Human Rights Conference: World Turns Blind Eye to Palestinian Prisoners Tragedy

Osama Al-Hilw, member of the Executive Office of SAWASYA (center for human rights and anti-discrimination), stressed that 11,000 Palestinian prisoners suffer tragic living conditions in Israeli jails, while Israel refuses to provide the minimum standard of human living conditions guaranteed by international norms and conventions on human rights, especially the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, and the Fourth Geneva Convention – in particular articles "86, 89, 90 and 91".

All these international agreements set a number of duties and obligations on Israel as an occupying power towards the detainees, including taking the necessary measures to house detainees in buildings and places which offer all necessary conditions and guarantees of health and safety, something which Israel has never complied with.

In a SAWASYA conference on Palestinian prisoners, Al-Hilw pointed that Israel has succeeded in misleading the whole world, after promoting itself as an oasis of democracy in the Middle East, to the extent that the peoples of the free world believe Israeli lies and false claims, and ignore the true tragedy of the Palestinian people and the very real violations they suffer.

Al-Hilw called everyone to adopt the issue of Palestinian prisoners until they are all released, adding that it is no longer enough to seek Israel’s commitment to covenants and treaties. He also urged all Palestinian factions and movements to put this issue at the top of their priorities.

He further urged official agencies and human rights organizations to take necessary action to release Palestinian prisoners, and urged the United Nations to fulfill its role and responsibility towards the realization of the rules of international law and upholding the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the Fourth Geneva Convention.

Moreover, Al-Hilw called on Arab and Muslim countries to take a unified position on the tragedy suffered by Palestinian prisoners, to take deterrent action against such practices, and to work to internationalize the issue, calling on Palestinian movements in the West Bank and Gaza Strip to close ranks and unite in dealing with issues of the Palestinian people, especially the issue of the prisoners in Israel. He also said that a unified media observatory must be set up, and that the issue must be one of the priorities of the media at all times and not only on Prisoner’s Day.

“Documentaries about the Palestinian prisoners should be made, to show the true life of Palestinian prisoners who were arrested and jailed without cause or crime, adding that the media must come together to change the world’s concept of Palestinian Prisoners.”