This year, Palestinian Detaines Day falls on Saturday 17 April 2010.
This day is an occasion on which to remember the suffering of thousands of Palestinians detained in Israeli prisons; deprived of their freedom as a result of their struggle for the right to self-determination.
This day is in fact a call for action and solidarity with Palestinian detainees, and a call for the grave and systematic violations perpetrated against them to be exposed.
     This year the Palestinian Detainees Day comes at a time when the Israeli authorities are practicing unprecedented grave violations against Palestinian prisoners.
On 1 April 2010, Palestinian prisoners went on hunger and visit strike, which will continue untill the end of April.
Detainees will strike for five days on 7, 12, 17, 22, and 27 April.
 This strike is being held to express solidarity with Gazan detainees who are deprived of their rights to family visits as well as to protest against the ill-treatment that their families receive during their visits and their inhumane treatment, for example body searches, at Israeli checkpoints.
  According to Al Mezan’s lawyer, Palestinian detainees have been deprived of their right to visitation since  4 July 2007.
 The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) and national and international human rights organizations have failed to pressurize Government of Israel to enable Gazan detainees to meet their families.
With this visit ban, Israel is violating international law.
  Since 1967, the Israeli authorities deliberately arrest Palestinians to prevent and prohibit any resistance actions.
According to the estimations of an ex-detainee and a researcher of detainees’ issues, Abdel Nasir Firwana, there are 7000 Palestinian detainees, of whom 337 are children , 35 women and 257 administrative detainees.
 735 detainees are from Gaza.
  The IOF continues practicing torture, cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment.
According to Al Mezan's Legal Assistance Unit, the Israeli intelligence uses different types of Shabah position (painful binding of the detainee's hands and feet to a chair) when investigating Palestinian detainees.
 Palestinian detainees are subject to long periods of investigation, abuse, spit on the face, beat, shaking, hands and kegs cuff, cold air, threats, sleep deprivation and other inhuman and degrading treatment.
     Al Mezan Centre for Human Rights condemns the systematic and continuous inhumane treatment of Palestinian detainees carried out by Israel.
Palestinian and Arab detainees are subject to degrading treatment in breach of their most basic rights accorded by international humanitarian law (IHL) and human rights standards.
Palestinian detainees are subject to the following violations: ·         Palestinian detainees are held in places of detention which do not accord with international standards for the treatment of detainees.
Places of detention do not provide protection from extreme weather conditions and large numbers of prisoners are held in cramped and confined spaces.
The Prison Administration also deliberately dims lighting in detention facilities which damages the eyesight of prisoners over time.
Essential maintenance is not carried out at these places of detention.
·         Detainees are provided with poor quality meals, which are sometimes spoiled, and are insufficient in quantity, which leads to malnutrition.
This violates international standards on the treatment of prisoners which state that prison authorities must provide detainees with food of nutritional value adequate for health and strength.
·         The Prison Administration conducts arbitrary search campaigns during which prisoners are strip-searched.
The detainees are also beaten, hit with batons, tear gassed, shot with bullets and placed in solitary confinement for long periods of time and their belongings are confiscated.
·         Detainees are not provided with adequate medical services which are limited to the provision of very basic health care for sick detainees.
These services do not meet their urgent health needs.
    Al Mezan Center for Human Rights asserts the right of detainees to communicate with people outside the prison including their right to family visits.
Al Mezan Calls on the ICRC to exert pressure on Israel to ensure the right of detainees to visitation, to enlarge the group of relatives who are allowed to visit their relatives to include, at least, second and third relatives.
Al Mezan also calls for prolonging visits time and to stop the inhumane treatment against the families of detainees.
  Al Mezan expresses its strong condemnation of the systematic inhumane treatment of Palestinian detainees carried out by Israel, which starts from the detention stage, through to unfair trial standards and detention conditions.
  Al Mezan calls on the international community to exert pressure on Israel to respect IHL and human rights standards, and especially the right of detainees to periodic prison visits, and to abide by the United Nations Standard Minimum Rules for the Treatment of Prisoners adopted in 1955 as well as other relevant international standards.
It also calls on the international community to take effective and urgent action to ensure the release of all Palestinian detainees.
              Ends