Amnesty International has today released a new report, entitled “Starving for Justice: Palestinians Detained Without Trial by Israel”. In a press release accompanying the report, Amnesty International says that: “We believe that Israel has renewed at least 30 Administrative Detention orders + issued at least 3 new ones since this [May 15] deal was struck” — this refers to the agreement between a committee of 9 Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails, and the Israeli Prison Service.
Amnesty says that “Despite many media reports suggesting that Israeli authorities had agreed as part of the deal to release Admin Detainees…at end of their current orders ‘unless significant new information was received’, it’s business as usual…”
Below is a list, from this Amnesty Report, of those 30 renewals of Administrative Detention and the 3 new ones.
The Amnesty International report notes that “Israel has used its system of Administrative Detention … to trample on the human rights of detainees for decades”.
Significantly, this Amnesty International report seems to say that those Administrative Detainees who have been jailed for their political beliefs — and this would presumably include being a member of organizations banned by Israel such as Hamas or Islamic Jihad — are Prisoners of Conscience.
This is a significant category of people whose human and political rights have been violated, for whom Amnesty International mounts world-wide awareness and support campaigns.
Some Prisoners of Conscience could also fall into the category of Human Rights Defenders — a group of people the UN Human Rights Council is bound to defend.
In this report, Amnesty International “calls on Israel to stop using these measures {Admin Detention] to suppress the legitimate + peaceful activities of activists.”
Within hours, the Palestinian Authority’s [PA’s] Government Media Center, headed by Ghassan Khatib [a former PA Minister of Labor and then of Planning, who long headed the Jerusalem Media = Communications Center] issued a statement saying that “we welcome this clear statement that Israel uses detention without trial to prevent Palestinians exercising their right to peaceful protest against the illegal occupation of Palestinian land”.
“Peaceful protest against the illegal occupation of Palestinian land” is a tactic and policy formally adopted by the PA Government headed by Salam Fayyad — and it is also endorsed by Palestinian President and head of Fateh, Mahmoud Abbas, himself, though there is precious little, really minimal, official backing of such protest.
However, that is not the only reason Israel uses “detention without trial”, terminology also used by Amnesty International at least once in this new report on Administrative Detention.
Israel seems to be using Administrative Detention primarily against those Palestinians accused of membership in organizations that Israel not only has declared “illegal” but also “terrorist” — particularly Hamas and Islamic Jihad.
Khatib himself scrupulously avoids using the words “Administrative Detention”… why?
The PA’s Government Media Center statement notes that “Dr. Khatib stressed that the abuse of prisoners is even worse than this report, as it does not address in detail all the violations of Palestinian prisoners that are contrary to international conventions and laws on the protection of the rights of prisoners of war”.
As the Palestinian government always does [while it does very little, saying its hands are tied etc.], it again here calls on the international community to act, and “calls on the international community to take action to end – and not merely condemn – the torture, detention without trial and other abuses highlighted by the Amnesty International report ‘Starved of justice: Palestinians detained without trial by Israel‘.”
In remarks attributed directly to Ghassan Khatib, the Government Media Center statement says: “This important report exposes human rights abuses practiced by Israel against Palestinian prisoners, and requires immediate and practical steps to implement its recommendations, the most important of which is to release prisoners immediately or given them a fair trial. Amnesty has made clear to the world how Israel breaks international law and breaks agreements with impunity. As this report states, Israel is already breaking the agreement it made to end the recent hunger strike by Palestinian prisoners … The torture of Palestinian prisoners should cause outrage even among those who support Israel. Israel can continue these shameful practices only as long as it feels safe from any serious international action to call it to account. This impunity must end.”
Here is the list, from the Amnesty International report, published here of those persons known to Amnesty International whose Administrative Detention has been extended, as well as 3 who are jailed under Administrative Detention orders for the first time:
PALESTINIANS WHOSE ADMINISTRATIVE DETENTION ORDERS HAVE BEEN RENEWED OR ISSUED BETWEEN 14 AND 31 MAY 2012
Amnesty International has received the names of 30 Palestinian administrative detainees whose detention orders have been renewed and three who had been issued with new orders since the deal ending the mass hunger strike was signed on 14 May.
New orders:
1.) Sameeh Eleiwi
2.) ‘Ala Fahmi Za’qeeq
3.) Mohammed Saeed Ali Ba’aran
Renewed orders:
1.) Mohammed Maher Bader (PLC member)
2.) Abdel Rahman Zidan (PLC member)
3.) Ahmed al-Haj Ali (PLC member)
4.) Mohammed Jamal Natsha (PLC member)
5.) Nayef Mohammed al-Rajoob (PLC member)
6.) Khalid Tafish (PLC member)
7.) Hasan Youssef (PLC member)
8.) Samir Qadi (PLC member)
9,) Mohammed Ghazal (university lecturer)
10.) Hussam Mohsen al-Raza
11.) Samer al-Barq
12.) Mohammed Karam al-Qadi
13.) Rashad Ahmad Abd al-Rahman
14.) Falah Taher Nada
15.) Aziz Haroon Kayed
16.) Shafiq Qawasmi
17.) Khalil Abu Matar
18.) Ahmad Assida
19.) Mohamed Ali Abu al-Rob
20.) Salah Nada
21.) Hassan Shtayyeh
23.) Sajed Militaat
24.) Rida Khaled
25.) Hussam Harb
26.) Abdel Basset al-Hajj
27.) Yassir Badrasawi
28.) Farouq Tawfiq Musa
29.) Hussam Khader [n.b., Hussam Khader of Fateh was elected to PLC in 1999, but jailed during 2006 elections so he could not present his candidacy]
30.) Hussein Abu Kweik
31.) Tareq al-Sheikh
