Prisoners Media Center reported that Israeli soldiers arrested 250 residents during the month of May, and carried out several invasions in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip; no arrests were reported in the Gaza Strip.
Hebron topped the arrests list since the soldiers arrested 35 residents, in the city and the surrounding villages.
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According to the report, the number of detainees in Israeli prisons arrived to 8814 detainees held in detention camps, prisons, and interrogation facilities, and facing harsh procedures.
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“The arrests did not stop, in spite of the truce arrived in the Egyptian resort of Sharm al-Sheik on February 8, 2005, the Israeli army resumed its invasions and arrests in the Palestinian territories, dozens of detainees are still held without trail or charges”, the center reported.
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At least 1000 detainees are sick; some need surgeries, while prison administration is not providing them with the needed medical care and attention.
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A recent data collected by the center revealed that soldiers arrested 61 women from several West Bank areas, including wives of detainees, and 14 children; the youngest female detainee is Hibat-Allah Mohammad Ishaq, from Hebron, who was arrested on February, 28, 2005.
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The number of female detainees arrested since the beginning of 2005 arrived to 140 detainees, imprisoned in al-Ramleh and Telmond detentions for women.
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Over the last four years, Israeli soldiers arrested 2000 Palestinian children, 350 of them are still in detention, including 15 females.
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Also, the center reported that soldiers arrested more than 800 residents since the Sharm al-Sheikh summit.
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Main violations in May:
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– Detainee Abdul-Fattah Yousef Raddad, 22, from Saida near Tulkarem, died at al-Ramleh detention hospital on May 5, 2005, after prison authorities neglected a gunshot injury he sustained during his arrest causing infections and complications leading to his death; the number of detainees who died in detention since the beginning of the Intifada arrived to seven.
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– Detainee Mohammad Ali Rashaida, 35, from Bethlehem, lost his ability to speak on May 4, 2005, as a result of torture, and after the soldiers fired rounds of live ammunition while placing their guns near his ears and face.
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– Four Jerusalemite detainees lost their ID’s after the Israeli minister of interior ordered this act, the four detainees identified as Wisam al-Abbasi, Wael Qasem, Mohammad Odeh and Ala’ ed-Deen al-Abbassi were arrested three years ago, and charged with planning bombings, leading to the death of 35 Israelis, according to the Israeli prosecution.
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– Zaki Mansour, 15, was arrested only two days after his eye was removed as a result of a sever injury; Mansour might completely lose his sight if he does not receive the needed medical care and attention, and is subjected to infections in the location of his removed eye.
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Torture methods used in Israeli prisons:
– Placing the detainees in dark cells, and baring them from any external contacts.
– Isolating the detainees in very small cells, without lights or having constant light in the cell, and in many cases the detainees are forced in the cell with masks covering their heads, depriving them from sleeping, and making them lose any sense of time.
– Threats against the detainees of continuous torture, execution or harming a family member or a friend in front of them.
– Torturing the detainees in front of each other, imposing life threatening situations on them which caused nervous breakdown in several cases.
– Humiliation and sexual harassments against the detainees, especially child and female detainees, which includes taking pictures of them in painful conditions, or after forcing them to strip.
– Pouring very cold water on the detainees, especially during cold weather.
– Forcing the detainees to sit in painful conditions for long periods.
– Knocking the heads of the detainees against the walls several times a day.
– Putting the cigarettes off on the bodies of the detainees, removing their nails by pulling them with tools, and tying their hands behind their backs for long periods.
– Clubbing them on the head, chest, and stomach.
– Forcing female detainees to remove head cover, if they use it, or entering their rooms and cells without notice.
– Cursing the detainees, God, prophet, and other insults against Islam.
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Administrative detention; a new sort of torture
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Administrative detention means arresting someone without specific charges, without trial, and imprisoning him through administrative procedures.
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The Israeli authorities repeatedly renewed administrative detention orders without filing any charges, some detainees received 14 renewals; administrative detention order could be to 3, 6, 9 months or more each time without any legal procedures.
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Most of the administrative detainees are there because they have political believes which appose the occupation and the Israeli polices; most of them were interrogated but did not ‘admit’ to the filed charges and were not convicted.
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Several detainees were transferred to administrative detention after serving their sentence period specified by an Israeli court.
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According to latest data, 150 detainees received repeated renewals of their detention period for 4 times or more, some detainees received eight consecutive renewals, such as detainee Ismail Shakshak, from the Gaza Strip, who is currently imprisoned in Kfar Youna detention.
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The number of administrative detainees is Israeli prisons was 850 in 2002, and arrived to 950 by 2004.
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There are 27 children in administrative detention, including four girls.
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Effects of torture:
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– Depression and fast anger.
- After a long period in solitary, the detainee tends to isolate himself from other detainees.
– Worried most of the time, unable to sleep, and when sleeping they see nightmares remembering days of torture and pain.
– Continuous headache, and uncontrolled even by painkiller pills.
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Psychological-Physical effects of torture:ÂÂ
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The term refers to feeling pain in several parts of the body, but the reasons behind the pain are psychological not physical, this is caused by several factors heady by the following;
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– repeated strikes to the head, depression, weakness and malfunctioning of body parts.
– Sever pain, at the heart area, and fast heartbeats.
– Continuous headache resulting of several strokes to the head during torture.
– Pain in the digestive system, especially the stomach, in addition to infections to the stomach and intestines.
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Moreover, there are 250 handicapped detainees as a result of injuries caused by the army prior to their arrest, including 25 paralyzed detainees, and detainees suffering from neurological and physiological problems are a result of torture during interrogation.
