Ministry of prisoners appreciates Ban Ki-moon's statement

[ 09/03/2011 - 02:45 PM ]

GAZA, (PIC)--

The ministry of prisoners affairs has welcomed the statement by UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon in which he called on Israel to free all Palestinian prisoners.

Mohammed Al-Katari, the ministry's undersecretary, said on Wednesday that Ki-moon's statement was a step in the right direction, although it was late.

He said that the statement was important since it was voiced by a renowned and symbolic international figure, however it needs follow up and pressures in order to materialize.

The world has finally come to realize that there were Palestinian prisoners suffering pain and slow death in Israeli jails and shy voices started to surface every now and then calling for the release of those prisoners, Katari said.

The undersecretary charged that the world community's silence toward Israel's crimes against those prisoners had encouraged it to persist in its crimes and violation of international norms and agreements.

Katari asked the world community to be neutral and to demand the release of Palestinian prisoners as it is demanding the release of captured Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit.

Ministry of prisoners: 10,000 women kidnapped by Israel since 1968

[ 09/03/2011 - 09:51 AM ]

GAZA, (PIC)--

The Palestinian ministry of prisoners' affairs said that Israel has kidnapped more than 10,000 Palestinian women since 1968, 850 of them during Al-Aqsa intifada, appealing to the international community and women's rights groups to pay attention to the issue of Palestinian female prisoners.

The ministry explained that one of the female prisoners called Wafa Al-Bis is from Gaza, four are from occupied Jerusalem, three are from the 1948 occupied lands, and the rest are from the occupied West Bank.

27 women received different prison sentences, atop of them is Ahlam Attamimi who is serving 16 life sentences.

As a result of the policy of medical neglect, the health condition of prisoner Abeer Amro has deteriorated very badly and her weight declined from 85 to 45 kilograms.

Two of these prisoners are mothers and each of them has two kids, while four others have husbands who are also imprisoned in Israeli jails.

The Israeli prison administrations, in addition to the deliberate medical neglect, deprive Palestinian women in prison from basic rights, where they are not allowed to pursue their education and prevented from practicing their usual handicrafts.

The Israeli jailers also many times attacked the cells of these female prisoners after midnight and ransacked their belongings as well as imposing heavy fines under false pretenses.

For its part, the Palestinian ministry of information appealed to the international community to urgently intervene to stop Israel's violations against the Palestinian women in its jails and pressure it to release them.

In a press release on Tuesday on international women's day, the ministry saluted Palestinian women for their ability to overcome difficulties during the time of crisis.

It stressed that women in the Palestinian society are known for their ability to triumph over their concerns and sorrows in spite of Israel's attempt to undermine their steadfastness.