23 Detainees Holding Hunger-Strike

March 20, 2012 by Saed Bannoura - IMEMC & Agencies

The Ad-Dameer Prisoner Support and Human Rights Association reported, Monday, that there are 23 detainees who are currently on hunger-strike protesting the illegal policies of Administrative Detention used by Israel to keep hundreds of detainees behind bars without charges.

Freedom - image reprinted from utopia.ps

“The time has come to end this illegal policy, to stop the so-called secret files that keep the detainees imprisoned without charges under the pretext of posing danger to the state”, detainee Mohammad Abu Arab, 23, from the Balata refugee camp in Nablus, said while at the Ofer Military Court on Monday.

Abu Arab, spokesperson of the Committee for Administrative Detainees in Majiddo prison, said that 23 detainees has been hunger-strike since several days now, adding that the striking detainees are not only those who are held under administrative detention orders.

Abu Arab has been on hunger-strike since 11 days now. One of the striking detainees is elected legislator Ahmad Hajj Ali.

He told his lawyer that the detainees started returning meals as the first step before
declaring an open-ended hunger-strike on April, 1, 2012, demanding an end to the illegal Israeli administrative detention policies.

Abu Arab further stated that all detainees, except those who are elderly, or sick, will be participating in the strike. The detainees will also be boycotting Israeli military courts, while administrative detention detainees will be boycotting the special administrative courts.

The case of Abu Arab is similar to many other cases; he was kidnapped in August of 2010, and was sentenced to one year, but just hours before he was supposed to be released, a 6-month administrative detention order was served against him, and when the six months were over, he received a similar order.

Abu Arab, a student at the Arts Academy at the An-Najah University in the northern West Bank city of Nablus, was previously imprisoned for three years.

The Ad-Dameer listed the detainees who are on hunger-strike as follows;

1. Female detainee Hanaa’ Shalabi, 23 days on hunger strike and counting.
2. Kifah Hattab, 22 days and counting.
3. Ahmad Saqer, 2 days and counting, he has been held under administrative detention since he was kidnaped on November, 28, 2008.
4. Legislator Ahmad Al-Hajj Ali, 72 years old, the oldest administrative detainee, has been on hunger strike since six days.
5. Tareq Qa’dan, 15 days on hunger-strike and counting.
6. Tha'er Daraghma, started his hunger strike several days ago.

Detainees who started their hunger-strike 13 days ago;

1. Ayman Tbeisha.
2. Saleh Amin Kameel.
3. Saleh Saleh Kameel.
4. Bilal Kameel.
5. Murad Fashafsha.
6. Adeeb Al-Qitt.
7. Mohammad Al-Abboushi.
8. Fayez Ash-Shayeb.
9. Asef Abu Ar-Rob.
10. Hasan As-Safady.
11. Omar Abu Shallal.
12. Mohammad Abu Arab.
13. Samer Abu Khazna.

Detainees who started their hunger-strike 16 days ago;

1. Murad Malaysha.
2. Islam Ash-Shoeyby.

Detainees who started their hunger-strike 17 days ago;

1. Tha’er Halahla.
2. Bilal Thiab.

The Ad-Dameer Society expressed solidarity with the detainees and their struggle against the illegal Administrative Detention polices, and added that this policy violates International Law and Human Rights declarations.

It called on the international legal and human rights groups, topped by the Red Cross, to intervene and perform their duties in stopping the illegal Israeli practices.