President Abbas and Leadership Will Continue to Support Families of Prisoners
Lebanon, MINA — Head of the Detainees Affairs Commission, Issa Qaraqe Sunday affirmed that President Mahmoud Abbas and the Palestinian leadership will continue to support the families of prisoners and of those killed or wounded by Israeli military, WAFA reported.
Qaraqe delivered a speech at the Arab International Forum for Palestinian Justice, which opened its works at the Bristol Hotel in Beirut, and was organized by the Arab Center for Communication and Solidarity.
The Forum carried the name of 17-year-old Palestinian resistance icon Ahed Tamimi, who was released today along with her mother from Israeli jail after an 8-month sentence for slapping an armed Israeli soldier who invaded her home in Nabi Saleh village, near Ramallah.
“Our prisoners are prisoners of freedom and legitimate strugglers seeking dignity, freedom and independence,” stressed Qaraqe.
He called for international actions to confront the arbitrary Israeli laws, protect Palestinian prisoners, and compel Israel to implement international law and international humanitarian treaties.
Qaraqe explained that the Forum for Palestinian Justice is being held in light of the Israeli authorities’ continued detention of some 6,500 Palestinian and Arab prisoners, including 61 women, of whom six are minors, 350 children, 500 administrative detainees, and 8 elected members of the Palestinian Legislative Council; with 1,800 sick cases, of which 700 are seriously ill.
He added that 48 prisoners are serving more than 20 years in prison, whereas 216 prisoners, who have been in prison since 1967, died due to torture, illness and direct killing.
He further stressed that this Forum is held in light of a comprehensive Israeli aggression on Palestinian prisoners and their rights, including escalated arbitrary and oppressive measures against them.
He maintained that Israeli violations and practices committed against Palestinian prisoners rise to the level of war crimes and crimes against humanity, which he stressed are passed and implemented under the cover of a series of racist and arbitrary laws in violation of human rights and international humanitarian law.
Qaraqe also recommended adopting the following positions and proposals: condemning Israeli racist laws as laws that constitute a threat to the rights of prisoners and detainees and violate human rights and international law and treaties, demanding the United Nations to declare Israel as an occupying power and an apartheid state that practices the crime of apartheid against the Palestinian people, and declaring Palestinian prisoners and detainees as prisoners of liberty and legitimate strugglers who are protected by the Geneva Conventions and UN resolutions, as well as the inclusion of the Israeli army on the list of terrorist entities for committing war crimes and crimes against humanity.
He called for an emergency meeting of the United Nations General Assembly to take a stand and adopt firm positions on these laws, to put in place mechanisms to protect prisoners’ rights in prisons, and compel Israel to implement the Geneva Conventions and international treaties on occupied territories and prisoners.
He also called for forming a committee under the auspices of the United Nations to investigate Israel’s practices against prisoners and its violation of international and humanitarian standards in dealing with them.
Qaraqe called on the United Nations and its Security Council to declare the Israeli parliament an apartheid entity for adopting legislations that violate Palestinian human rights, which he stressed constitute a threat to security, peace and stability in the region.
He called to speed up investigations on Israeli criminals so that the occupying state, Israel, would not remain a state of impunity.
“Israel as an occupying power can withhold our money by force and arrogance, but it cannot withhold our dignity, our will and our legitimate right to freedom and a decent life,” said Qaraqe. (T/RS5/RS1)
Mi’raj Islamic News Agency (MINA)
