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PRISON IS A CENTRAL FEATURE OF PALESTINIAN LIFE

Article • August 15, 2008

Filed under: Bedding, Vermin, Guard Brutality/Beatings, Restraints, International Law, Prisoners-International, Political Prisoners (International), Military, Military Prisons

PRISON IS A CENTRAL FEATURE OF PALESTINIAN LIFE by Audrey Bomse, Esq. Since 1967, when the West Bank and Gaza were first occupied by Israel, over 650,000 Palestinians have been detained for resisting the Israeli Occupation by political, military and other means. This constitutes approximately 20% of the total Palestinian …

Palestinian Prisoners and International Law

Article • May 15, 2007

Filed under: International, International Law, Prisoners-International, Political Prisoners (International)

Palestinian Prisoners and International Law by By Audrey Bomse INTRODUCTION: Since 1967, well over 650,000 Palestinians from the West Bank and Gaza have been detained by Israel for resisting the Occupation. This constitutes approximately 20% of the total Palestinian population in the Occupied Territories and 40% of the total male …

Palestinian Child Political Prisoners Detained by Israel

Article • February 15, 2004 • from PLN February, 2004

Filed under: Conditions of Confinement, Totality of Conditions, International Law, Political Prisoners (International)

Palestinian Child Political Prisoners Detained by Israel by Catherine Cook Palestinian Child Political Prisoners Detained By Israel by Catherine Cook Since the political process between Israel and the Palestinians was reinvigorated in May 2003, prisoners, including children, have been high on the Palestinian political agenda. With one of the highest …

Israeli Supreme Court Limits Torture

Article • February 15, 2000 • from PLN February, 2000

Filed under: Excessive Force, Guard Brutality/Beatings, International Law, Prisoners-International

Israeli Supreme Court Limits Torture by In a Sept. 1999 ruling, Israel's Supreme Court outlawed the systemic torture of Palestinian detainees by the country's security forces. Israeli authorities had long claimed that "moderate physical pressure" during interrogations was necessary to combat terrorism. Palestinian prisoners, many detained without being charged, were …

Israeli Soldier Jailed for Refusing to Guard Palestinian Detainees

Article • March 15, 1998 • from PLN March, 1998

Filed under: Political Prisoners, International, Prisoners-International

Israeli Soldier Jailed for Refusing to Guard Palestinian Detainees by Yuval Lotem, a 40-year-old lieutenant in the Israeli Army reserve, like most Israeli men is called up for active duty several weeks a year. In early July 1997, Mr. Lotem was called to active duty and assigned guard duty at …

Kafka in the Desert: Palestinian Detainees Struggle

Article • March 15, 1998 • from PLN March, 1998

Filed under: Political Prisoners, Organizing, Prison Rebellion, Hunger Strikes, Prisoners-International

Kafka in the Desert: Palestinian Detainees Struggle by Imagine, if you will, an isolated prison in the desert. Surrounding the one conventional prison building is a large compound, divided into barbed wire enclosures, each holding several dozen prisoners in tents. The compound is walled in, and guarded by military police. …

Notes from the Unrepenitentiary

Article • February 15, 1997 • from PLN February, 1997

Filed under: Excessive Force, Guard Brutality/Beatings, Prisoners-International

Notes from the Unrepenitentiary by Laura Whitehorn In the last months of 1996, the court system in Israel legalized torture. Preventing "terrorist attacks" makes it necessary, the courts ruled, to use physical torture to extract information from Arab "suspects." Fifty years ago the nazis used similar rationales to justify the …

Palestinian Political Prisoners

Article • July 15, 1993 • from PLN July, 1993

Filed under: Political Prisoners, Organizing, Hunger Strikes, Guard Brutality/Beatings, Prisoners-International

Palestinian Political Prisoners by Israeli prisons are in many respects a microcosm of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. As places of detention and physical and psychological suffering, they represent in starkest terms the violent essence of occupation. On the other hand, Palestinian prisoners have turned them into fronts of struggle and steadfastness. …

Hunger Strike Ends After 19 Days

Article • January 15, 1993 • from PLN January, 1993

Filed under: Political Prisoners, Organizing, Hunger Strikes, Prisoners-International

Hunger Strike Ends After 19 Days by Muna Muhaisen By Muna Muhaisen Palestinian political prisoners ended their hunger strike last week after the Israeli Prison Authority entered negotiations with prisoner representatives and agreed to establish an investigative committee to look into the prisoners' demands. The strike, which began Sept. 27, …

Testimonies that Palestinian Prisoners Are Tortured

Article • September 15, 1992 • from PLN September, 1992

Filed under: Political Prisoners, Excessive Force, Guard Brutality/Beatings, Prisoners-International

Testimonies that Palestinian Prisoners Are Tortured by A human rights group confirmed on April 1, 1992, that the Israelis have allowed security services to routinely practice torture against Palestinian prisoners. The group, called the "Israeli Center for Human Rights in the Occupied Arab Territories" known as B'tselem, said violence and …

Occupation Justice: The Israeli Treatment of Palestinians

Article • February 15, 1992 • from PLN February, 1992

Filed under: Political Prisoners, International, Prisoners-International

Occupation Justice: The Israeli Treatment of Palestinians by In February 1985 the Ramallah Military Court inflicted five years' imprisonment upon a 13-year old boy from Dheishe Refugee Camp, in the course of an "instant trial" lasting not more than one afternoon. Following that trial, Jerusalem peace activists Gideon Spiro wrote …

Abuses Continue at Ansar 3

Article • November 15, 1991 • from PLN November, 1991

Filed under: Political Prisoners, International, Prisoners-International

Abuses Continue at Ansar 3 by Abuses Continue At Ansar 3 Ansar 3 is a detention camp built by the Israeli government 70 kilometers south of Beersheba to hold the prisoners of the Palestinian Intifada. It is in the middle of the Negev desert and holds 6,000 prisoners at any …