About 5000 Palestinian prisoners in Israeli occupation prisons: Report
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A new report highlights that the Israeli occupation keeps 31 Palestinian women and 160 children under the age of 18 behind bars.
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An Israeli occupation prison guard at a tower at "Ayalon" prison, February 13, 2013 (Reuters)
On the occasion of Palestinian Prisoner's Day, a new report showed that the Israeli occupation is imprisoning about 4,900 Palestinians, including many women and children, in its prisons.
The report highlighted that the Israeli occupation keeps 31 Palestinian women and 160 children under the age of 18 behind bars. It added that there are more than 1,000 administrative prisoners in occupation prisons, including two women and six children.
According to the Palestinian Information Center, the report was published by the Palestinian Commission of Detainees’ and Ex-Detainees’ Affairs, the Palestinian Prisoner Society, the Addameer Prisoner Support and Human Rights Association, and the Palestinian Wadi Hilweh Information Center.
Administrative detention is an arbitrary policy used by the Israeli occupation against Palestinians, where prisoners are held in Israeli prisons without charges filed against them, and their detention is renewed as a precautionary measure.
There is usually no evidence to incriminate the prisoners in any case, nor are any cases brought before their lawyers. The arrests are approved by military judges who receive an order signed by a commander of the occupation military in the occupied West Bank, along with secret intelligence materials about each prisoner.
The report indicated that there are currently 400 Palestinian prisoners who have spent more than 20 consecutive years in Israeli occupation prisons, while there are dozens of others who were rearrested and spent more than 20 years in two terms.
According to the report, 554 Palestinian prisoners are sentenced to life imprisonment, and 23 are serving long-term sentences and were arrested by Israeli occupation forces before the signing of the 1993 Oslo Accords.
The Palestinian rights groups mentioned that the Israeli occupation prison administration subjects Palestinian prisoners to systematic torture, harassment, and repression.
In late March, two Palestinian rights groups highlighted that the Israeli occupation systematically subjects Palestinian prisoners to various forms of torture, pointing out that "Israel" enjoys a culture of impunity in the absence of international accountability.
In a joint statement at the 52nd session of the UN Human Rights Council, Addameer and Al-Haq rights groups said the Israeli occupation's policy of torture and cruel treatment against Palestinian prisoners is part of its settler-colonial and apartheid regime.
They said several Israeli institutions attempt to hide occupation crimes, despite being well documented.
Since the Nakba (Catastrophe) Day in 1948, the Israeli occupation is estimated to have arrested more than one million Palestinians, and hundreds of Palestinian prisoners were martyred under torture and due to medical negligence in occupation prisons.
West continues 'deafening silence': Kanaani
Reacting to the report, Iranian Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Nasser Kanaani slammed the hypocrisy of Western countries who claim to defend human rights but remain silent against Israeli occupation crimes.
"The deafening silence kept by the false advocates of human rights in the Western countries vis-à-vis widespread and organized violation of Palestinians’ rights by the Zionist regime continues," Kanaani said.
يستمر الصمت المطبق للمدعين الزائفين لحقوق الإنسان في الدول الغربية ازاء الانتهاك الواسع والمنظم لحقوق الفلسطينيين من قبل الكيان الصهيوني.
— Nasser Kanaani (@IRIMFA_SPOX) April 17, 2023
هل يعرفون مصير حوالي 5000 أسير فلسطيني في سجون نظام الفصل العنصري الصهيوني بينهم 31 امرأة و 160 طفلاً؟
سيحكم التاريخ والضمائر الإنسانية الحية. pic.twitter.com/4KapagUkRs
He continued, "Are these false [human rights] advocates aware of the fate of about 5,000 Palestinians held captive by the apartheid Zionist regime, including 31 women and 160 children?"
"History and conscientious human beings will be the judge of that," Kanaani concluded.
Read more: Prisoner Thabet Mardawi sends letter on AlQuds day through Al Mayadeen
