3 hunger strikers hospitalized

[Jefferson23]

BETHLEHEM (Ma'an) -- Israeli authorities have hospitalized three Palestinians on hunger strike, a prison services spokeswoman said Friday.

Ayman Sharawna, Jaafar Azzidine and Tareq Qaadan were transferred from Ramle prison to hospitals in Israel for medical tests, Sivan Weizman told Ma'an.

Azzidine and Qaadan, who were taken to the Assaf Harofeh Medical Center, have been on hunger strike for 87 days in protest at their administrative detention, without charge or trial.

Sharawna went on hunger strike on July 1, 2012, but briefly stopped on Dec. 23 after believing there were developments in his case, prisoner rights group Addameer says. He restarted the strike in January.


in full: http://maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=567925

[R. Daneel Olivaw]

1. administrative detention, without charge or trial.

[Jefferson23]

2. Yes and if a government can use secret evidence against you, you're pretty much screwed.

Samer Issawi sentenced to 8 months in prison

BETHLEHEM (Ma'an) -- An Israeli court on Thursday sentenced hunger-striker Samer Issawi to eight months in prison, but he has yet to face a military committee which could imprison him for 20 years.

Issawi has been on hunger strike for 204 days.

The magistrates court in Jerusalem sentenced Issawi for leaving Jerusalem, in violation of the terms of his amnesty granted in an Oct. 2011 prisoner exchange deal.

The sentence includes time served since Issawi's re-arrest in July 2012, and will conclude on March 6, but Issawi also faces a possible sentence under an Israeli military order which allows a special military committee to cancel prisoners' amnesty.

The committee could use secret evidence to sentence Issawi to serve 20 years, the remainder of his previous sentence.

Issawi was freed in an Oct. 2011 prisoner swap for captured Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit. Israel has subsequently re-arrested at least 14 prisoners since the deal.

Ahead of Thursday's verdict, Israeli forces clashed with hundreds of Palestinians protesting near Ramallah on Thursday in solidarity with long-term hunger strikers like Issawi.

A Ma'an reporter said 29 protesters were injured by rubber-coated bullets and dozens more suffered tear gas inhalation.

Prisoners minister Issa Qaraqe and Fatah central committee member Mahmoud al-Aloul joined the rally, near Israel's Ofer prison in the central West Bank.

An Israeli military spokeswoman said soldiers used "riot dispersal means" against Palestinians who hurled rocks at forces.

Protests have been held across the West Bank and in Gaza in support of Issawi, who has been on hunger strike for 204 days, and Tareq Qaadan and Jaafar Azzidine who have refused food for 86 days.

http://maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=567724

[Jefferson23]

3. Draconian arrests of Palestinians

Fourteen Palestinians freed in the Gilad Shalit deal were arrested by the IDF and Shin Bet security service. Amira Hass reported on Sunday in Haaretz that five of them might serve from 16 to 28 years in prison due to secret or negligible offenses they are accused of committing after their release. This revolving door system is not only inhuman in itself, it also undermines the agreements Israel signed and will make future deals much harder to achieve.

The arrest of the 14 Palestinians was possible due to the confidential 2009 changes in the military law, ?decree 1651, which were introduced as the negotiations were being held. These changes allow the IDF and Shin Bet to re-arrest any person released before the end of his original term, following offenses that do not involve terrorist actions, such as traffic violations, participating in illegal demonstrations or illegal entry to Israel ? and that based on confidential evidence.

This can lead to imprisonment for decades. The military committee that considers the violation of release conditions is staffed by IDF officers.

Samer Issawi was re-arrested because it was claimed he left Jerusalem after his release and drove to the adjacent A-Ram neighborhood, thus violating his release conditions. Ibrahim Abu Hajla, according to the IDF, returned to his civilian political activity with the Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine, an organization that is part of the PLO, which signed the Oslo Accords with Israel. The evidence concerning the other arrested Palestinians remains secret.

Issawi has been on a hunger strike for a total of more than 200 days now, and this strike as well as the hunger strike of another Shalit deal released prisoner, and these repeat arrests are justly arousing public rage among the Palestinians.

Even if the repeat arrests of the 14 are legal, according to military decrees?, they are draconian, and reek of cruelty and abuse. There is no measure of justice or reason in jailing a man for years because he visited an adjacent neighborhood or even assumed political activity. If none of the 14 Palestinians committed any terrorist activities Israel should free them immediately.

http://www.haaretz.com/opinion/draconian-arrests-of-palestinians-1.504612

[Jefferson23]

4. Six Palestinians wounded in West Bank clashes with Jewish settlers, reports say

According to Palestinian demonstrators, clashes began when a group of Jewish settlers chased a Palestinian farmer and his family off land in the village of Kusra.

Palestinian villagers and Jewish settlers clashed in the northern West Bank village of Kusra on Saturday, wounding six demonstrators. According to the Palestinians, one demonstrator, Helmi Abbul-Aziz, was shot in the stomach.

It was not immediately clear who was responsible for shooting the 24-year-old man who took part in the protests that reflect mounting tension as Palestinians in the West Bank demonstrate against Israel's control of the territory.

A Palestinian hospital official and two villagers said Abdul-Aziz was in serious condition after being shot in the stomach. The medic requested anonymity because he was not authorized to speak to the media.

An Israeli military spokeswoman said about 150 Palestinians and 25 Jewish settlers took part in the clashes. The spokeswoman, who spoke on condition of anonymity in line with military policy, said she was looking into the shooting and reports that live fire was used to disperse the demonstrators.

http://www.haaretz.com/news/diplomacy-defense/six-palestinians-wounded-in-west-bank-clashes-with-jewish-settlers-reports-say-1.505275

[Jefferson23]

5. Israel orders hunger strikers be hospitalized after 28 days

Israel Medical Association's ethics board criticizes move, saying a hunger striker's autonomy should be respected and no medical treatment should be imposed against his will.

By Dan Even | Feb.26, 2013 | 3:18 AM

The Health Ministry issued a controversial regulation on Monday requiring hospitalization for hunger strikers if the action lasts more than 28 days.

Palestinian security prisoners are currently holding hunger strikes to protest the death of detainee Arafat Jaradat last week at Megiddo Prison.

"Every detainee and prisoner on a hunger strike in the security system and prison system should be hospitalized if the strike lasts more than 28 days, even if he is opposed to medical treatment," states the regulation, which was sent to hospital managers across the country.

The Israel Medical Association's ethics board criticized the move, which contradicts a position paper by the board from 2005. The board said then that a hunger striker's autonomy should be respected and no medical treatment should be imposed against his will.

Under the new regulation, if a hunger strike is still under 28 days, strikers must be hospitalized if their lives are in danger.

Hunger strikes in 2005 led to a discussion by the IMA ethics board on the role of a doctor treating a prisoner on a hunger strike.

In 2005, the IMA ruled that the doctor had to explain to the prisoner that his life was in danger if he continued a strike. But it added that a doctor could not exert undue pressure on a prisoner to dissuade him.

The paper stated that a doctor must check daily whether the prisoner wished to continue the strike and ensure that he was making the decision of his own free will. According to the paper, the doctor should check daily with the prisoner on how he would want to be treated if he were to lose consciousness. This would be documented in a confidential record.

This procedure matches parts of the 1975 Declaration of Tokyo of the World Medical Association, which states that a doctor can decide to the best of his ability whether to continue to treat a prisoner on a hunger strike after he has lost consciousness.

The doctor must also inform the striker whether he is willing to respect his request not to accept food or liquids, including artificial feeding if the prisoner loses consciousness, or whether he would not honor the request.

In an article for Haaretz in October, the chairman of the IMA ethics board, Dr. Avinoam Reches, called for the establishment of a committee to craft a national policy in preparation for mass hunger strikes.

Following the article, a conference call was held by officials from the Health Ministry and the attorney general to consider setting up a panel, but none has been established.

http://www.haaretz.com/news/national/israel-orders-hunger-strikers-be-hospitalized-after-28-days.premium-1.505808