Today, 17 April 2007, marks the Palestinian Prisoner's Day; an occasion on which attention is directed to the case of Palestinian prisoners held in Israeli prisons and their treatment which falls way short of the standards enshrined in International Humanitarian Law (IHL) and international human rights law.
Since September 2000, Israel has intensified the detention of Palestinians.
There are now some 9,000 – 10,000 Palestinian prisoners held in 26 prisons and detention centers, mostly inside Israel.
Tens of thousands have been detained for short periods of time and hundreds are being held without trial.
Furthermore, the IOF routinely arrest Palestinian fishermen at sea and Palestinians civilians at military checkpoints on a daily basis.
In addition, IOF have arrested some 6,000 Palestinians below the age of 18 since 2000.
Among these, 390 are still being held.
Mohammad Ismael Khawaja, at age 13, is the youngest.
There are also 110 Palestinian women in the Israeli prisons of Telmond, Ramleh and Jalameh, among whom are 29 mothers.
Three women gave birth in the prisons; the latest being the case of Samar Sbeih, who gave birth to a baby on 27 April 2006.
There is one child, Ghada Zeitawi, living with her mother, Obeida Zeitawi, in the prison.
There are also about 1,000 prisoners suffering health conditions and injuries that need medical care.
Of these, 30 prisoners are confined at the Ramleh prison.
The neglect of the provision of adequate healthcare to prisoners exacerbates their situation.
Israel has also restricted regular family visitation, which take place on an erratic basis and under severe conditions.
In addition, numerous violations routinely occur at prisons including: • Inhumane treatment of detainees from the very commencement of detention.
Innumerable prisoners have been subjected to torture and other forms of degrading and cruel treatment during interrogation.
They are beaten and deprived from sleep for long hours and from medical treatment.
Prisoners are routinely cuffed and tied to chairs or made to stay in standing positions with dirty bags on their heads.
Many are subjected to solitary confinement for long periods and are kept incommunicado for the duration of interrogation.
Attacks on prisoners with cudgels, teargas and sound bombs, and imposing severe penalty on them.
Prisoners are deprived of close family visits due to the glass windows in the visiting locations separating them from their families and children.
Frequent strip searches of prisoners undertaken in a humiliating manner.
Those occur usually during surprising searches, in which violence is employed by guards.
Imposition of fines on prisoners and punitive procedures.
Al Mezan condemns the IOF's confinement of thousands of Palestinian prisoners for political reasons.
The Center strongly condemns the employment of torture and degrading treatment of prisoners in prisons as serious violations of non-derogable human rights.
The Center also denounces the detention of Palestinians inside Israel as contrary to international law, and the failure of Israel to uphold the applicable international standards regarding detention and fair trial.
Al Mezan therefore calls upon: The International Community to ensure Israeli due respect to the minimum standards relevant to the treatment of detainees and prisoners as enshrined in human rights instruments and IHL; especially the Convention against Torture, the 4th Geneva Convention and the other UN rules and minimum standards of treatment of prisoners.
The International Committee of Red Cross (ICRC) to condemn Israel's flagrant and systematic violations against Palestinian prisoners, and to ensure regular family visitation.
The PNA and international community to prioritize the case of prisoners when conducting talks and negotiations with Israel.
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