Democratic Palestine : 14 (ص 13)
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- عنوان
- Democratic Palestine : 14 (ص 13)
- المحتوى
-
isolation and transferring prisoners to
other prisons and threatening to con-
tinue this if we continue our strike
threats. The administration varies its
treatment of the different sections, tight-
ening pressures and applying special
restrictions on the section for receiving
new detainees. The amount and quality
of food is deteriorating to the bottom
level.
«We are accustomed to this policy
and we will not give in. We will not waste
Our energy by reacting spontaneously.
Rather we will follow a careful plan in
order to respond with the best tactics...»
The letter chronicles how the pris-
oners attempts to have their conditions
improved have been met by obstinacy
on the part of the prison administration.
For example, the administration refused
the demand for the prisoners to move
between _ different sections. The
administrator insisted that anyone wish-
ing to do so must meet with him person-
ally. The detainees pointed to the
danger involved in this condition. The
administrator also refused to make
changes in the transferal policy, or to lift
the cultural blockade imposed on the
prisoners.
Administrative detainees
strike
A new aspect was added to the
struggle in Jnaid this autumn with the
presence of 44 of those administratively
detained under the Zionist iron fist pol-
icy. Another 35 were put in Bir Sheba
prison. According to the statement of the
detainees lawyer in October, the 35 are
all held in one room with only 20 beds
and no space for moving. Medical care is
non-existent and many of the detainees
had contracted illnesses. The detainees
charge that food is deliberately ill-pre-
pared.
In mid-October, the administrative
detainees in Jnaid went on hunger strike
against their illegal detention. The
Zionist policy of transfering some of the
strikers backfired, because the strike
thus spread to Bir Sheba as well. On
October 16th, all the political prisoners
staged a one-day hunger strike in soli-
darity with the administratively detained.
The Jnaid and Bir Sheba strikes were
eventually suspended due to the dete-
riorating health of some of the prisoners
who had been ill before the strike.
Jenin
The prisoners in Jenin are facing
grossly deteriorating conditions. The list
of their demands gives a comprehensive
picture of how the prison administration
has been manipulating living conditions
in the campaign to break the prisoners’
humanity and will to struggle. For
reasons of space, we include only a por-
tion of their demands below:
- To solve the water problem which
started six months ago, and has many
negative effects on the prisoners’ health.
Skin and stomach diseases are spread-
ing and dozens of prisoners are in
quarantine. In the words of the prison-
ers, «The shortage of hot, cold and bath
water is part of the policy of suppression
and slow death being practiced by the
Israeli authorities.
- To open the cell doors to allow move-
ment - «We spend 12 consecutive hours
locked in our cells. We are prohibited
from walks as a collective punish-
ment...»
- To allow the opening of windows for
fresh air and sunlight, and removing
asbestos from the windows as it causes
cancer.
- To repair sinks and install adequate
sinks for washing.
- To improve the food - «Our ration of
food is being stolen by the administra-
tion and mixed with the police rations...»
- To allow visits among the sections
which are now prohibited for ‘security
reasons’ or decided according to the
whim of the officers.
- To open the outer court as an exercise
yard because the existing one is not
adequate for movement or sports -
«Each prisoner has only 50 cm. in which
to walk. In a space of 80 meters square,
125 militants must walk.»
- To remove the screen during family
visits; extend the visiting time to one
hour and a half monthly; provide places
of rest, drinking water and bathrooms for
visiting relatives.
-To allow newspapers, — cultural
magazines, copy books and drawing
materials.
- To provide one table and two chairs for
every room.
- To allow the prisoners to buy additional
items in the canteen or through their
families.
- To stop the policy of individual and col-
lective punishment such as prohibiting
exercise and family visits.
- To stop the brutality of the officers in
the prison and during transfers.
- To end overcrowding.
- To provide medical care.
Gaza
Conditions in the jail at the military
government’s headquarters in Gaza are
so scandalous as to have been admitted
by the authorities. In October, Police
Minister Haim Bar Lev visited this prison
and considered the early release of
«criminals» to ease the overcrowding
and allow for the detention of the
recently arrested. «The density in this
prison is 1.8 square meters per prisoner,
as compared to between 2.8 and 3.5
square meters. in Israeli jails. Israeli jails
are regarded as overcrowded...(In one
instance) 60 to 80 detainees were
arrested in one night, and kept in a cell
so small there was only standing
room...Some cells lack showers and
toilets and, because regulations say that
wardens may not open cell doors at
night, the inmates use pails in their
rooms...» (Jerusalem Post, October 22,
1985). e
Occupied Palestine
|
The Kuwaiti newspaper «Al Qabas» printed the following chronology
of events in occupied Palestine in 1985.
The Israeli authorities have continued
their policy in the occupied Arab land,
working to advance their land confisca-
tion and settlement program and execut-
ing acampaign of terror and deportation.
The Palestinians have confronted these
measures, resisting and rising up. The
following are the most significant events
of 1985 in this respect:
Resisting occupation
Jan. 1: Mass demonstrations throughout
the West Bank and Gaza Strip on the
20th anniversary of the start of the
Palestinian revolution.
Jan. 3: Hunger strike by women
detainees in Ramallah prison.
Jan. 11: Duheisha camp confronts the
occupation forces and village league.
13 - هو جزء من
- Democratic Palestine : 14
- تاريخ
- مارس ١٩٨٦
- المنشئ
- الجبهة الشعبية لتحرير فلسطين
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