Name: Munir Mustafa Abdul Hadi Abu Sharar 

Previous Arrests

First arrest

Munir was first arrested on 13/6/2005 and was released on 28/3/2006. During that arrest, the military prosecution issued a list of charges against Munir claiming that he is affiliated with an illegal organization. However, following several hearings the judge of the military court decided that Munir is innocent and allowed the military prosecution to appeal the decision within 72 hours. The prosecution appealed the decision, however, the appeal was rejected and Munir was released on 28/3/2006.

Second arrest
Munir was held under administrative detention from 26/1/2009 until 24/9/2009. The first order was for four month starting on 26/1/2009 and ending on 25/5/2009. The order was then renewed for further four months that ended on 24/9/2009. During the hearing to confirm the detention order, the judge decided to shorten the length of the detention so it cannot be renewed again. Munir was released by the end of the last order. 

Third arrest
The third and current arrest took place on 24/7/2014 after which Munir was also held under administrative detention. Munir was taken to Asqalan interrogation center where he was subjected to a 47-day interrogation. During the interrogation Munir was put under great pressure; during the first 17 days, the interrogation was continuous (day and night), the break was for few hours (4:00am -9:00am) where Munir was shackled on the interrogation chair the whole time. Munir was ill-treated, cursed and threatened to have all of his family members arrested. Afterwards, the interrogation was for long periods of time but wasn’t continuous. Munir embarked on an open hunger strike on the first day of the interrogation. His hunger strike lasted for 28 days, during which he refused taking vitamins and glucose. His demand was to end the interrogation since it was an arbitrary interrogation that only aims to torture him.
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Hunger strike
Munir went on an open hunger strike at the start of his interrogation sessions in his current detention in protest of the interrogation methods used against him. The hunger strike lasted for 28 days. later, Munir joined four other administartive detainees in their open hunger stike on 30/8/2015 in protest of administartive detention. This step followed escalatory steps including a partial hunger strike the detainees started on the 20th of august during which they refrained from solid food and only had liquid foods and drinks. Furtheremore, in the beginning of july 2015, the five detainees along with 50 other administartive detainees announced boycotting the military courts that confirm their administartive detention orders emphasizing the falsity of these courts that lack the minimum standards of fair trial and legalize arbitrary detention. The IPS immediately transferred the detainees to isolation cells in different detention centers as a punishment.

Munir Abu Sharar confirmed to Addameer’s lawyer during a visit that the IPS forces in Al-Naqab prison treated him and the other hunger strikers inhumanley and imposed many punitive measures against them including solitary confinment, denial of family visits, denial of cold drinking water. Furthermore, Munir also reported that the prison’s director later closed all of the opennings in the cell’s door which limited the room’s air supply and blocked light from the cells. The prison’s administartion also confiscated all of the hunger strikers belongings, in addition to harrasment by the prison’s guards such as offering  the hunger strikers food to provoke them.

Abu Sharar and the other hunger strikers suspended their hunger strike after reaching an agreement with the IPS on 29/9/2015 were some of the detainees are going to be released by the end of their orders and the others, including Munir,  will have only one more renewal.

Administartive detention
Munir was arrested on 24/7/2014 at 5:30am from his home in Doura and then was taken to Ofer prison. His detention period was extended for interrogation purposes and was taken to Asqalan interrogation center. he was interrogated for 47 days and was accused of membership in an illegal organization and relations with Hezbollah because he travelled to Lebanon and participated in a national Arab youth camp there.

The military commander of the occupied territory issued an administrative detention order against Munir on 9/9/2014 for four months that end on 23/1/2015 claiming that he is an activist in the PFLP and poses a threat to the security of the state. This general charge is used in most of the administrative detention orders that are issued against hundreds of Palestinian activists with different political affiliations since all of the political parties are considered illegal organizations according to the occupation’s military orders.   

During the hearing to review Munir’s detention on 30/9/2014, the military prosecution claimed that Munir had the intentions of implementing military activities. The prosecution did not give any logical explanation to this conclusion despite exposing Munir and others to interrogation session that lasted for about two months. It should be mentioned that the only supporting evidence that was presented against Munir during the interrogation was photos of weapons posted on his Facebook account. The military prosecution based their claims against Munir on these photos.

Munir’s administrative detention order was renewed for additional six months starting from 23/1/2015 and ending on 22/7/2015 based on the same secret information. The military prosecutor confirmed that the additional information the prosecution gathered was not enough to re-evaluate the threat that Munir poses. However, despite that, the military judge confirmed the order for the whole period.

The military judge renewed the administrative detention order against Munir for six more months that end on 21/1/2016 based on the same secret information, knowing that Munir didn’t attend this session as he was boycotting military courts. Munir’s case reflects the policy of using administrative detention in such times when the military prosecution fails to prove clear charges against the detainees. The fourth Geneva convention and other international laws and standards confirm that administrative detention cannot be used as an alternative of trial which confirms that Munir’s detention is arbitrary and amounts to being a war crime.

Family
Munir’s family consists of his mother, ten sisters and 4 brothers. Before starting his hunger strike, some of his family members were able to visit him once a month in Al-Naqab prison and in Ofer prior to that. However, after he embarked on the hunger strike, Munir was denied family visits as part of the punitive measures imposed on hunger strikers by the IOF. These punishments are imposed as disciplinary measures for going on a hunger strike since the Israeli occupation considers it an act of mutiny.