The campaign #SheIsFreedom wants to highlight the systematic human rights violations suffered by Palestinian Women held in Israeli prisons, specially highlighting the violations affecting the internationally protected Right to Health.
#SheIsFreedom #For_Their_Freedom #AgainstMilitaryCourts #16DaysOfActivism
The contents of the campaign are based in the interviews conducted by the Union of Palestinian Women Committees – UPWC with current and former Palestinian Women Prisoners and with the legal analysis of their protected rights, both included in the following Position paper issued by the Union of Palestinian Women’s Committees and the Bisan Center for Research and Development
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Position paper issued by the Union of Palestinian Women’s Committees and the Bisan Center for Research and Development
The Union of Palestinian Women’s Committees is following with great interest the continuous violations by the occupation authorities against the Palestinian female prisoners held in the prisons of the Israeli occupation. Specifically in Damon prison, which lacks the most basic needs for human life, whether at the level of infrastructure or the internal environment, the female prisoners live in harsh conditions, and are exposed to continuous violations.
In accordance with the rules of international humanitarian law, specifically the Fourth Geneva Conventions and their Additional Protocols, the occupying power is obligated to provide special protection for female prisoners and to provide basic, private and public health needs for women and girls, as the practices of the occupying power are a flagrant violation of the principles of international law and international humanitarian law, specifically a violation of international humanitarian law: Article (3) (1) (c) of the Fourth Geneva Convention (1949), which prohibits outrages upon personal dignity, in particular humiliating and degrading treatment.”
The Israeli occupation has also violated the rights of female prisoners of guaranteed health under international covenants, specifically the Fourth Geneva Convention, which stipulates the right of male and female prisoners to receive the necessary health and medical care. The convention clearly indicates in its articles 76, 85, 91 and 92 the need for male and female prisoners to receive health services and periodic medical care and to provide health needs without hindrances.
The states parties to the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women affirm that “the scourge of apartheid and all forms of racism, discrimination, colonialism, neo-colonialism, aggression, foreign occupation, foreign domination and interference in the internal affairs of states must be eradicated if men and women are to fully enjoy their rights.”
In an interview of the Union of Palestinian Women’s Committees with one of the released prisoners, she stressed the continuation of the violations practiced by the occupation, which is in violation of the general recommendation No. (30) of the Committee on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women, on the status of women in the context of conflict, conflict prevention and post-conflict prevention, as The Committee stresses the importance of protecting women in situations of armed conflict and occupation, and prohibits their exploitation and infringement of their personal dignity.
In the Women, Peace and Security Agenda, the Security Council affirmed the obligations of UN member states to protect women and girls in situations of armed conflict, internal conflicts and disasters. International Resolution 1325, in one of its main axes related to re-demobilization, referred to the need to protect women and girls in armed conflicts, as the resolution emphasized. The obligations of states is to provide the special health needs of women and girls during their periods of detention or in refugee and displacement camps, and it is prohibited to harm them or use their bodies as a kind of weapon during the conflict between the parties, and this was confirmed by the set of resolutions supplementing International Resolution 2250, which prohibits compromising the dignity of young men and women in situations of armed conflict.
In an interview conducted by the Union of Palestinian Women’s Committees, one of the liberated female prisoners stated, when talking about Hasharon Prison, that the meals provided to female prisoners are poor in quantity and quality, in addition to the fact that sanitary napkins, underwear and jackets are not provided during their detention in Hasharon Prison, and they are subjected to humiliating naked searches. At the beginning of the arrest, they are held with Israeli criminal prisoners. It is noteworthy that the occupation authorities use Hasharon Prison to detain female prisoners there for days of detention before transferring them to Damon Prison, a prison that lacks the minimum standards of a healthy and humane living, and for this reason the female prisoners demand the abolition of this passage.
The liberated prisoner Elia Abu Hijleh pointed out that there are surveillance cameras in the courtyards, and this limits the freedom of movement for the female prisoners, the presence of showers (bathroom showers) outside the rooms, and in the event of pressure on the female prisoners, the rooms are closed and they are not allowed to use the showers. The rooms lack ventilation and good lighting and there is no sunlight entering them.
The liberated prisoner, Wedad Al-Barghouti, who testedified to the Union of Palestinian Women’s Committees, explained that the female prisoners are demanding that the appropriate treatment is provided at the time they need it, and that they do not procrastinate in providing it or try to solve it with painkillers. The medicine is according to his mood, and they demand the wounded female prisoners to be treated when they are in need.
The liberated captive, who was arrested as a child of Manar Al-Shweiki, also indicated that after her arrest, she was placed with a large number of minor and wounded female prisoners who needed treatment, as their situation was very difficult and they were under great pressure due to the great suffering of the wounded.
The Union of Palestinian Women’s Committees confirms, based on the testimonies and information obtained from Palestinian female prisoners and deportees, that the Israeli occupation continues to violate the rights of female prisoners, and works to deprive them of their most basic rights, as it uses the policy of medical negligence and the policy of depriving them of their most basic needs. This policy is among a group of daily violations that female prisoners of different age groups are subjected to, and this policy is used systematically as a means of pressure on female prisoners in order to harm them, and as a tool of extortion and torture during the investigation period and in the initial arrest stage.
Female prisoners who were released from captivity indicated during their interview that the policy of medical neglect and harsh conditions and preventing them from obtaining their health needs during the period of detention and interrogation, leads to the spread of cases of sickness among the female prisoners that leave an impact on their lives.
Call to Action
The Union of Palestinian Women’s Committees confirms, based on the interviews conducted with female prisoners who have been freed from captivity, that the occupation continues to violate the rights of female prisoners on a daily basis in detention, investigation and prison centers, while going to medical clinics and during the transfer processes, as its practices violate international covenants and the rules of international humanitarian law, and accordingly:
- It calls on the states party to the Geneva Convention to intervene immediately in order to protect the rights of Palestinian female detainees in the occupation prisons.
jj - It calls on all human rights bodies and institutions, states parties to the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women, and states parties to the Fourth Geneva Conventions, to intervene immediately and quickly to protect the rights of prisoners in general and women prisoners in particular, and appeals to international bodies and institutions and the World Health Organization to intervene in order to put pressure on the occupying power on the necessity of refraining from using the policy of not providing health needs and medical care as a means of putting pressure on female processing during the investigation.
jj - It also calls on all women human rights defenders around the world to stand by the Palestinian women prisoners in order to support their liberation march for the right to self-determination.
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- The Union of Palestinian Women’s Committees calls on the international community to impose sanctions on Israel, as the occupying power, which systematically violates all rules of international humanitarian law and the Fourth Geneva Conventions.
