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INFORMATION ON PALESTINIAN WOMEN PRISONERS

Report from the Womens Organisation for Political Prisoners(WOFPP)

The lawyer of WOFPP, Taghrid Jahshan, sent us the following report that is based on talks with four political prisoners in Hasharon Prison:
On 2 December 2004 with Su'ad Ghazal, Raba' Hamayel and Manal Ghanem.
On 8 December with Amneh Muna, representative of the female political prisoners in Hasharon Prison.

The occurrences of 28 November 2004

At about 10.30 in the morning, during the counting of the prisoners, when it was Amneh Muna's turn to be counted, she asked the warden who did the counting to continue with his task and count her as the last one, as had been the custom up to now. The warden refused. After a few minutes the prison security officer appeared, angry and shouting, and started beating Amneh Muna. She shouted back, which heightened his anger, and the beating became more brutal. He dragged her across the floor, beating her and pulling her by the hair to the waiting room. A number of women who were taking their daily walk in the courtyard saw what was happening. As a sign of protest against the violent behaviour of the security officer towards Amneh, they started shouting and screaming. The security officer returned to Amneh while she was in the waiting room and without any further reason started beating her again. She was then taken to the isolation cell and shackled to the bed by her hands and feet until the next morning.

It took no more than five minutes for the special force to enter the courtyard with water pipes, dousing the prisoners who were still there. That same day the weather was very cold. The special force applied more violence and extreme force against the prisoners in the courtyard. Some of the women were seriously injured.
Tehani Hifenawi needed stitches at her head. Abeer Nada, Su'ad Ghazal, Su'ad Abu-Hamad, Omeya Damaj, as well as two minors, Sana'a Amar and 'Aisheh 'Ebayyat were brutally beaten. 'Aisheh 'Ebbayyat was punched on her head, and as a result she lost the use of her legs for four days. Until this day she suffers from ear aches. A medical doctor from the Red Cross who had examined her ear, told her that the full hearing capacity in that ear may return in a month or two.
Baby Noor who had been in the courtyard with his mother Manal Ghanem, was also doused with water, and Manal was severely beaten, but was then taken to the waiting room together with her baby. That was already too late, though, as the baby was completely wet and remained so for hours until his mother was permitted to bring fresh clothing from their room. Possibly as part of the punishments imposed on the women, the baby was punished by not being given his normal food for a few days. The only food he ate were items that had been bought in the canteen before these events.
As a consequence of being wet during long hours and possibly also due to the trauma resulting from the scenes he was exposed to, the baby was sick on 2 December, when I met his mother. In addition to this, until 8 December, he did not eat or drink anything hot because there was no electricity in the rooms,. The hotplates and all other electrical appliances had been confiscated.

The prison staff also attacked the prisoners who had remained in their rooms. Some, such as 'Aisheh 'Ebayyat, were beaten in the room. Water and tear gas were sprayed into the rooms. I was told that some of the women nearly choked from the large quantity of tear gas.
Further punishments were imposed, such as fines, deprivation of family visits and detention in isolation cells.
Amneh Muna was sentenced to 14 days of isolation. In the isolation cell there is a shower but no toilet. When I saw her she had been in isolation for 10 days. She claimed that she had been taken to a toilet outside the cell only once during that whole period. For this reason she abstains from eating or drinking, in order to refrain from having to go to the toilet. What is more: The cell is full of mice. As an additional punishment imposed on Amneh Muna, I was forbidden to see her, and only after turning to the legal adviser of the prison authorities was I allowed to meet her.

The harshest punishment is the interruption of electricity in all the rooms of those women who had participated in the events of 28 November. This was still the situation when I visited on 8 December. It has to be pointed out that the rooms are completely dark due to the fact that the windows have been covered on the outside, and that they are very cold and became wet all over because of the large amount of water sprayed during the events that took place in November.

A further point that is of great concern, though it is not connected to the above-mentioned occurrences: The prison authorities consistently refuse to permit the families and even the Red Cross to bring toys for the babies.

Report from International Solidarity Movement (ISM)

Update from Kelly in Tsohar Prison, Negev Desert

Kelly has been imprisoned for over a week now. She can no longer be contacted by phone, however we are managing to relay messages to her. This statement was received earlier today.

Kelly Bornshlegel Tuesday December 21st 2004, Tsohar Prison, Negev Desert

Today marks the seventh day of my illegal imprisonment in Israeli jails. During this week I have been moved 3 times: most recently to Tsohar prison, 10 km from the Gaza Strip. I have been interrogated by the Ministry of the Interior, Police, Shabak and finally a 'judge', employed full-time at the deportation prison. Repeatedly I asked for my charges, my rights, and access to a lawyer but each time I was met with a blank stare.

The kindness and strength of the women I have met in this prison system continues to amaze me. In a situation of dehumanization where we are called 'Mongolia', 'China', 'usa' instead of our names, where an only female prison is run only by male guards, where those same guards burst into our cells at any hour of day without knocking, where our cells have no doors to the shower or the rooms where we change, each the woman goes out of her way to help the others cope and survive.

All of these women are immigrants, some recent while others have lived here for more than 10 years. Many of the women have husbands, boyfriends and children still in israel. They are treated as criminals, despite having worked and contributed to Israeli society for years.

Every mundane detail of our lives is controlled by the male prison guards. Many of the women here are extremely vulnerable, not speaking Hebrew, far from their homes, dependent on guards for everything. The prison administration appears to turn a blind eye to widespread abuse as individual prison guards take advantage of their captives, many of whom have been previously raped and smuggled into Israel as sex- slaves.

This process of dehumanization by viewing someone as 'other' when convenient to justify the injustices being perpetrated is the same technique employed against the Palestinians. Soldiers at checkpoints and demonstrations, Border Police invading Balata Camp and shooting 6 year-old children, Israelis knowing what is happening to Palestinians living a half hour from their homes but choosing to ignore it - all can live with themselves at the end of the day only because Palestinians have no names or faces; they are animals, a nuisance that needs to be pushed away.

I am refusing to co-operate with the deportation administration, as I was arrested in Occupied Palestine while attending a local demonstration on the invitation of local Palestinians. The Israeli occupation is unjust and illegal; therefore I refuse to acknowledge the jurisdiction of the Israeli court system over the West Bank and Gaza. Furthermore, the Israeli 'judicial system' was designed and functions not to provide justice but to legitimize and obscure oppression.

Message from Susan Moores of WOFPP

Dear Friends,

We wish to ask you once more to kindly write letters of protest as soon as possible.

Thank your very much for your help and support
For the members of WOFPP
Susanne Moses

 Address

Mr. Ariel Sharon, Prime Minister of Israel
Fax: +972-2-670-54-75
 
and to the Embassy of Israel in UK.
2 Palace Green, London, W8 4QB. Tel 0207 957 9500; FAX 0207 957 9500; email
info-assist@london.mfa.gov.il
 
The Director of Hasharon Prison:
Fax: +972-9-899-4269
 
The Commissioner of the Prisons:
Fax: +972-2-652-9217
 
The Minister of Interior Security (number was correct)
Fax +972-2-581-1832

The Board of Deputies, 
6 Bloomsbury Square, 
London, WC1A 2LP
Telephone: 020-7543-5400 
Fax: 020-7543-0010 

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Women's Organization for Political Prisoners (WOFPP)
P.O.B. 31811
Tel Aviv
Tel & fax: 03-5286050
Contact person: Hava Keller

WOFPP was established in May 1988 with the objective of helping female political prisoners who

struggle against the occupation. In the early years of WOFPP's activity, it dealt primarily with the torture and mistreatment of the prisoners.

These problems are now much less common, and WOFPP believes that its actions have helped to reduce the extent of the abuses. The female prisoners in Hasharon Prison, where nearly all female political prisoners are incarcerated, are a very close-knit group, exhibiting exceptional feelings of solidarity. WOFPP believes that the knowledge of its support has helped to make them so.

WOFPP sends lawyers to all prisons and detention facilities in which female political prisoners are held in order to monitor their conditions and help when needed. It keeps in touch with prisoners' families, and materially assists needy prisoners.

WOFPP periodically publishes a newsletter in English which is translated into French, Hebrew, Spanish, and Japanese. When necessary, WOFPP sends urgent letters and asks sympathizers to write letters of protest to the authorities.

In the Taba agreement, a pardon for all women prisoners and detainees was agreed upon, but israel refused to release five of the prisoners, and all of the wofpp efforts in this matter have been to no avail. these prisoners who were pardoned refused to take advantage of the release out of solidarity with their "unpardoned" friends, so that in fact all of them still remain in jail. israel has also failed to release the female detainees.