“Administrative detention, in the way that the Israelis practice it, is fundamentally a violation of the Geneva conventions,” says Samidoun’s International Coordinator, Charlotte Kates, when asked to comment on the legality of the detention of six long-term hunger-striking Palestinian political prisoners, two of which could die at any moment.
On October 22, experts at United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC) urged “Israel” to release five Palestinian hunger strikers over fears that there could be a rapid deterioration in their health at any moment. Despite this, Israeli authorities have continued to ignore these concerns. Now that there is another hunger striker to add to the original list, the risk of a violent escalation in the occupied territories, as a result of one or more prisoners dying in Israeli custody, is growing every day.
The six Palestinian prisoners currently on long-term hunger strike are: Kayed al-Fasfous, Miqdad Al-Qawasmeh, Alaa Al-Araj, Hisham Abu Hawash, Ayyad Al-Herimi and Louay Al-Ashqar. The mother of Miqdad Qawasmi, who spoke with Arab48 news, says that her son “has constant pain in the abdomen, his joints, and bones, and cannot see, in addition to arrhythmia, migraine and many other conditions,” adding that she lives in fear of him dying in the coming days. Kayed al-Fasfous, who has been on hunger strike for the longest period out of the group, abstaining from food for 118 days, also risks “clinical death” at any moment, according to his loved ones.
To get greater insight I traveled to Madrid, interviewing Charlotte Kates, the current International Coordinator for Samidoun, a leading Palestinian political prisoner advocacy group, who urged international mobilization to expand upon current social media and protest campaigns. Samidoun helped organize a protest which was set for the launch of a new Palestinian political movement ‘Masar al-Badil’ and in solidarity with the six political prisoners on hunger strike.
Firstly, I asked her to explain further what is happening to the political prisoners, she started by stating: “All of them are being held without charge or trial under administrative detention,” going on to explain that “administrative detention was first introduced to Palestine by the British colonial mandate and then adopted by the Zionist regime and is routinely used to imprison Palestinians on the basis of so-called secret evidence, with no charge, no trial and no opportunity to meaningfully contest on their imprisonment.”
“Because of that, these prisoners are putting their bodies and their lives on the line…Kayed al-Fasfous and Miqdad al-Qawasma have both been on hunger strike for over 100 days, they are held in the hospital, they have become emaciated, but they are refusing to stop because they know that this is a method of struggle, a method of resistance to obtain their freedom”.
Asked what Samidoun is currently doing to support the hunger strikers in administrative detention (held without a charge), Kates said: “We are working to organise with many other groups around the world, to protest, to put pressure on Western governments which are responsible for diplomatic, military and financial support for the Israeli occupation and to hold these governments accountable for their crimes against Palestinian prisoners, including the hunger strikers, the administrative detainees and all 4,650 Palestinians jailed by the Israeli occupation.”
I asked Charlotte Kates about the latest reports, coming out of the Israeli military prisons, that Samidoun had received, she answered: “In the past weeks and months, there has been a large escalation, not only in repression, but also in Palestinian resistance and the story of the 6 prisoners, who escaped from Gilboa prison, inspired Palestinians in and around the world and also internationals who were concerned for social justice, to take action and to mobilize in support of these prisoners.”
“What we have seen in response is a retaliation, and a criminal form of retaliation against the Palestinian prisoners has been this repression targeting every right they have obtained, which has only come through hunger strikes and other forms of collective struggle.”
As Samidoun provides legal help to Palestinian political prisoners, How does Charlotte Kates view administrative detention?
“Well, administrative detention, in the way that the Israelis practice it, is fundamentally a violation of the Geneva conventions. Israel will claim that an occupier has the right to detain people under the law, but the reality is that they use administrative detention on a systematic and constant basis. There are currently 500 Palestinians being held in administrative detention, there are around 100 orders issued every month, many of these are renewed repeatedly on the basis of so-called security reasons that are never revealed. Palestinians spend years at a time in administrative detention, so rather than being rare and time limited administrative detention is a systematic form of colonial oppression that happens on a very frequent basis and which is extended without any cause, or any allegation being presented.”
She added that: “It should be noted that these so-called allegations are illegitimate, because the entire system is based on the criminalization of legitimate Palestinian resistance, but in these cases even within the military court system, which convicts over 99% of Palestinians, Israel doesn’t think it can make a case, which just shows that with blatant disregard to fair trial standards, like it signed the International covenant on civil and political rights, not to mention the Geneva conventions, administrative detention is a violation of international law.”
In mid-October the Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ) Party, a political and armed group based in the Gaza Strip, organized a mass hunger strike which included around 400 prisoners belonging to the group. “Israel” quickly struck a deal to end this mass hunger strike, which threatened to draw in other political parties to organize their members to do the same. Yet, despite “Israel” having de-escalated tensions through striking a deal, which secured more basic rights for Palestinian prisoners, PIJ and Hamas, Gaza’s ruling Party, have both threatened retaliation in the event that any hunger striking prisoner is to die in Israeli custody. If this is to occur, a sudden armed escalation between “Israel” and the Gaza Strip could easily come as a result of it.
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