Friday 3 December 2010

Ministry of prisoners holds Fatah responsible on lives of hunger strikers in Jericho

[ 03/12/2010 - 03:33 PM ]

GAZA, (PIC)-- The PA ministry of prisoners in Gaza has held the authority of Fatah in the West Bank fully responsible for the lives of six Palestinian prisoners who went on hunger strike for the tenth day now in the infamous Jericho jail in the West Bank.

In a statement it issued over the matter, the ministry published the names of the hunger strikers, asserting they were maltreated and tortured while in detention.

A year ago, the six kidnapped Palestinians won a ruling from the PA high court dismissing their case and ordering their immediate release, but the PA security refused to implement the court order and kept the six in detention prompting their decision to go on hunger strike till they are released or die for their freedom, the ministry confirmed.

The ministry added that the detainees of the Jericho jail were exposed to incarceration condition worse than the imprisonment conditions in the Israeli jails, explaining that the detainees were maltreated, and denied their right a stroll and exercise.

Furthermore, the ministry said, families of the detainees in the said jail were maltreated and humiliated when they visit their detained sons, quoting the mother of one of the detainees as saying that the prisoners are exposed to slow execution process in the jail.

Relatives of the prisoners asserted that their sons committed no crime or law violation, adding that their sons were tortured and jailed for political reasons for supporting the Islamic Movement in Palestine, adding that many of them were jailed in Israeli jails for many years for the same reasons.

Moreover, the ministry underlined that hundreds of Palestinian citizens were detained and tortured in the PA jails in the West Bank, urging Arab and Muslim countries not to finance the “collaborator” government of Salam Fayyadh, the illegitimate PA prime minister in the West Bank.

Meanwhile, the director of the Jericho jail Tareq Sharbati threatened to break the strike even if half of the hunger strikers are killed, prompting wide criticism from human rights organizations, including the Arab Organization for Human Rights in Britain.

According to organization, the jail administration is launching strong psychological war against the hunger strikers in a bid to end the strike, even by force. The hunger strikers rejected Sharbati’s threats, and insisted on continuing their strike.

According to the Arab organization, international law bans the use of force to break the strike, holding the PA security forces responsible for lives of the six prisoners, urging media outlets to keep the focus on the issue till they are freed and the court order is heeded. It also called on the EU to dispatch fact-finding committee to check what is happening in the Jericho jail.
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