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Urgent campaigns / Urgent Interventions / Israel / 2012 / July

Israel: Concern about the health of three Palestinian hunger strikers

Case ISR 260712

Administrative detention/ Hunger strike/ Serious health concerns

The International Secretariat of the World Organisation Against Torture (OMCT) requests your URGENT intervention in the following situation in Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territory.

Brief description of the situation

The International Secretariat of OMCT has been informed by Addameer and Al Haq, two members of OMCT SOS-Torture Network, about the administrative detention of Mr. Samer Al-Barq,Mr. Hassan Safadi and Mr. Ayman Sharawna, as well as their serious health condition caused by their hunger strike in protest of their detention. OMCT also remains concerned about the health condition of Mr. Mr. Akram Rikhawi who has ended his hunger strike after 102 days.

According to the information received, Mr. Samer Al-Barq is currently on the 66th day of his hunger strike, which he started after a first hunger strike of 30 days. He is staying at the Ramleh prison medical clinic, as the authorities refuse to release him to his home in the West Bank. According to his lawyer, who was able to visit him, his health is rapidly deteriorating. A few weeks ago Mr. Al-Barq’s heartbeat reportedly dropped to 35 beats per minute, an alarming and life-threatening situation, after which he was transported to the Assaf Harofeh Hospital for a night. There, he was shackled to the hospital bed by three limbs. At the moment he would suffer from vertigo, drastic weight loss and involuntary shivering and coldness in his legs, symptoms that may indicate peripheral nerve damage. The Israeli Prison Service has reportedly threatened to forcibly treat or feed him if he continues his hunger strike.

Mr. Hassan Safadi is on the 36th day of his hunger strike, following a previous one of 71-days. He is currently held at the Ramleh prison medical clinic awaiting a hearing on 6 August 2012 (which should have been held on 25 July but was postponed). This hearing may determine the upholding of his administrative detention, as Mr. Safadi was included in an agreement to end the hunger strike of Palestinian prisoners, and thus should have been released on 21 June 2012. Mr. Safadi’s health reportedly continues to deteriorate and he remains extremely weak.

According to the same information, Mr. Ayman Sharawna is currently on the 26th day of his hunger strike. According to the prison exchange deal, which included the release of more than 1’000 Palestinian political prisoners in exchange for captured Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit, he was released last October, only to be re-arrested on 31 January 2012. No charges have been filed against him.

All of the three hunger strikers are reportedly being denied access to an independent doctor.

OMCT has also been informed that Mr. Akram Rikhawi has ended his hunger strike after 102 days on 22 July 2012. He has reportedly reached an agreement with the Israeli Prison Service, which includes his release on 25 January 2013 – six months prior to his original release date, and his return to his home in the Gaza Strip upon his release. However, he remains detained in Ramleh prison in critical condition. 

Background Information

Israel has been holding hundreds of persons from the Occupied Palestinian Territory (OPT) in administrative detention. In the occupied Palestinian West Bank, the Israeli army carries out administrative detention on the basis of Military Order 1651, which empowers military commanders to detain an individual for up to six months if they have “reasonable grounds to presume that the security of the area or public security require the detention.” On or just before the expiry date, the detention order is also frequently renewed and this process can be continued indefinitely.

Administrative detention deprives detainees of basic safeguards, including the right to challenge the evidence on which the detention is based, warrants are not required, and the detainee may be held in incommunicado detention for an extended period, subject to renewal.

The United Nations Committee Against Torture has expressed its concern that administrative detention does not conform with article 16 of the Convention[1]. This type of indefinite administrative detention, following manifestly unfair proceedings, can amount to cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment.

OMCT expresses its deep concern about the situation of the three hunger strikers and Mr. Akram Rikhawi, and urges the competent authorities to take immediate measures in order to ensure that they receive a proper medical treatment in an adquate medical facility, and that they are treated humanly under all circumstances. OMCT is indeed concerned that detainees carrying out a hunger strike are getting punished, including by being held in solitary confinement and schackled.

OMCT is also concerned that the procedure under which their administrative detention has been ordered do not meet international human rights standards, including their right not to be arbitrarily detained as well as their absolute right at all times not to be subjected to any cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment.

Action requested

Please write to the authorities in Israel urging them to:

i.               Guarantee, in all circumstances, the physical and psychological integrity of Mr. Akram Rikhawi, Mr. Samer Al-Barq,Mr. Hassan Safadi and Mr. Ayman Sharawna;

ii.              Cease the practice of solitary confinement;

iii.            Guarantee their unconditional access to independent physicians; 

iv.            Order their immediate transfer to a public hospital with adequate care that does not include being shackled while in the hospital;

v.              Guarantee unconditional access to all members of their families, and guarantee that the family members are provided with all information concerning their medical condition;

vi.            Order their immediate release in the absence of valid legal charges that are consistent with international legal standards, or, if such charges exist, bring them promptly before an impartial, independent and competent tribunal that will ensure due process at all times;

vii.           Carry out a prompt, effective, thorough, independent and impartial investigation into the aforementioned facts, the result of which must be made public, in order to bring those responsible before a competent, independent and impartial tribunal and apply penal, civil and/or administrative sanctions as provided by law;

viii.         Guarantee that adequate compensation is awarded to them for the violation of their human rights;

ix.            At all times ensure strict respect for international human rights and humanitarian law in the exercise of its jurisdiction, including in connection with military operations in the Occupied Palestinian Territory.

Addresses

Ø Mr. Benjamin Netanyahu, Prime Minister, Office of the Prime Minister, 3, Kaplan Street, PO Box 187, Kiryat Ben-Gurion, Jerusalem, Israel, Fax: +972- 2-651 2631, Email: pm_eng@pmo.gov.il

Ø Brigadier General Danny Efroni, Military Judge Advocate General, 6 David Elazar Street, Hakirya, Tel Aviv, Israel, Fax:  +972 3 608 0366, +972 3 569 4526, Email: arbel@mail.idf.il, avimn@idf.gov.il

Ø Lieutenant General Aharon Franco, Israel Prison Service Commissioner, Israel Prison Service, PO Box 81, Ramleh 72100, Israel, Fax: +972 8 919 3800

Ø M. Ehud Barak, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Defense, 37 Kaplan Street, Hakirya, Tel Aviv 61909, Fax. + 972 3 691 6940 / 696 2757

Ø Permanent Mission of Israel to the United Nations Office and Specialized Institutions in Geneva, Avenue de la Paix 1-3, 1202 Geneva, Fax: +41 22 716 05 55, Email: mission-israel@geneva.mfa.gov.il

Please also write to the embassies of Israel in your respective country.

***

Geneva, 26 July 2012.

Kindly inform us of any action undertaken quoting the code of this appeal in your reply.



[1] CAT/C/ISR/CO/4, para 17.

Properties

Date: July 26, 2012
Activity: Urgent campaigns
Type: Urgent Interventions
Country: Israel
Subjects: Threats, intimidation and harassment, Torture and violence

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