Write to the FCO about Palestinian prisoners on hunger strike

Please support the Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails, who have started a hunger strike on the 17 April, to protest against the conditions of their incarceration.

Please join us in asking the Foreign Office to urgently raise the issue with Israel, to end its violations of international law and human rights conventions in the treatment of Palestinians from the occupied Palestinian territories detained within Israel’s prison system, often without charge.

There are currently over 6,000 Palestinian prisoners detained by Israel, of which 53 are female and 300 are children - some as young as 12 years old, 7 are elected members of the Palestinian Legislative Council and 536 administrative detainees are held without charge or trial.

As documented by numerous human rights organisations, prisoners are systematically subjected to unacceptable and illegal practises. This includes the use of torture during interrogation, solitary confinement, numerous cases of gross medical negligence in cases of acute health issues, alongside the routine denial of visits.

Please take a moment to show your solidarity with Palestinian prisoners on hunger strike and take action.

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TO:
Foreign Secretary
Foreign and Commonwealth Office,
King Charles Street,
London SW1A 2AH
 
Over 1,100 Palestinian prisoners incarcerated in the Israeli prison system began a hunger strike on Monday the 17th April 2017, led by imprisoned leader Marwan Barghouti. The prisoners are calling upon Israel to end its violations of international law and human rights conventions in the treatment of Palestinians from the occupied Palestinian territories detained within Israel’s prison system, often without charge.
 
We are calling on you today to intervene in the strongest possible terms to demand that the Israeli government ends its brutal, inhumane and unlawful policies towards the prisoners
 
Since 1967, the start of the Israeli occupation of the Palestinian territory, more than 800,000 Palestinians has been detained under Israeli military orders. This number constitutes approximately 20 percent of the total Palestinian population in the Occupied Palestinian Territory (OPT) and as much as 40 percent of the total male Palestinian population. It also includes approximately 10,000 women jailed since 1967, as well as 8,000 Palestinian children arrested since 2000. Every Palestinian family has been subjected to having one or more members incarcerated subjecting the Palestinian people to one of the highest rates of incarceration in the world.
 
Last year saw a peak in arbitrary arrests, with approximately 6440 documented cases of arrests of Palestinians, including 1332 minors, with an average daily rate of arrests of 17 per day. These arrests targeted journalists, members of the Palestinian legislative council, women, human rights defenders, children and university students.
 
Of the currently over 6,000 Palestinian prisoners detained by Israel, 53 are female and 300 are children some as young as 12 years old, 7 are elected members of the Palestinian Legislative Council and 536 administrative detainees are held without charge or trial.
 
Israel forcibly transfers Palestinians in captivity to Israeli jails outside of the Occupied Palestinian Territory in breach of International humanitarian law. Amnesty International recently stated “Instead of unlawfully transferring prisoners outside the occupied territories, Israel must ensure all Palestinians arrested there are held in prisons and detention centers in the Occupied Palestinian Territories. Until then, the Israeli authorities must stop imposing excessive restrictions on visitation rights as a means of punishing prisoners and their families, and ensure that conditions fully meet international standards.”
 
Despite regulations that state that all prisoners are entitled to family visits once every two weeks the reality is that because family members from the OPT must apply for permits to enter Israel, they can visit much less frequently. The Israeli Prison Service regulations also allow the authorities to rescind a prisoner’s right to family visits on security grounds.
 
Gaza prisoners continue to be most affected by Israeli restrictions as the Israeli military grants permits to families from the Strip only once every two months. This policy affects around 365 prisoners from Gaza currently detained in Israel. In addition, Hamas prisoners along with other prisoners living in the same prison wings are only permitted one monthly visit, irrespective of where they come from.
 
As documented by numerous human rights monitoring agencies prisoners are systematically subjected to unacceptable and illegal practises. This includes the use of torture during interrogation, solitary confinement, numerous cases of gross medical negligence in cases of acute health issues, alongside the routine denial of visits.
 
We are calling on the British government to call for an immediate end of these practises, and for immediate protection for these prisoners and detainees, and the restoration of their long-denied basic rights, accordance to the provisions of the third and fourth Geneva conventions.
 
……
 
Sources:
http://www.addameer.org/sites/default/files/briefings/general_briefing_paper_-_june_2016_1.pdf
https://www.amnesty.org/en/latest/news/2017/04/israel-must-end-unlawful-and-cruel-policies-towards-palestinian-prisoners/

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Write to the FCO about Palestinian prisoners on hunger strike