Gilad Shalit, tank crew captive video to be released by Hamas, in exchange for 20 female palestinian prisoners.
http://palestinianprisoners.blogspot...
http://www.haaretz.com/
Discussion below the jump...
I don't know what it would take, for Israel to submit to international courts, and recognize the human rights of Palestinian prisoners.
As long as Israel, and the US refuse to submit to popular democratic justice before the international courts of the UN, the charges against them remain outstanding.
For the US and Israel to agree to submit to justice would send a strong message to the world, that all peoples will be held accountable, regardless of their standing in the international community.
If even half of the charges are true, serious measures are called for, to facilitate immediate release of all prisoners held unjustly, or subject to abuse, to say the very least.
Israel and the US object to the balance of power in the UN, and thus don't trust the international court. This must be resolved.
Here's some info on general conditions of Palestinian prisoners, cut and pasted from Miftah:
Conditions: Miftah
Female Prisoners: Since 2000, the number of female prisoners detained by Israel has been the highest ever
in two decades. As of March 2005, the Palestine Monitor reported that occupation forces arrested and
imprisoned 128 females, 20 of whom are mothers and 2 of whom have given birth while in prison. Currently,
there are 8 girls under the age of 18 in Israeli detention in addition to the number of women who have
turned eighteen while under imprisonment.
In detention, Palestinian female prisoners constantly face torture, humiliation and horrendous living
conditions. After going through the interrogation process, most Palestinian women prisoners are transferred
to one of two prisons: Neve Tertza Prison, which is one section of the Ramleh Prison that also houses Israeli
female criminals, or Hasharon-Telmond Prison. The Israeli prison administration continually humiliates
Palestinian female prisoners by forcing them to strip in front of prison guards, who are generally male;
performing regular and brutal body searches; frequently engaging in sexual harassment; punishing the
prisoners in solitary confinement; prohibiting outside breaks or use of the canteen; carrying out cell
searches and confiscating personal property; and attacking the women by regularly beating them or firing
tear gas into their cells.
The prison administration also works to try and break up the unity of female detainees by isolating them
from the outside world and preventing family visits. Many of the Palestinian female prisoners were only
arrested in order to place pressure on their husbands, often threatening to harm them or their family
members if they do not cooperate as Israel wants.
Child Prisoners: Despite international and Israeli law, occupation forces continue to arrest children.
According to the PNA Department of Planning and Statistics, 3,000 Palestinian children have been arrested
since the beginning of the second Intifada in September 2000. There are currently 312 Palestinian children
in Israeli custody, four percent of whom are incarcerated under administrative detention without charges. Of
these overall child prisoners, 174 are still awaiting trial and 124 have been tried and sentenced; more than
450 Palestinian prisoners were arrested when they were children, but reached the age of 18 while in prison
and where they remain today. Furthermore, the majority of these prisoners, approximately fifty-five
percent, were arrested for throwing stones at Israeli soldiers.
According to Israeli military orders, Palestinian children are treated, tried and sentenced as adults beginning
from the age of sixteen. In practice, Palestinian child prisoners may be charged and sentenced in Israeli
military courts from the age of 12. Such orders violate international, as well as Israeli juvenile law, which
define children as eighteen or younger. Hence, Palestinian child prisoners suffer harsh, difficult treatment,
including torture, solitary confinement and overcrowded cells. The PNA Department of Planning and
Statistics reported that ninety-nine percent of child prisoners were subject to such inhumane treatment.
They are deprived of sleep, adequate education, medical treatment, family visits and recreational programs.
Over twenty-five percent of Palestinian child prisoners suffer from various illnesses.
Legal Rights and Procedures
The Israeli Prison Ordinance consists of 114 clauses, providing a legally binding set of rules for the Minister
of Interior. However, there is no definition of prisoners’ rights, no provision stipulating obligations incumbent
upon the authorities and no clause guaranteeing a prisoner’s minimum standard of life. The process of
detention usually begins with Israeli forces conducting mass arrest campaigns in Palestinian towns and
villages, imposing curfews, threatening families and ransacking and/or destroying homes. Arrests may occur
at home, on the streets, at Israeli checkpoints or in any public or private space. Detainees are usually
handcuffed and blindfolded, and soldiers rarely inform them of the reason for their arrest or where they will
be taken. Physical abuse and humiliation is common.
What are the prison conditions?
Some of the methods of torture include:
Severe beating, punching and kicking of detainees
Handcuffing detainees for long periods of time in contorted positions, such as to a small chair or to
a pipe hanging from the ceiling
Exposure to loud music and screaming sounds
Sleep deprivation
Denial of food, water and use of toilet
Threats of or actual acts of sexual abuse
Solitary confinement
Psychological threats and pressure to collaborate
Placing dirty, heavy sacks on detainees’ heads, which are sometimes covered in urine or feces
Denial of medical treatment
About eighty-five percent of all Palestinian detainees were subject to systematic torture by Israel during
their incarceration. The use of torture and acts of violence against prisoners in a detention system is a
common practice of colonizing regimes, which aim to pressure and break the will of a population that
refuses to submit to occupation and injustice.
Life in Israeli prisons also reflects international violations and inhumane treatment of prisoners. The prisons
are overcrowded and do not provide adequate shelter against extreme weather; food rations are poor in
both quantity and quality, often spoiled or infected with insects and worms; and clean clothes and adequate
supplies (such as blankets, mattresses or sanitary cells) are lacking. Many of the prisons are infected with
mice and cockroaches and do not have enough, or even proper, ventilation. Access to toilets is also
restricted, forcing prisoners to urinate in bottles inside their cells. As for the health condition of the
prisoners, more than 800 Palestinians suffer from bad health conditions, including various illnesses, chronic
disease or unattended injuries, usually inflicted during their arrests.