Human Rights and Democracy Media Center- SHAMS, emphasizes that the Israeli government is trying to conceal its failure, through an arbitrary detention campaign in the West Bank. Since October 7, the first day of the aggression on the Gaza Strip, the Israeli government faced political, military, and security failure and currently, it tends to conceal its failure and repair its smashed image, by implementing an intensive detention campaign in the West Bank. The detention campaigns are arbitrary campaigns for the sake of revenge on Palestinians only. Following the crimes of killing and disconnecting electricity and denying the entry of food, water, fuel, and medicine to the Gaza Strip, the Israeli army intensified the violations against Palestinians in the West Bank. The Israeli forces invade the Palestinian cities, towns, and refugee camps on a daily basis in addition to blocking the roads with concrete blocks, dirt barriers, and gates in addition to the checkpoints, in order to disfigure the Palestinian localities.
SHAMS Center reminds that up to date, the Israeli authorities have arrested 1590 Palestinians since the beginning of the aggression on the Gaza Strip and the number is subject to increase. The detained Palestinians are from various age groups including aged people (males/ females) alongside with detaining doctors, engineers, teachers, journalists, academics, and many other segments. Among the detainees, there are 45 women, 14 journalists, and 13 members of the Palestinian Legislative Council. Two of the detainees were killed by the Israeli army after they were arrested. Within a duration of 24 hours, the administrative detainee Omar Hamza Hassan Daraghma (58 years old), from Toubas- northern of the West Bank, fell a martyr in Megiddo Prison on 23/10/2023. On 24/10/2023, the detainee Arafat Yaser Hamday (25 years old from Beit Sira Village- Ramallah), fell a martyr in Oufar Prison. The two martyrs were arrested after the aggression on the Gaza Strip
SHAMS Center affirms that since the beginning of the aggression on the Gaza Strip and the wide collective detention campaign in the West Bank, the prison authorities escalated their oppressive measures against the Palestinian prisoners inside the Israeli prisons. The prisoners are still subject to the attacks of the Israeli authorities through direct assault, confiscating properties, arbitrary transferring from one prison to another, sole confinement, and spraying teargas. The Israeli prison authorities took other punishment measures such as depriving the prisoners of the services of the so-called (Canteen) which is the place from which the prisoners can purchase their needs that the Israeli authorities do not provide. Prisoners are provided with two meals daily but not 3 as it should be and the clinics in the prisons are closed. Sick prisoners are not allowed to reach the hospitals outside the prisons and families’ visits are not allowed. Prisoners are forced to sleep on the floor due to the crowd in the prisons[1].
SHAMS Center affirms that the increase in the number of the Palestinian prisoners is nothing but a revenge policy of the Israeli occupation. There are daily mass campaigns, which increased the number of Palestinian prisoners inside the Israeli prisons. The Israeli detention campaigns take place in the various Palestinian governorates and everyday there are new detainees, which indicates the policy of the Israeli occupation to increase its aggression and violations against Palestinians. Palestinians are detained with no legal basis and the Israeli authorities have no purpose, but to revenge on Palestinians.
SHAMS Center reminds that since declaring the case of emergency, the Israeli government transferred the responsibility of supervising the prisons from the prison authority to the Israeli army. Additionally, the core decrease of the administrative detention order is canceled and so, the administrative detention is no longer ceiled with six months or another period but could be opened and reach two years or more. Since October 7, the Israeli authorities have issued 570 administrative detention orders; some of them are new while others are renewing detention orders. The number of Palestinian prisoners under administrative detention currently is 1600 prisoners[2].
SHAMS Center affirms that the Israeli authorities used to apply measures against Palestinian prisoners that violated international law and international humanitarian law. Palestinian prisoners’ rights are systematically violated by the Israeli occupation with no respect to international conventions and treaties. The Israeli arrogant procedures against the Palestinian prisoners are a profound violation of international humanitarian law. In particular, the Israeli authorities are violating the Geneva Third Convention (12/8/1949) and the first optional protocol annexed to the given convention. Additionally, the Israeli occupation is violating the Fourth Geneva Convention, dedicated to protecting civilians under war and armed conflicts. Article 4 of the Third Geneva Convention defines the eligibility of war prisoners as follows: “Members of other militias and members of other volunteer corps, including those of organized resistance movements, belonging to a Party to the conflict and operating in or outside their own territory, even if this territory is occupied, provided that such militias or volunteer corps, including such organized resistance movements, meet the following criteria: (a) They must be under the command of a person responsible for their subordinates; (b) They must have a distinct, fixed sign that is recognizable from a distance; (c) They must openly carry arms; (d) They must conduct their operations in accordance with the laws and customs of war.[3]” The Geneva Third and Fourth Conventions are applicable to the Palestinian prisoners although no international judiciary authority had ever declared their legal status yet.
SHAMS Center calls on the United Nations and its specialized institutions and agencies to exert pressure on the Israeli occupying state and compel it to adhere to the United Nations Standard Minimum Rules for the Treatment of Prisoners, known as the “Nelson Mandela Rules,” regarding Palestinian prisoners in Israeli prisons. These rules were adopted by the United Nations General Assembly in 2015. The emphasis is on improving prison conditions and the treatment of sick, injured, child, and female detainees, as well as providing appropriate environment, food, drink, and medication to all Palestinian prisoners and detainees in its custody.
The International
Committee of the Red Cross is also urged to make additional efforts to press
the occupying state to respect relevant agreements pertaining to prisoners and
cease its arbitrary violations against Palestinian male and female detainees.
[1] https://www.addameer.org/ar
[2] https://www.ppsmo.ps/home/news/10834?culture=ar-SA
[3] Geneva Third Convention- 12/8/1948. http://hrlibrary.umn.edu/arab/b092.html