they can starve to death!
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| Sun, 08-22-2004 - 9:00am |
21.8.04
"For all I care, they can starve to death!" announced Tzahi Hanegbi,
after Palestinian prisoners declared an open-ended hunger strike against
prison conditions. Thus the Minister for Internal Security added another
memorable phrase to the lexicon of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
Hanegbi became famous (or infamous) for the first time when, as a
student activist, he was caught on camera with his friends hunting Arab
students with bicycle chains. At the time I published a photo of him that
would not have shamed German or Polish students in the 1930s. With a
small difference: in the 30s the Jews were the pursued, now they were the
pursuers.
In the meantime, Hanegbi has changed like many young radicals - he
has turned into an unrestrained careerist. He has become a minister,
wearing elegant suits even on hot summer days and walking with the
typical, self-important gait of a cabinet minister. Now he even supports
Ariel Sharon's disengagement plan, much to the distress of his mother,
Geula Cohen, an extreme-right militant who has not changed her spots.
But beneath the minister's suit and the statesman's robe, Tzahi has
remained Tzahi, as evidenced by the total inhumanity of his statement
about the prisoners for whose well-being he is officially responsible.
His influence is not limited to words: the current prison crisis was
caused by his appointment of a new Director of Prisons, who immediately
proceeded to create intolerable conditions for the Palestinian prisoners.
Let's not dwell too much on the personality of the honorable
minister. It is much more important to turn our thoughts to the strike
itself.
Its basic cause is a particularly Israeli invention: the one-sided
war.
The IDF generals declare again and again that we are at war. The
state of war permits them to commit acts like "targeted eliminations",
which, in any other situation, would be called murder. But in a war, one
kills the enemy without court proceedings. And in general, the killing
and wounding of people, demolition of homes, uprooting of plantations and
all the other acts of the occupiers that have become daily occurrences
are being justified by the state of war.
But this is a very special war, because it confers rights only on
the fighters of one side. On the other side, there is no war, no
fighters, and no rights of fighters, but only criminals, terrorists,
murderers.
Why?
Once there was a clear distinction: one was a soldier if one wore a
uniform; if one did not wear a uniform, one was a criminal. Soldiers of
an invading army were allowed to execute local inhabitants who fired at
them on the spot. But in the middle of the 20th century, things changed.
A worldwide consensus accepted that the members of the French resistance
and the Russian and Yugoslav partisans and their like were fighters and
therefore entitled to the international protection accorded to legitimate
fighters. International conventions and the rules of war were amended
accordingly.
So what is the difference between soldiers and terrorists? Well,
the occupiers say, there is a tremendous difference: Soldiers fight
soldiers, terrorists hurt innocent civilians.
Really? The pilot who dropped the atomic bomb on Hiroshima and
killed tens of thousands of innocent civilians - was he a soldier or just
a criminal, a terrorist? And what were the pilots who destroyed whole
cities, like Hamburg and Dresden, when there was no valid military
necessity anymore? The declared aim was to break the will of the German
civilian population and compel them to capitulate. Were the commanders of
the British and American air forces terrorists (as the Nazis indeed
called them, inventing the term "Terrorflieger")?
What is the difference between an American pilot who drops a bomb on
a Baghdad market and the Iraqi terrorist, who lays a bomb in the same
market? The fact that the pilot has a uniform? Or that he drops his bomb
from a distance and does not see the children he is killing?
I am not saying this, of course, to justify the killing of
civilians. Indeed, I strongly condemn it, whoever the perpetrators may be
- soldiers, guerrillas, pilots above or terrorists below. One law for all..
Soldiers who are captured become prisoners-of-war, entitled to many
rights guaranteed by international conventions. A particular
international organization - the Red Cross - oversees this. P0Ws are not
held for punishment or revenge, but solely in order to prevent them from
returning to the battlefield. They are released when peace comes.
Underground fighters captured by their enemies are often tried as
criminals. Not only are they not entitled to the rights of POWs, but in
Israel their prison conditions are even worse than the inhuman conditions
inflicted on Israeli criminals. The American have learned from us, and
President George W. Bush has been sending Afghan fighters to an infamous
prison set up for them in Guantanamo, where they are deprived of all
human rights, both the rights of POWs and the rights of ordinary criminal
prisoners.
Years ago, when the Hebrew underground organizations were fighting
the British regime in Palestine, we demanded that our prisoners be
accorded the rights of POWs. The British did not accept this, but in
practice prisoners were generally treated as if they were POWs. The
captured underground fighters could enrol for correspondence courses, and
in fact, many of them completed their studies in law and other
professions in British prison camps.
One of the prisoners at that time was Geula Cohen, Tzahi Hanegbi's
mother. It would be interesting to know how she and her Stern Group
comrades would have reacted if a British police commander had declared
that he didn't give a damn if she died in prison. Probably they would
have tried to assassinate him. Fortunately, the British behaved
otherwise. They even brought her to a hospital for treatment (where she
promptly escaped with the help of Arab villagers.)
Towards the Irish underground fighters, the British took a different
line. When they declared a hunger strike, Margaret Thatcher let them
starve to death. This episode, on top of her attitude towards workers and
the needy, contributed to her image as an inhuman person.
A humane treatment of political prisoners is preferable even for
purely pragmatic reasons. Ex-prisoners are now filling the upper ranks of
the Palestinian Authority. Men who have spent 10, 15 and even 20 years in
Israeli jails have become political leaders, ministers and mayors. They
speak fluent Hebrew and know Israel well. Almost all of them now belong
to the moderate Palestinian camp, advocating co-existence between Israel
and a Palestinian state. They also head the forces seeking democracy and
reforms in the Palestinian Authority. The fair treatment they got at the
time by the prison personnel must have contributed to this.
But for me, the main thing is that the State of Israel should not
look like Tzahi Hanegbi and his ilk. It is important for me that human
beings - Palestinians as much as Israelis - should not starve to death in
Israeli prisons. It is important for me that prisoners - whether Israelis
or Palestinians - should be accorded humane conditions.
If Tzahi Hanegbi were in prison, I would be demanding the same even
for him.

15/08/2004
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Prisoners on Strike Threaten of Upgrading their Strike to Include Water in the Case of Continued Israeli Escalations
Prisons Guards Confiscate Salt and Cigarettes
Prisoners’ Lives are in Jeopardy… More Popular Participation is Required
Marwan El-Barghouthy is on Strike in his Cell
Prisoners on Strike threatened today that they would upgrade their strike to include not drinking water if the Israeli authorities continue with their escalatory policies against them. Prisoners said that Israel is dealing with the strike in an immoral manner. Prisons Service guards confiscated cigarettes and large quantities of salt from the prisons. The guards also removed pens and newspapers. Such steps had never been taken in any previous strike.
In Nafha prison, 50 Jewish non-political prisoners were made by the Prisons Service to set up barbecues to whet the appetite of security prisoners.
Issa Qaraqi’, the head of the Palestinian Prisoner’s Society warned against the Israeli measures that jeopardize the lives of the prisoners. He stated that this was the first time in the history of the prisoners’ movement whereby Israel issues a cabinet order to forcibly end the strike and calls publicly for their death.
Qaraqi’ called for a massive popular participation in the activities designed to support the prisoners on strike. He added that prisoners in all remaining prisons would commence with the hunger strike within the coming few days. He mentioned that sick prisoners threatened to enter the strike and to stop taking their medication. Qaraqi’ pointed out that the strike is not a political one, and that the prisoners are merely calling for an improvement of prison conditions and the abolition of humiliating interrogation methods.
Qaraqi’ said that the prisoners demands’ exposed the scandelous Israeli policies that contradicted the most basic rights of prisoners. Israel is not only violating international law,it is also violating its own laws.
Qaraqi’ called on the Israeli public to put an end to the extremism of the Israeli Right neglecting human rights and misleading the Israeli people by committing horrible crimes in the name of their security.
Qaraqi’ also mentioned that Mr. Marwan al-Barghouthy entered the hunger strike with the other prisoners. He is still in solitary confinement and the Prisons Service guards confiscated the radio and the television from his cell. Newspapers are not allowed into his cell either. Meanwhile, Khader Shqairat, Marwan’s lawyer was denied the right of visiting his client on Sunday, August 15th, 2004.
Palestinian Prisoner Society
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Press E-017-04
17/08/2004
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Israeli Prison Authorities Must Ensure the Fundamental Rights of Palestinian Political Prisoners
Thousands of Palestinian political prisoners are currently participating in an open hunger strike to protest their detention conditions and treatment by Israeli prison authorities. The protest is a non-political action aimed at securing conditions consistent with basic standards of humanity for Palestinian prisoners. Hunger strike spreads throughout other detention facilities. The hunger strike is a legitimate protest under Article 19 of the International Covenant of Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR).
Since the beginning of the current Intifada Israeli prison authorities have implemented a number of policies that violate basic standards for the treatment of prisoners. Amongst the measures that are being protested:
· Denial of visits by family members for extended periods.
· Imposing unnecessary security measures during visits, including stringent searches as well as the placement of glass panels separating the prisoners from their visitors, denying all physical contact and often rendering communication difficult.
· Regular strip searches carried out in view of the other prisoners in such a way as to cause humiliation.
· Placing prisoners in solitary confinement or isolation for extended periods.
· Denial of access to adequate health care and failure to ensure the necessary medical treatment for sick prisoners.
· Imposing fines for disciplinary infringements. These infringements are determined at the discretion of the prison officers.
International law very clearly states that all individuals who are deprived of their liberty shall be treated with humanity and with respect for their inherent dignity, a guiding principle which is set out in the ICCPR. The UN Human Rights Committee has affirmed that respect for the dignity of the person deprived of liberty must be guaranteed under the same conditions as for that of free persons. Other human rights standards such as the Body of Principles for the Protection of All Persons under Any Form of Detention or Imprisonment (Body of Principles) and the Standard Minimum Rules for the Treatment of Prisoners (Standard Minimum Rules), further outline basic principles applicable in situations where individuals are deprived of their liberty.
International law also states that prisoners must be allowed contact with the outside world, in particular that they must be allowed to receive regular visits from their families.
Any disciplinary action carried out by prison authorities must be carried out pursuant to law or regulation of the necessary authority. In addition disciplinary action that amounts to torture or cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment is prohibited at all times. The prohibition of torture or ill-treatment is one of the most fundamental provisions of international law, and is upheld in such standards as the ICCPR and the Convention Against Torture and all other Forms of Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (CAT). In particular, the Body of Principles holds that depriving a person, temporarily or permanently, of the use of his natural senses, amounts to “cruel, inhuman or degrading punishment or treatment.”
Israeli prison authorities must provide adequate medical services to the prison population at all times. In particular, prisoners requiring specialist medical treatment must be transported to specialised institutions, and the medical officer must pay daily visits to all sick prisoners, those complaining of illness and those to whom the officer's attention has been directed. Failing to meet these obligations contravenes provisions of the Standard Minimum Rules, and the right to health guaranteed under international human rights law.
The response of the Israeli Security Minister, Tzahi Hanegbi, to the hunger strike is a cause of substantial concern for Al-Haq. Speaking of the hunger strikers, Minister Hanegbi stated, “They can strike for a day, a month, until death. We will ward off this strike and it will be as if it never happened.” This displays not only a flagrant disregard for the health and well being of the Palestinian prison population, but also aligns the Israeli government position with the abusive policies of Israeli prison authorities. This creates a situation in which there is a substantial risk that the human rights of the protesting prisoners will be violated with government endorsement.
Al-Haq Press Release
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Press E-018-04
18/08/2004
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Israeli prison authorities display their true vulgarity
Israeli prison authorities have displayed their true vulgarity in responding to Palestinian political prisoners' legitimate protests by lighting barbeques to torment the 7,600 prisoners enduring an open ended hunger strike.
"The prisoners can strike for a day, a month, even starve to death, as far as I am concerned," Tzachi Hanegbi the Israeli Public Security Minister stated on Friday emphasizing that he has no intention of easing the conditions against which the prisoners are protesting.
The Israeli Prisons Service has so far responded to the strikes by imposing further restrictions including the removal of radios and television sets from jail cells, stopping the distribution of newspapers and selling cigarettes and also canceling family visits.
The Palestinian minister for detainees Hisham Abdel Razeq reported that police had yesterday stormed the prisons and placed those they believed to be the leaders into solitary confinement.
In the manner of Gandhi who engaged in a famous hunger strike to protest British rule of India the 7,600 Palestinian prisoners of Israeli jails have adopted this non-violent method of resistance to protest against the gross Israeli violations of their rights and the appalling conditions under which they are being detained.
The prisoners are demanding the right to family visits, an end to arbitrary and indiscriminate beatings, access to study through correspondence courses and greater communication with the outside world.