugee camps between 500 to 700 arrests per month, a very high percentage compared to the years before the intifada period.

According to statistics of The Prisoner’s Center For studies, patients prisoners list has grown to over (1700) prisoners who suffer from various diseases due to difficult conditions of detention and ill treatment, malnutrition , they are not receiving the necessary care prisoners and prisoners who suffer from chronic diseases.

IOF also still holding nearly 750 administrative detainees, administrative detainees in Israeli prisons are held without charge or trial, with approximately of 68 female prisoner, including 17 underage, With regard to child prisoners nearly 480 children under 18, the occupation authorities are still holding in its prisons (6) Legislative Council members who subject administrative detention, in addition to Deputy Marwan Barghuti, sentenced to life “5” times, and the General Secretary “Ahmed Sa’adat” sentenced 30 years.

The occupation forces arrested thousands of Palestinians from children, elderly, women and men throughout the occupied Palestinian territory, its cannot be justified on security grounds as alleging the occupation forces, but it is only a complement to their occupation forces against our people since1948, of “genocide” manifested through ethnic cleansing of Palestinians from their historical land to serve its colonial settlement replacement, which depends on committing the most heinous crimes of killing and displacement, and colonization and the uprooting of trees and plantings.

International Commission to Support Palestinian Rights (I.C.S.P.R) launches this urgent humanitarian appeal to urge international, Arab, and Palestinian parties to make greater efforts for urgent and organized interventions to save prisoners life and especially hunger strike detainees of the risk of death.

International Commission to Support Palestinian Rights declare it readiness and willingness to launch a national workshop to discuss ways to support the prisoners and detainees

International Commission to Support Palestinian Rights (I.C.S.P.R) express its solidarity with the Palestinian and Arab detainees in Israeli prisons and with their beloved, stressing that Israeli actions including the latest Israeli escalation against Palestinian detainees in Israeli prisons falls under a clear and systematic Israeli policy ignores their legitimate rights, aiming for  depriving detainees of their most basic human rights. It calls for:

1- Calls upon the International Community to work seriously to ensure the just demands of the Palestinian prisoners until the release of all Palestinian prisoners, to end their suffering

2- Calls Contracting Parties to the Fourth Geneva Convention to make its legal obligations in putting pressure on the occupying power to ensure respect for the legal obligations under international law and international humanitarian law, to cease abusing detainees, to comply it with all international standards governing the status, place and conditions of detention.

3- Calls upon the Council of the Arabic League, the Organization of the Islamic Conference to held specialized meeting, to discuss the situation of Palestinian and Arab prisoners and detainees in Israeli jails, to issue binding decisions to win their legitimate rights.

4- Calls the Organizations of different types to strive to enhance international solidarity movement with the Palestinians and Arabs detainees in Israeli prisons, including the popular movement throughout the world, to raise the Government’s sensor around the world, international organizations and agencies, the seriousness of the continuing inhumane conditions of Palestinian prisoners and its effect on their legitimate rights in international law.

5- Demands the Palestinian leadership to move toward the internationalization of the prisoners issue and activate and employ international law tools for accountability of the occupying State about crimes committed against Palestinian prisoners, that the most effective way to deter the perpetrators of these crimes.

6- Urges the Palestinian factions of the importance of completing the work to build a national initiative to form (National Committee for defense of administrative detainees in Israeli jails), for completing work on the initiative presented by a number of national figures, and the participation of civil organizations and specialists, announced by mid-2013 on the formation of the National Commission for administrative detainees, to support the struggle of the striking prisoners to their opposition to the decision of the Israeli occupation authorities to be subjected to administrative detention.

7- Emphasizes the importance to ensure plan to support detainees, specially administrative detainees and prisoners in Israeli jails, national, Arab and international mechanisms seeking to reach a objectives including: development and activating institutional and sustainable system to defend administrative detainees in Israeli jails, Improving mechanisms for the gathering , advocacy and networking at all levels to ensure the activation of the special role of the local and international media to expose crime of administrative detention, supporting a stable system of intervention and providing international legal assistance and advice to administrative detainees and relatives of the excesses committed by the occupying power accountable in the use of administrative detention, And in this International Commission to Support Palestinian Rights emphasized  its readiness  to care and coordinate efforts in this regard, to cooperate with all interested parties and Palestinian factions and people.