Detainees' Institutions: the occupation authorities arrested (504) Palestinians on January 2022

Ramallah: the Israeli occupation authorities arrested (504) Palestinians on January 2022, including (54) minors under the age of 12, and (6) women. In addition, (96) administrative detention orders have been issued, including (51) new orders and (45) renewals.

This report was issued in participation with detainees' institutions (the Commission of Detainees' Affairs, the Palestinian Society Prisoner's Club, Al Dameer Association for Human Rights and Wadi Hilweh Information Center), where it shows that the number of detainees in Israeli prisons is currently (4500), including (34) women, (180) minors and (500) administrative detainees.

The report monitored the policies and measures implemented by the occupation authorities against detainees, in addition to the conditions lived by detainees.

Occupation's policies and measures

The report reviews part of the violations accompanies the daily arrest process and the conditions of interrogation and detention, which breach many rights guaranteed for detainees in accordance with the international humanitarian law and international human rights law, such as:

Collective arrests, exile and house demolishing

The occupation authorities proceeded in the campaign of arrest in an attempt to confront the struggle of Palestinians. The number of daily arrests reached to (16) cases, which are accompanied by many violations such as breaking through houses late at night and attacking the detainee and his family. Jerusalem witnessed a fierce campaign of arrests which included many towns such as AL-Tour, Issawyeh and Silwan. More than (70) persons have been arrested, under the pretext of throwing balls of snow towards police officers and army forces.

Sheikh Jarrah district witnessed a campaign of collective arrests in 19/1/2022 against 25 Palestinians during the demolishing of Salhyeh family, and then they released the most of them except for 5 persons, who got released in the next day under the condition of exile from Sheikh Jarrah.

Another case in point is the family of Hamed, where the occupation authorities arrested three of them; Hamed Yaseen Hamed (51 years), and his two sons Imad and Ahmad (24 years). They got arrested from their house at Silwad/ Ramallah after breaking through their house at 3:00 am and destroying its belongings.

Live ammunition and arrests at Birzeit University campus

The occupation authorities proceed in their policy in arresting students of Palestinian universities for their student activities, where (10) student have been arrested last month, including (7) from Birzeit University and (3) from The American Arab University. Although this constitutes an extension of the consecutive violations, starting with the killing, arresting and threatening of students, the recurrence of these violations sheds light on the grievousness of occupation's crimes.

A case in point is the student Ismail Barghouthi, who was gunshot in his leg before he was arrested with his colleagues Qassam Nakhla, Abdulhafeth Sharabati, Waleed Harazneh and Muhammad Khateeb. They have been arrested after the occupation army broke though the campus and attacked the students, and this is not the first time to break through the university.

Chasing former detainees and expelling them

The Israeli authorities chase the former detainees after ending their sentences by re-arresting them and impose restrictions against them as a means of threat. A case in point is the former detainees Anas Ewaisat and Basel Obaidat, who have been re-arrested after being released from Naqab prison. They got interrogated for a long time at Maskoubya detention center, and then got released on the condition of deportation from Jerusalem for one week.

Another case in point is the former detainees Areen Zaaneen, Ashraf Hedreh, Ibraheem Zaghal and his father and his brother.

 

The situations of detainees in Israeli prisons

 Palestinian detainees are subjected to several violations in Israeli prisons that breach many of their rights guaranteed by the international standards of detainees, such as:

The policy of medical ignorance (slow killing)

The Israeli occupation authorities practice a systematic policy in depriving detainees from medical care, and procrastinate in providing the appropriate treatment for sick detainees. Thus, many of them passed away due to this policy, and the sick cases are deteriorating such as the detainee Naser Abu Hmaid (49 years) from Ramallah, who suffers from cancer in the left lung.

Naser entered a coma since the beginning of January and has been transferred to Barzulai Hospital, and his health condition is very critical where he got transferred to the clinic of Al-Ramla prison. He uses a wheelchair and needs help in his daily activities.

The spread-out of Coronavirus increased the risk on detainees' lives, especially those who suffer from chronic diseases, where it spreads the most at Ofer prison with more than (500) cases. Many sick detainees are held at this prison, such as the detainee Amal Nakhla (18 years) who suffers from myasthenia, which is a serious and chronic disease that requires urgent medical care.

The occupation takes advantage from Coronavirus, and uses it as a means of torture and suppression against detainees, which is represented in depriving the detainees' of their rights under the pretext of the spread-out of the virus without taking into consideration the risks on their fate inside the prisons, which constitute a stimulating environment for the spread of diseases, with the absence of the necessary preventive measures.

Extreme cold... annual renewed suffering that affects detainees

Detainees' suffering is renewed every year in the Israeli prisons and increases in the winter, where there is a lack in blankets and clothes.

In such weather conditions, the occupation’s prison administration deliberately disregards the lives and demands of detainees, especially the newly arrested persons, and put them into tragic living conditions. Detainees are forbidden from obtaining blankets and clothes from their families, and they are given light clothes which does not protect them from the cold weather.

Detainees held at detention centers made of caravans are the most affected by the bad weather conditions, such as in Huwara detention center and Itzion detention center, where both centers are not suitable for human life, in addition to the prisons in the desert such as (Naqab, Nafha, beersheba and Remon) prisons.

The prison administration is still disclaiming its responsibilities and duties in providing detainees with the necessary blankets and clothes, which help them to overcome the hard climatic conditions, thus, detainees are forced to buy them at their expenses from the canteen.

Administrative detainees continues in boycotting the occupation's courts until achieving their goals

 (500) Administrative detainees are proceeding in boycotting the military courts as a protest step to end the administrative detention and its arbitrary policy implemented by the occupation against the Palestinian people. The boycott campaign started last January under the slogan of "our decision is freedom", and it was coordinated between administrative detainees and institutions working in the field of detainees and human rights. It is worthy to mention that the Captive movement supported the courageous decision of the administrative detainees of boycotting the courts.

Administrative detainees suffer from the continuous extending for administrative detention orders against them, where (45) orders have been renewed including the representative in the Legislative Council Muhammad Abu Tair for the second time, in addition to Amin Shwaiki, Muhammad Mansour Amal Nakhla, Abdulbaset Maa'tan and Mujahed Najjar. It is worthy to mention that all administrative detainees are committed to the struggle steps for the boycott campaign, where it is necessary to take advantage from this bold step carried out by administrative detainees, to shed more light on the issue of administrative detention and the suffering of detainees, and to internationalize it through communication with human rights organizations.