Editor’s Note: The following is a statement from the Skyline International Foundation. Mondoweiss occasionally publishes press releases and statements from organizations in an effort to draw attention to overlooked issues.
Ten members of parliament from various European countries such as Sweden, Denmark, and the United Kingdom have called on governments of the Middle East to release prisoners of conscience, where thousands of political prisoners are held in countries such as Egypt, UAE, Saudi Arabia, and Israel.
The petition, published by the Danish Parliament website, was launched by Skyline International, a Sweden-based human rights organization. It reads, “We, the undersigned members of parliaments, call on our governments and the European Union to pressure governments in the Middle East to release political prisoners whose lives are at risk following the spread of the novel Coronavirus pandemic.”
The petition noted that tens of thousands of political prisoners are held in the Middle East, such as award-winning Ahmad Mansour, a prominent UAE human rights activist, sentenced to 10 years in prison, and Lujeen Alhathloul, a Saudi-women rights activist.
The petition welcomed the announcement of Bahrain of issuing a decree pardoning 901 prisoners and Iran’s release of 85,000 inmates over the outbreak of COVID-19 and Egypt’s releasing 15 political prisoners.
Skyline International noted that tens of thousands of political prisoners are still in jail in these countries, calling for their immediate release.
“The conditions of prisoners in the Middle East raise serious concerns. Leaked photos have shown hundreds of them stockpiled on top of each other in Egypt. While in countries such as Saudi Arabia and the UAE, prisoners get no family visits and they rarely get to see their lawyers. Not only this, prisoners have passed away in Egyptian and Saudi prisoners due to the lack of medical care and many infectious skin diseases have spread among them,” Skyline international continued as saying.
The petition called for:
“Releasing all political prisoners in the Middle East in light of the spread of the novel Coronavirus. Providing political prisoners with the needed protection and medical care to make sure their lives are valued equally.
Ending the policy of detaining people and activists in the Middle East over their political opinions. Sharing information and data about the spread of Coronavirus in prisons in the Middle East in a transparent manner.”
Undersigned:
Baroness Meacher (British House of Lords)
David Alton (British House of Lords)
Margrete Auken (Member of the European Parliament)
Salima Yenbou (Member of the European Parliament)
Thomas Hammarberg (Swedish MP)
Baroness (Ruth) Lister of Burtersett (British House of Lords)
Janet Daby MP (British House of Commons)
Rasmus Nordqvist (Member of the Danish Parliament)
Håkan Svenneling (Member of Parliament, Swedish Left Party)
Yasmine Posio (Members of Parliament, Swedish Left Party)
Related:
https://www.juancole.com/2020/04/coronavirus-respirators-invaders.html
“Israel Blocks Coronavirus Respirators, Aid, to Gaza until Remains of 2 Israeli Invaders are Returned” Middle East Monitor, April 6, 2020 by Motasem A. Dalloul
“In response to a humanitarian appeal launched by the Palestinian Ministry of Health in Gaza to obtain $23 million in urgent aid, in addition to medicine and medical equipment including 250 respirators in order to deal with the coronavirus in the besieged enclave, Israeli Defence Minister Naftali Bennett announced that no humanitarian aid will be allowed into Gaza, until the release of Israeli soldiers, or their remains, captured by the Palestinian resistance movement Hamas.
“’There is talk of the humanitarian world in Gaza – Israel also has humanitarian needs, which are mainly the recovery of the fallen,’ Bennett disclosed. ‘I think that we need to enter a broad dialogue about Gaza’s and our humanitarian needs. It would not be right to disconnect these things… and certainly, our hearts would be open to many things,’ he added.
“Linking the issue of the Israeli soldiers, or remains of soldiers, to the issue of the urgent humanitarian needs for the Gaza Strip related to the fight against the coronavirus, is nothing short of deceptive. It is nothing more than an attempt by Bennett to paint a glowing image of himself and his country, and convey that they are concerned with humanity, while the Gazan rulers are portrayed as savages due to withholding two, or the remains of two, Israelis in Gaza.
“The two Israeli soldiers were captured or killed while they were in their tanks shelling Palestinian homes and killing civilians in 2014, when the 51-day Israeli offensive killed more than 2,260 Palestinians, including more than 400 children and nearly the same number of women, wounding more than 11,000 others.
“If two Israeli soldiers are being held by the Palestinians and the Israeli defence minister wanted them to be released on a humanitarian grounds, why did not he release 5,000 Palestinian prisoners living in dire conditions in Israeli jails, including 43 women and girls, 250 boys and over 1,000 patients, with at least 250 suffering from serious conditions?
“Several rights groups have warned that the Palestinian prisoners inside Israeli jails are vulnerable to contracting coronavirus, given the overcrowded prisons and bad ventilation, with a severe lack of hygiene. On Thursday, the Israeli Prison Service let out six Palestinian prisoners from Ofer Prison. They must have contracted the coronavirus because a prisoner from the same prison had been recently released and tested positive for the virus. Rights groups have reiterated several times that Israel is imposing a media blackout regarding the news about the coronavirus among prisoners, in order not to underscore their humanitarian crimes.
“Meanwhile, if the Israeli defence minister wanted the release of the Israeli soldiers captured in Gaza on humanitarian grounds, why did he not lift his country’s strict and illegal siege imposed on the Gaza Strip in 2007? Why did he not look at the number of Palestinians who died due to the lack of medical equipment, proper healthcare and medicine as a result of his country’s siege? Why did he not look at the thousands of Palestinians who are still displaced because they could not rebuild their homes which were destroyed by his army in 2014? Why did he not consider the hundreds of children, mothers and fathers who have been waiting to be reunited with their loved ones who have been imprisoned by his country?
“Despite all of this, the Israeli defence minister must know that the Palestinians in the Gaza Strip put all their hostilities with the Israeli occupation aside and provided Israel with millions of medical face masks, while it faces an increasing outbreak of the coronavirus.
“Hassan Shehata, owner of a sewing factory in Gaza, told AFP that the Israeli companies sent materials to him, and his factory is to make millions of medical masks for Israel. The owner of another factory in Gaza revealed that he has already signed contracts with Israeli business partners to provide one million masks and 50,000 protective suits by the end of April.
“Mr. Bennett, we do not want people like you, with the blood of innocent people on their hands, to teach us, the Palestinians, lessons about humanity and morals. Please, do not paint an innocent image of you and your unscrupulous country at the expense of our suffering inflicted by you and your violent state. Enough of your merchandising of humanity on the world, while you remain inhumane.”
https://www.juancole.com/2020/04/coronavirus-palestinian-prisoners.html
“Amid Coronavirus Fears, Israel tells Palestinian prisoners, ‘Use your socks to make masks,’ as neglect continues” Middle East Monitor, April 4/2020
“Within the next few days, Palestinian prisoners held by Israel may be hit by the coronavirus pandemic, causing major unrest in the prisons. This is the reality facing prison staff and their prisoners at a time when governments around the world and international organisations are trying to overcome the virus and failing.
“The Palestinians behind bars in Israel have nothing to defend themselves from the virus, except perhaps a bar of soap, on top of which they still have to cope with the official neglect and brutality of the Israeli occupation authorities. The Minister of Internal Security delights in the punitive measures imposed on the prisoners recently. Above it all hovers the fear of the virus taking hold among the Palestinian prisoners.
“The negligence of the Israel Prison Service towards those in its ‘care’ is normal; it rarely responds to prisoners’ demands and this time is no different. So the punitive measures remain in place, and the very basic resources to curb the spread of the virus are being denied to them. Even basic pantry basics, such as olive oil, are being refused, and the amount of vegetables that prisoners can buy has been cut; they are also banned from buying-in meat and fish, important sources of protein. Moreover, and arguably more seriously in the present context, prisoners have been banned from buying cleaning products used to sanitise the bathrooms and cells.
“Regulatory bodies and their representatives have not been allowed to monitor the conditions of prisoners who may have contracted the virus and are now isolated in Megiddo Prison. This is something that the prison administration is trying to keep secret from the Palestinian public, fearing their reaction. This has put the prisoners themselves on the edge of an open confrontation with the occupation authorities in defence of their right to live and to return to their families.
“Israeli disregard for Palestinian prisoners’ lives peaked when those in Megiddo demanded that the officers test all of the prisoners for Covid-19 and provide them with protective kit, such as masks, gloves and disinfectant. The Israel Prison Service’s response was to tell them, ‘Use your socks to make masks, and your soap to disinfect your cells.’ Socks and soap were among the items banned recently in an obvious attempt by the prison system to provoke the prisoners at a time when the world is looking the other way and trying to overcome the coronavirus pandemic.
“Despite their heroic efforts to protect themselves, the Palestinian prisoners held by Israel are unlikely to succeed; it will be a miracle if they do. This will throw a sharp focus on their situation during this global crisis. The conditions that Israel has allowed to fester in the prisons where it holds Palestinians — including the ramshackle physical environment as well as the shambolic ‘healthcare’ and systematic medical neglect — almost guarantees the spread of the virus. Each unit houses 80 prisoners, with a high level of contact amongst them. When one prisoner is infected, they cannot be isolated from the others effectively. This will transform the prison blocks into mass isolation units, and possibly mass graves.
“In such circumstances, given the legal duty of care that the Israel Prison Service has towards all prisoners, including those from among the population living under occupation, the Palestinians being held by the Israelis have the right to be released on licence or parole. They are not violent career criminals; they are, in the main, political prisoners who stood up against the military occupation of their land. They have a legitimate right to do so, and so should be set free now before it is too late.
“The people of Palestine must rise to the challenge of their responsibilities towards their friends and relatives who are imprisoned in Israel. They have always done so in the past, and now is not the time to leave the prisoners exposed. They should not accept the factions’ institutional failure to put pressure on the occupation authorities to get the prisoners released. Action is needed now.”
How about prisoners in the US? How about prisoners at Rikers Island, where they don’t even have soap? Many haven’t been convicted of anything. They’re awaiting trial, and couldn’t afford bail. And some are 80- and 90-year olds.
Andrew Cuomo has become an icon. I’ve heard that he’s on t-shirts. He can do this!
“The goals of the Palestinians are getting more removed by the day.”
Hardly “removed.” Indeed, as is blatantly obvious, increasingly urgent and supported by hard won international humanitarian law, e.g., the UN Charter, the Fourth Geneva Convention and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.
Like Barghouthi telling his peeps he’s not a hypocrite to advise boycotting Arabs to NOT boycott any Israel vaccine , take it, get better
And continue the fight against the Zionist entity. I believe it’s called tactical hypocrisy which the IDF could easily quash as any harmful enterprise.
Still waiting for something brilliant to come from these BDS flunkies. So far it’s been farce and folly.