NOVANEWS
On 11-12 December, 2012, the Palestinian Centre for Human Rights (PCHR), participated in the International Conference for Solidarity with Palestinian and Arab Prisoners in Israeli Occupation Jails, sponsored by the League of Arab States and hosted by the Republic of Iraq in Baghdad.
The two-day conference brought together international figures, including EU and national parliamentarians, foreign diplomats, representatives of solidarity groups, human rights NGOs and other CSOs, international law professors and lawyers and was widely covered by Arab and international media groups.
Mr. Davide Tundo, a member of PCHR’s International Unit, participated in the conference and delivered a presentation based on a PCHR’s briefing submitted for this occasion and focusing on a few specific issues illustrative of the main pattern of Israeli violations vis à vis Palestinian prisoners.
In particular, Mr. Tundo noted that family visits for Gaza prisoners held in Israeli jails – banned under a blanket prohibition since mid-June 2007 and recently resumed with tight age and gender restrictions – are framed as a gesture of good will by Israel and as a negotiable item, rather than as an inalienable human right of Gaza prisoners that should be fully and unconditionally implemented.
Moreover, the transfer into prisons inside Israeli territory, the willful denial of the right to a fair trial and the inhuman and degrading treatment, including torture, to which Palestinian prisoners are subjected from the time of their arrest are contrary to Israel’s legal obligations and constitute serious breaches of international humanitarian and human rights law, in some cases constituting war crimes, against Palestinian prisoners.
Therefore Mr. Tundo conveyed PCHR’s belief that accountability for such serious crimes through mechanisms of international justice is a moral and legal obligation on all states, including members of the Arab League, particularly in light of the perverse cycle of impunity that leads to new violations, which is characterizes Israel’s longstanding and belligerent occupation of Palestinian land.
The enforcement of the rule of law is key vis à vis the long overdue realization of Palestinians’ human rights -such as justice- and especially Palestinian prisoners and their families.
Upon conclusion of the conference proceedings, the Baghdad Declaration partially echoed PCHR’s demands as it called upon the League of Arab States to ask a UN envoy be sent for a monitoring mission in Israeli jails and to refer the situation of the Palestinian prisoners to the International Criminal Court for a preliminary consideration.
PCHR’s briefing is available here.
