19 December 2012, Ramallah - Addameer lawyer Samer Samaan visited three of the prisoners on hunger strike yesterday, 18 December 2012.
The three prisoners, Jafar Azzidine, Tarek Qa’adan and Yousef Yassin, have been on hunger strike for 22 days now, in protest of their administrative detention orders. They were arrested on 22 November 2012, the night after the ceasefire on the attacks on Gaza in November. Their health is deteriorating rapidly, as they are only drinking water and refusing vitamins or any supplements from the administration. They are still held in prison cells with the other Palestinian prisoners, but are taken to the clinic daily, handcuffed, for medical testing. Below is a message as dictated to Addameer lawyer
Samer Samaan from the three hunger strikers:
"Our open hunger strike is to protest the Intelligence and their policies, our goal is not just to gain our individual freedom but to end the practice of administrative detention, the pointed sword on the neck of the Palestinians. This is a battle in the fight for freedom and dignity despite all the continuing pain and torments that impair us, and despite all the pressure that we endure and is practiced against us by the Israeli Prison Service and Shabak to break our will from our steadfastness. However, the cowardly enemy will never undermine our steadfastness and our determination to achieve justice and freedom for all our imprisoned and hunger striking brothers, and the oppressed and those who were tortured by the fiery tormentors for decades. We call on the sons of our people to stand by us and to show responsibility for our fellow prisoners, especially Samer Issawi and Ayman Sharawna who are nearing death. We also call on all local and international institutions and those that are specifically for human rights to intensify their efforts and to raise our voices high in international forums to expose the barbaric occupation and its practices."
Jafar Azzidine, 41 years old from Jenin, has been detained by the Occupation seven times, his most recent arrest being 21 March 2012. He participated in a hunger strike on 14 May 2012, and was released on 19 June 2012, after spending 4 months in administrative detention. As a result of his most recent hunger strike, he suffers from low blood pressure, continuous dizziness and headaches, protein deficiencies and pain in his joints, knees, hands and spinal cord.
Tarek Qa’adan, 40 years old from Jenin, has been detained by the Occupation 13 times since 1989. In his prior arrest, he was sentenced to 15 months for speaking at a commemoration event at the American University of Jenin. He has participated in several hunger strikes, including the solidarity hunger strikes with Khader Adnan and Hana Shalabi.
Yousef Yassin, 29 years old from Jenin, has been detained by the Occupation three times before, the most recent in Febraury 2012, in which he was sentenced to eight months.
Administrative detention is a procedure that allows the Israeli military to hold prisoners indefinitely on secret information without charging them or allowing them to stand trial. There are currently 178 administrative detainees, a significant increase since the attacks on Gaza in November 2012.
Addameer condemns the continued practice of administrative detention against Palestinians. Addameer calls on the international community to pressure their governments and Israel to end this arbitrary practice and to comply with international humanitarian and human rights law.
ACT NOW!
*Write to the Israeli government, military and legal authorities and demand that the hunger striking prisoners be released immediately.
- Brigadier General Danny Efroni
Military Judge Advocate General
6 David Elazar Street
Harkiya, Tel Aviv
Israel
Fax: +972 3 608 0366; +972 3 569 4526
Email: [email protected]; [email protected] - Maj. Gen. Nitzan Alon
OC Central Command Nehemia Base, Central Command
Neveh Yaacov, Jerusalam
Fax: +972 2 530 5741 - Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Defense Ehud Barak
Ministry of Defense
37 Kaplan Street, Hakirya
Tel Aviv 61909, Israel
Fax: +972 3 691 6940 / 696 2757 - Col. Eli Bar On
Legal Advisor of Judea and Samaria PO Box 5
Beth El 90631
Fax: +972 2 9977326
*Write to your own elected representatives urging them to pressure Israel to release the hunger strikers.