dimanche 27 novembre 2011

Liberté pour Salah Hamouri !



Salah HAMOURI, franco-palestinien a été accusé sans preuve et sans témoin, de projeter un attentat contre un rabbin, parce qu’il est passé devant son domicile à Jérusalem.



Un tribunal militaire israélien lui a imposé de plaider coupable pour un délit d’intention que Salah a toujours nié, sinon il effectuait 15 ans de prison. Il l’a condamné à 7 années d’emprisonnement.
...
Libérable le 28 novembre 2011, il ne sera remis en liberté que le 12 mars 2012 selon la porte-parole de l’administration pénitentiaire israélienne, Madame Sivan Weizman, en vertu de la « nouvelle » loi Shalit. Cette « ancienne » loi israélienne réactualisée offre à la justice militaire la possibilité de convertir au cours d’une peine les années administratives (345 jours) en années civiles (365) ce qui ferait pour Salah 140 jours supplémentaires d’emprisonnement !

Malgré les nombreuses démarches de ses parents et de ses comités de soutien auprès du Président de la République et des Ministres des Affaires Etrangères qui se sont succédés au Quai d’Orsay, Salah aura effectué plus que la peine qui lui a été arbitrairement infligée.



La France doit agir pour la libération de Salah.

Venez exprimer votre indignation et exiger sa libération.

(apportez des bougies)



Lundi 28 Novembre 2011 de 18h30 à 20h00

Devant l'ambassade de France à Bruxelles

41, Boulvard du Régent à 1000 Bruxelles

(Métro : Arts-Loi-Kunst-Wet)


On meurt dans les prisons françaises Editorial du "Monde" | LEMONDE | 25.11.11 |

(photo : Marcel Mussen, mussen.photo@gmail.com)

En France, on meurt beaucoup en prison ; on en parle peu.

Ils ont installé jeudi 24 novembre une petite banderole et un micro sur l'esplanade glaciale du parvis des Droits-de-l'Homme, au Trocadéro, en face de la tour Eiffel, et ont lu gravement la liste des morts de 2010 en détention.

Click here to find out more!
"15 novembre, un homme, 49 ans, par suicide. 15 novembre, un homme, 32 ans, par suicide. 16 novembre, un homme, 19 ans, par pendaison. 18 novembre, un homme, 46 ans, par pendaison..." 263 fois, presque tous les jours.
Il s'agissait théoriquement de lire la liste des prénoms, mais on ne les a même pas ; la plupart du temps, on meurt en prison dans la solitude et dans l'anonymat.
"Il s'agit de donner à chacun un visage, explique Roch-Etienne Migliorino, un ancien infirmier en milieu carcéral, qui, depuis trois ans, organise ce modeste rassemblement pour "les morts en prison". Ce pourrait être chacun de nous : "On peut à tout moment se retrouver derrière les barreaux." Les touristes japonais viennent jeter un oeil sur ces visages graves, sur la dame à l'écharpe tricolore, la sénatrice verte Esther Benbassa, qui égrène quelques dizaines de noms, après Samia El-Alaoui, aumônière musulmane, et Vincent Leclair, aumônier catholique. Lourd moment, une heure de lecture de morts sans nom, devant les représentants figés par le froid et l'émotion du Genepi, le Groupement étudiant national d'enseignement aux personnes incarcérées, la Farapej, la Fédération des associations réflexion-action prison et justice, le Secours catholique, Emmaüs, le collectif Les Morts de la rue, la Mission de France et la Cimade.
Sur 263 décès officiellement constatés par l'administration pénitentiaire, 121 détenus se sont suicidés, 138 sont morts "de mort naturelle", 4 ont été tués. 96 % des suicidés se sont pendus, les plus jeunes très majoritairement (18 ans et moins) ; viennent ensuite les 40 ans et plus. La grande majorité de ceux qui passent à l'acte étaient en détention provisoire, et à 60 % pour des délits et non des crimes.
Le choc de l'arrivée en prison est brutal : 15 % des suicides ont lieu dans les dix premiers jours. Après, on s'habitue, ensuite on désespère : les deux tiers des suicides surviennent après les trois premiers mois sous écrou.
Les surveillants se tuent, eux aussi. "Les surveillants et les détenus sont liés par la même humanité, a dit Gabriel Mouesca, de l'Observatoire international des prisons, il n'y a que des barreaux qui les séparent, mais c'est la même prison qui les tue."
Il n'y a pas que les suicides. Une enquête officielle indiquait que, en 2006, 35 % à 42 % des détenus étaient considérés comme "manifestement, voire gravement malades". Une raison : la proportion de personnes âgées en détention est plus forte qu'à l'extérieur, résultat mécanique de l'allongement des peines.
"Un être humain, c'est un corps et un esprit, a dit Mme El-Alaoui, l'aumônière. L'âme et l'esprit ont besoin d'amour et de dignité. Quand il n'y a plus ça, ce qu'il reste, c'est d'essayer de faire partir cette âme."

vendredi 25 novembre 2011

Ali Aarrass: 15 ans de prison !


25 novembre 2011 - COMMUNIQUE DE PRESSE

CABINET D’AVOCATS JUS COGENS – Me Christophe MARCHAND (GSM: 32.486.32.22.88 ; cm@juscogens.be), Me Dounia ALAMAT (GSM:32.472.40.58.02 ; da@juscogens.be) et Me Nicolas COHEN (GSM: 32. 470.02.65.41; nc@juscogens.be)

Affaire Ali AARRASS : Parodie de justice jusqu’au bout, le Maroc condamne Ali AARRASS à quinze ans d’emprisonnement sur base d’aveux extorqués sous la torture !

Ce 24 novembre 2011, le procès d’Ali AARRASS s’est déroulé devant trois magistrats de la Cour d’appel de Rabat siégeant à Salé.

Malgré l’absence de tout élément de preuve objectif[1], notamment des déclarations de ses prétendus accusateurs, Ali AARRASS a été condamné à quinze ans d’emprisonnement sur la seule base de ses aveux obtenus sous la torture.

Ne répondant à aucun des arguments juridiques et factuels soulevés par la défense au cours de plus de trois heures de plaidoiries et au travers de conclusions écrites, les magistrats ont pris leur décision en à peine plus d’une heure.

Plus choquant encore, alors que la réouverture de l’audience était prévue pour 16h, les magistrats ont prononcé la sentence en l’absence des avocats de la défense, de la famille d’Ali AARRASS et des nombreuses personnes venues le soutenir. Ali AARRASS s’est retrouvé seul face à ses juges pour entendre ce verdict inique. L’interprète n’avait même pas été appelé par la Cour. Ali AARRASS n’a donc pas compris le jugement qui a été prononcé. Ce sont ses avocats qui ont dû le lui expliquer dans les geôles du palais de justice.

Le collectif de défense ne peut que constater qu’il s’agit d’une pression supplémentaire exercée sur Ali AARRASS. Après la torture et les conditions de détention extrêmement pénibles, Ali AARRASS étant placé en régime d’isolement sévère, cet évènement s’ajoute encore au fait qu’aucun entretien confidentiel n’est autorisé entre Ali et ses avocats.

Parallèlement à cette sordide condamnation, il faut rappeler que les autorités marocaines ont refusé d’enquêter sur la plainte déposée par Ali AARRASS pour la torture qu’il a subie en garde-à-vue. Il y a pourtant des devoirs d’enquête élémentaires qui auraient dû être réalisés avant de pouvoir considérer qu’il n’y aurait pas matière à sanctionner : entendre Ali AARRASS de manière approfondie, le confronter avec tous les agents s’étant « occupés » de lui pendant sa garde-à-vue, réaliser une expertise médicale, la comparer avec le dossier médical espagnol, … Le Maroc n’a rien fait !

Est-ce étonnant ? Pas vraiment. Ces même magistrats avaient statué dans l’affaire « Belliraj » et avaient condamnés les inculpés à des peines d’emprisonnement extrêmement lourdes, malgré les allégations persistantes de torture et les nombreuses violations du droit au procès équitable, constatées tant par les ONG[2] que par des observateurs officiels[3].

Honteusement pour le Maroc, ces juges persistent dans leur pratique contraire aux droits humains les plus fondamentaux. Ces magistrats avaient pourtant été désavoués par le roi Mohamed VI, qui a accordé la grâce à plusieurs personnes condamnées à vingt ans d’emprisonnement dans le dossier « Belliraj ».
Est-ce que la justice remplacera un jour l’injustice au Maroc ?
Quoi qu’il en soit, le combat continue pour Ali AARRASS, qui a d’ores et déjà saisi le Comité des Nations Unies contre la Torture et le Comité des Droits de l’Homme.


[1] Le dossier marocain ne contient aucun devoir tel une perquisition chez Ali AARRASS, des écoutes téléphoniques, des analyse ADN, …

[2] Cf. notamment : Commission arabe des droits humains, « Rapport d’observation du procès des six détenus politiques au Maroc – Affaire Belliraj », 10/12/2009

[3] Tel le Consul belge, cf. Document paru sur wikileaks de l’ambassade US de Rabat, sujet « Landmark terrorism case raises human rights »

samedi 19 novembre 2011

Mechelen kc nOna (Theater vzw) 1 & 2 december : ga dat zien !!!

UN HOMME DEBOUT


Jean-Marc Mahy, Jean-Michel Van den Eeyden REPRISE
theater


kc nOna (TheaterTeater vzw)
Begijnenstraat 19-21
B-2800 Mechelen

T: +32 (0)15 203780
www.nona.be
info@nona.be
Routebeschrijving


Indien u meer dan 14 dagen vóór de speeldatum reserveert, vragen we u het totaalbedrag van uw tickets (12€, red. 10€ per ticket) over te schrijven op 068-2165305-01, met vermelding van titel, speeldatum en aantal tickets.


Voorstelling in het Frans met Nederlandse boventitels.

Un homme debout was in 2010 al in kc nOna te zien tijdens het mini-festival 'Les Wallons, c’est du caca?'
De reacties op deze aangrijpende voorstelling waren toen zo goed dat een herneming zich opdrong.
Op 20-jarige leeftijd belandde Jean-Marc Mahy achter de tralies voor twee zware misdrijven: diefstal met geweld zonder de intentie te doden en de moord op een rijkswachter. Hij kreeg levenslang. Op 36-jarige leeftijd kwam hij weer vrij en moest hij opnieuw leren omgaan met de maatschappij, vrijheid en autonomie. 

Vandaag is Mahy 44 jaar en staat hij op de planken. Het idee voor de voorstelling Un homme debout groeide vanuit een kwaadheid over de lichtzinnigheid waarmee jongeren naar gevangenissen kijken. Op scène organiseert hij de ontmoeting met een gevangene: hijzelf. Gedurende anderhalf uur dompelt hij de toeschouwer onder in een wereld van lijden, geweld en emotie. 

Verwacht U met Un homme debout niet aan een perfect geacteerde tekst, maar wél aan een persoonlijk en oprecht relaas.

Jean-Marc Mahy in De Morgen (27/05/2010):

";Ik ben hiermee begonnen omdat ik kwaad was. Kent u het gevangenismuseum in Tongeren? Honderden jongeren uit jeugdinstellingen heb ik erheen gebracht. In het begin spotten ze er altijd mee. ‘Pfff, dat kennen we. Dat is Prison Break. La prison, ce sont les vacances, zeggen onze maten.’ Tot ik hen daar mijn leven vertelde. Daarna wilden ze geen foto’s meer nemen van een cel met hun gsm. Omdat ze er niet wilden belanden. Nu had ons land een uitzonderlijk opvoedkundig project, dan beslissen ze ermee te stoppen!"; 

Persquotes:

Précipité, plus calme ensuite, parfois très émouvant, l’ex-détenu devenu éducateur prouvé, au cours de ce témoignage théâtralisé, qu’il allie sincérité et besoin de transmettre aux jeunes que la liberté est bel et bien au dehors. ­
Laurence Bertels - La Libre Belgique

Avec un feu troublant dans le regard, Jean-Marc Mahy captive les spectateurs, adolescents en premier, pour une immersion en enfer dont on ne revient pas intact.Cathérine Makereel – Le Soir

dimanche 13 novembre 2011

Free at Last: Profiles of Courage

UFree exclusive:



On 18 October 2011, the first 477 of an eventual 1,027 Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails were released in exchange for Gilad Shalit, an Israeli soldier captured five years previously. Of the Palestinians who have or will be freed, 280 were serving life sentences and 27 were women. Most had been deprived of family visits for years, and had suffered repeated torture, sentences to solitary confinement and refused access to education. The release came as more than 6,000 Palestinian prisoners staged a hunger strike to protest the harsh conditions.

While the release is good news welcomed throughout the occupied territories, some families will still be separated. Of the first 477 prisoners released, 110 were returned to their homes in the West Bank and 203 were deported to Jordan, Turkey, Qatar and Syria, which agreed to take prisoners who Israel insisted, must not be allowed to return home. The rest (131) were freed in Gaza -- even if they were not originally from there.
The agreement is the highest “price” Israel has ever paid for a single soldier. Israel places a high value on Israeli life and freedom, and assigns little worth to Palestinians. Thus, captures and exchanges are the only way to win their release. Approximately 5,300 Palestinian prisoners remain in Israeli jails, waiting to be freed.

Here are the stories of just two of the released Palestinians:

Ayman Kafishah; jailed since April 1997:

On April 5, 1997, Ayman was arrested by Israeli security forces and immediately transported to Ha Shikmah Prison in Israel. According to testimony he later delivered to the UN Commission on Human Rights and publicized by B’tselem, an Israeli human rights agency, Ayman was then interrogated nonstop for 36 hours. Tactics used to coerce him to talk included:

  • Violent shaking.
  • Forced squatting and sitting in painful, contorted positions for prolonged periods.
  • Wrist cuffs tightened until blood flow was cut off.
  • Sleep deprivation.
  • Refusal of permission to use the toilet.
  • Threats to arrest and torture his family members.

Ayman was denied the right to consult with his lawyer for a full month, and was not allowed any family visits for the entire 14 years he was jailed. His daughter, Sarah, knew of her father only through photographs.

Although Ayman was freed in the prisoner exchange for Shalit, his forced separation from his wife and daughter continues. He was immediately exiled to the Gaza Strip, and his family was denied permission to travel there to see him from the West Bank. They have seen him only on TV, waving to the crowds in Gaza.

“I was awakened (on Oct. 18, 2011) to the sound of my mother calling me,” recalls Sarah Kafishah. “I got up and rushed towards my mother, who was sitting in front of the TV. My mother knelt on the ground and thanked God.”

Sarah and her mother said in a statement that they thank the Palestinian negotiators and the Egyptian mediators for making the exchange happen. They also called on the international community to put pressure on Israel to allow Ayman’s family to leave the West Bank to visit him in Gaza. A 14-year separation is long enough.

Obada Saeed Bilal; jailed since April 2002:

A native of Nablus in the West Bank, Obada is the son of Saeed Bilal. Obada was studying journalism at Najah University when he was seized, during the Israeli military campaign on the West Bank codenamed "Defensive Shield." He was charged with being a supporter military activities, It was just two weeks after his marriage to Nelly AlSafadi.

Obada was sentenced to 11 years in jail and subjected to intensive torture, along with a number of stays in solitary confinement -- one time longer than six months. Says Obada: “I endured many rounds of continuous interrogation, during which the physical and psychological torture was so harsh my body became exhausted and I lost consciousness many times.”
Obada had always struggled with poor eyesight, but he went totally blind by the time he was released from prison.

His family has paid a heavy price to the Israeli occupying force. Obada’s wife, Nelly and three brothers also served time in Israeli prisons. Nelly, who was released several months before Obada, was arrested at a roadblock while trying to enter Ramallah. Although Obada was later moved to the same prison in which she was being held, they were never allowed to be together. 

Although Obada was freed in the prisoner exchange for Shalit, he was immediately exiled to the Gaza Strip and his wife Nelly was denied permission to travel there to see him.

Both families are urging the international community and all human rights groups to put pressure on Israel to strop its daily integration to Palestinians on check points and crossing borders and it must immediately allow those families access through crossing borders. 

mercredi 9 novembre 2011

Can prisoners become role models ?




Tom Magill and me.

Can Prisoners Become Role Models?

by Educational Shakespeare Co

Edited highlights of panel debate following the screening of ESC's Mickey B at the Theatre at The Mill, Newtownabbey.
Click here 

Appel urgent ! Lettre des réfugiés palestiniens en Norvège (en français, in English)

40 Palestiniens vivent dans un camp de tentes depuis le 5 avril 2011 !



Chers vous tous,

Nous sommes un groupe de réfugiés Palestiniens, et demandons l'asile en Norvège; nous l'avons fait pour obtenir une protection et pour pouvoir vivre dans un pays en sécurité. Sans état qui nous appartienne, nous ne sommes que des apatrides; nous sommes privés des droits humains élémentaires.

Nous sommes venus en Norvège pour obtenir la liberté et échapper aux forces armées et aux oppressions, auxquels nous devions faire face en Palestine ou dans les états dans lesquels nous avions regagné des camps de réfugiés, à l'instar de l'Iraq, l'Egypte et le Liban. Nous voulons la liberté, pour échapper à toutes les répressions et ses conséquences ; nous sommes des êtres humains aimant la paix, nous ne cherchons qu'à vivre dans la dignité, à élever nos enfants dans un environnement sain sans avoir à nous demander sans cesse si nous serons encore vivants le lendemain; si nous survivrons au prochain bombardement israélien. Cela fait soixante ans que nous sommes exposés aux affres de la guerre en Palestine. Certains d'entre nous, depuis 1948, et suite aux conséquences du conflit israélien, n'ont ni patrie, ni endroit où aller.

Après des années et des années d'attente, la Norvège nous a refusé le droit à l'asile et nous a notifié une décision de refoulement en Palestine (aussi bien vers la Bande de Gaza que vers la Cisjordanie). Certains autres se sont vus demander de retourner dans des pays où ils étaient déjà réfugiés; d'autres encore vers des pays qu'on ne peut regagner sans un visa ou un permis de travail. Ces solutions ne sont pas viables! Et elles le sont encore moins pour les femmes et les enfants!
Nous formons un groupe de quarante personnes qui a décidé d'organiser un sit-in pacifique aux abords de l'Eglise culturelle de Jakob à Oslo, sit-in ayant a débuté le 5 avril 2011. Nous avons également organisé quelques manifestations pacifiques devant le Parlement norvégien. Nous avons établi un camp avec quelques tentes, où nous avons cuisiné, dormi, et discuté avec les passants de notre situation. Nous sommes sans abri depuis cette date. Aujourd'hui encore, nous dépendons du soutien des cœurs généreux de Norvégiens qui croient en nous et en notre cause!

Nous supportons cette situation depuis plus de 200 jours, exposés à la pluie, endurant des conditions de vie inhumaines, tout cela en espérant gagner la sympathie du gouvernement norvégien et être traité avec justice, ni plus ni moins!

Nous vous écrivons car nous sentons que nos conditions difficiles ne vont pas changer, pas plus que nous allons réussir à convaincre le gouvernement de nous considérer comme des humains plutôt que comme des chiffres à traiter. La plupart d'entre nous souffrons à ce stade de dépression, se sentant abandonné, et en butte à des problèmes de santé. Nous désespérons d'obtenir de l'aide et du secours, partagés entre la tristesse d'être loin de nos familles et la crainte pour nos vies. Nous sommes littéralement déchirés, ayant l'impression de ne plus savoir quels sont nos droits légaux et humains. Mais ce dont nous sommes certains c'est que nous envoyer vers la mort ou vivre dans les limbes n'est pas le meilleur choix que le gouvernement puisse nous offrir. Nous vous écrivons pour obtenir de vous un soutien, pour que vous puissiez témoigner de solidarité envers votre prochain. Nous avons juste besoin d'être sauvés de cette situation dans laquelle nous sommes empêtrés, et de ce futur incertain qui nous attend.

Nous espérons vous voir et vous entendre très bientôt, avant que l'hiver norvégien ne nous attrape dans les rues d'Oslo...

Avec toute notre amitié,

Le Groupe de Réfugiés palestiniens en Norvège, Abords de l'Eglise culturelle de Jakob,


Pour tous contacts et infos: Mohamed Ganam +47 455 55025 et Ashraf Khoffas +47 968 20 774
Adresse :
Kulturkirken Jakob
Hausmannsgate 14
N-0182 Oslo






Dear…,
we are a group of Palestinian refugees who applied for asylum in Norway; we have done this to be able to get protection and to live in a safe country. We are stateless without a country; we are deprived from basic human rights in this life.
We came to Norway to seek freedom from all kind of military and security oppressions, that we previously were exposed to back in Palestine or countries we were refugees in, i.e. Iraq, Egypt and Lebanon. We are seeking freedom from all war repression and consequences, we are peace loving humans, who are looking to live a dignified life, be able to raise our kids in safe environment without wondering if we’ll be alive tomorrow or we’ll be dead, whither we’ll survive another Israeli air-strike or not. Back in Palestine we have been exposed to war for over sixty years. Some of us due to the war and the Israeli conflict since the 1948 have had no land or country even to go back to.
After years of waiting, Norway rejected our asylum applications and gave us a final decision of deportation, back to Palestine (Gaza, west bank) others were asked to leave back to countries they already were refugees in, or to countries Palestinians can’t enter without a work visa or permit. These solutions are not viable ones, Specially for women, kids or even men!
We are a group of 40 people decided to hold a peaceful sit-in outside the Jacob-church in Oslo, starting April 5th, 2011, we’ve organized few peaceful demonstrations in front of the Norwegian parliament; we’ve build a tent camp and started cooking, sleeping and talking to people passing by about our cause, we have been without shelter since that date. as of today, we are living of the support of the kind hearted Norwegians who believed in us and in our cause!
We have tolerated more than 200 days as of today, been exposed to rain, experiencing inhumane conditions so we can gain sympathy from the Norwegian government and to be treated fairly with no use so far!
We are writing to you after we felt that our conditions will not change nor we’ll succeed to convince the government to look at us as humans instead of being case numbers to them, most of us at this point are suffering from depression, feeling helpless and have many physical health related issues. We are desperate for rescue and help, between missing our families and be worried for our lives, we are torn, not sure what are our legal and human rights are, but we are pretty sure, sending us to die or living in limbo is not the best option this government can offer us. We are writing to you so you can support our cause, show solidarity with your fellow humans. We just need to be rescued from the current situation we found ourselves in and from the vague future that is awaiting us.
We look forward to hear from you soon before the Norwegian winter catch up with us in the streets of Oslo.
Yours, 

Group of Palestinian refugees in Norway, Outside the Jacob Church
 
For contacts: Mohamed Ganam +47 455 55025 and Ashraf Khoffas +47 968 20 774
Email:kontakt@palestinerleir.no

Address:
Kulturkirken Jakob
Hausmannsgate 14
N-0182 Oslo


SVP : Envoyez cette lettre à l'ambassade novégienne et demandez une réponse à cette lettre 

Adresse de l'Ambassade Royale de Norvège, Rue Archimède 17,1000 Bruxelles

 Téléphone

+ 32 (0) 2 238 73 00 (en déhors des heures d'ouverture, et uniquement en cas d'urgence: 0474 95 01 37)

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 Courriel




Soutenez les détenus des bateaux Tahrir et MV Saoirse

Irish Ship to Gaza
Press release, Tuesday 8 November 2011, 11.45pm

FAMILY MEMBERS OF IRISH DETAINEES DISTRESSED ABOUT THEIR CONTINUED IMPRISONMENT AMID THREATS BY ISRAELI JUDGE OF POSSIBLE TWO-MONTH INCARCERATION
ISRAEL CONTINUES TO DETAIN ALL IRISH PASSENGERS WITH NO RELEASE DATES OR TIMES

American journalist Jihan Hafiz was on the Canadian boat Tahrir, and was among those detained by Israel despite her press credentials. She reported earlier today about her experience during the Israeli takeover of the Irish and Canadian boats:
“There were three warships [...] four Zodiacs, four water cannon boats, as well as four regular gunboats. All of the commandos on all of these boats were heavily armed. It looked like they were taking on an army of a foreign country.”
She added: “Two water cannons started to pour lots of water into the Irish boat, which flooded it, blew their sockets, and cut off all the electricity. And so, at that point, the Irish delegates I spoke to said they told the Israeli army, ‘We’re taking on water. We’re sinking. We’re going to go down at sea if you continue with the water.’"
Jihan Hafiz goes on to describe the violent takeover during which guns were pointed at the heads of the boats’ passengers, how they were roughed up, mistreated, strip-searched, and filmed naked. She also tells of how the journalists’ equipment was confiscated, in a bid to silence any reporting that might contradict the sanitized Israeli account of what happened during the hijacking of the Tahrir and the MV Saoirse.
Meanwhile, despite Department of Foreign Affairs assurances that the detained Irish activists of the MV Saoirse would likely be released by Tuesday 8 November, there has been no further news of their deportation and return to Ireland. Naturally, the family members of the Irish passengers are extremely anxious about their continued illegal incarceration. They are particularly concerned about reports that the judge dealing with the case of the detainees has threatened to keep them incarcerated for two months.
The lawyer dealing with the case met with Canadian detainees Ehab Lotayef and David Heap on Monday. They informed the lawyer that an Israeli judge threatened to keep all detainees who do not sign deportation papers incarcerated for two months. The Irish activists have refused to sign these papers because they state that the activists came to Israel voluntarily and entered the country illegally. This is not the case, as Israeli naval ships violently seized the Saoirse and Tahrir, and forcibly transported them and all on board to Ashdod.
Furthermore, the lawyer reported that the Irish he spoke with felt isolated and alone due to their lack of contact with the outside world. An Irish consular official reports that he attempted to bring newspapers and phone cards for the prisoners, but these were not allowed in.
Fintan Lane’s father, Jim Lane, said:
“My wife and I are deeply concerned for Fintan’s welfare. We are disappointed by the lack of information we are receiving from the Department of Foreign Affairs. On Monday we were told by the Department representative that Irish consular staff would be meeting all the detained prisoners on that day, but later we were told that they were not given access to the male prisoners. Furthermore, I was made to understand that the 72 hour detention period would be up at 2am on Tuesday morning, and we awaited further information from the Department. However, this afternoon we got a call from the DFA to be told that they had no further news. The family is concerned about the silence that has been brought into the affair. It seems deliberate and we would like information immediately. The few statements we have had have come from Israeli sources, which we find to be suspect based on the account our son was able to communicate in the very brief phone call he was permitted to make.”
“We fully support our son’s participation in the Freedom Waves initiative because the inhumane blockade of Gaza must come to an end,” he added.
Gay Lawlor, Zoe Lawlor's brother, said:

"As a family we are extremely worried about Zoe and the other passengers of the MV Saoirse. Given the passing of the 72 hour detention period and still no confirmation of their release times we think it is shocking that our government, and in particular the Tanaiste, Mr. Eamon Gilmore, are not acting in the best interests of our citizens."

Mark Hogan, Irish rugby star Trevor Hogan's brother, said:
“My brother refused to sign a deportation order, which stated he had entered Israel illegally, since he was effectively kidnapped by the IDF and brought to Israel against his will.”
“A 72 hour period of detention pending deportation elapsed at approximately 3am on Tuesday morning, yet the latest information from an Irish consular official who visited them on Tuesday afternoon is that there is still no confirmation of when they will be deported. So they are, effectively, imprisoned indefinitely.”
“I call on Minister for Foreign Affairs Eamon Gilmore to intervene and secure the immediate release of my brother, Trevor, and all the other Irish citizens of the MV Saoirse.
The family members quoted are available for interview - contact details as follows:

Jim Lane 021 496 2993

Mark Hogan 087 792 7610 or  086 807 0338

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mardi 8 novembre 2011

Hank Skinner : message d'un condamné à mort - dispatches from death row

Solitary Watch : Hank Skinner’s Dispatches from Texas Death Row

November 7, 2011
by James Ridgeway and Jean Casella
Today, the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals granted a stay of execution to Hank Skinner, to allow for the testing of DNA evidence which Skinner says could cast doubt on his guilt. Skinner was scheduled to be executed two days from now, on November 9. In March of last year, Skinner came within a half-hour of execution before receiving a stay from the U.S. Supreme Court. (Read more about the case here and here.)
Since 2008, Hank Skinner has been writing dispatches from his cell on Texas’s death row in the Allan B. Polunsky Unit, under the heading “Hell Hole News.” These dispatches appear on the website maintained by Skinner’s supporters. Many of them deal with his case, but several describe conditions on death row, where prisoners live in near-complete isolation while awaiting execution–a condition some human rights and civil rights groups have identified as torture. Excerpts from three of Skinner’s dispatches appear below–including one describing what were to be his final hours last year. To read all of Skinner’s “Hell Hole News,” go to this web page and scroll to the bottom.
October 27, 2008
…I’ve lost every friend I ever had here. Texas killed them one by one. They leave here. They never come back. I read in the paper what they said and how they died, how many minutes it took them to die, what colors they turn as the chemicals course through their veins, how they strangle, gurgle, rasp, snore and die, die, die. So, trust me, I’ve got experience here with death. Thirteen (13) years of it. 322 executions worth. For all the terrible things some may have done, I’ve never encountered any of the “monsters”, “demons”, “sociopaths”, “super predators” or “deranged killers” the D. A.’s and news media are always talking about. I’ve seen only human beings some wretched, true but mostly just twisted and broken by dismal lives and upbringings they themselves had little or no control over. I’m not seeking to lessen their responsibility, I’m just saying, it could happen to anyone and, it has.
Acceptance and realization of the enormity of the deed of causing death has affected so many so profoundly that we’ve had quite a few suicide attempts and completions. Others drop their appeals, but that’s suicide too, in my eyes. The most recent was Michael Rodriquez of the Texas. The isolation, desperation, sensory deprivation and the utter despair of realizing the enormity of what he’d done drove him to conclude that he’d rather die than continue to live in this misery, this man made purgatory called Texas death row. The media describes our conditions as “stark”. Ha/ha! What a malicious understatement. Look at the Walnut street prison “experiment” mentioned in the case of in re Medley, 1890 U. S. Supreme Court. This is a form of the “Pennsylvania System” which was instituted by the Quakers in mid 1800’s. It was known that as now, over 154 years later, that THESE CONDITIONS DRIVE MEN MAD, as Charles Dickens stated upon his visit to one of those SHU’s:
“The dull repose and quiet that prevails is awful. In his shroud [of a cell] is lowered an emblem of the curtain dropped between him and society, the living world; he is led to the cell from which he never again comes forth until his whole term of imprisonment has expired… He is a man buried alive; to be dug out in the slow round of years and in the meantime is dead to everything but torturing anxieties and horrible despair”.
So, with all that said, you know I’m qualified as a lay expert on these subjects. I’ve been all over death row in my years here and talked to countless men, some guilty, some innocent, some in the murky gray areas in between. I can tell you that when a man lays dying on that gurney and says his is so sorry for what he did, he really means it and, when he sheds a tear, it is for the victims, not for himself. We’re scared of death, as everyone is; but most of us who have any sense left view death as an escape from this torment. Yes, dying is bad. But it’ll be over in a few minutes and thus it’s the easy part when compared to all we’ve suffered and seen here.
It is profoundly disturbing to watch a sane man you’d just talked to in the dayroom, from your cell one day, when he just “snaps” and goes stark raving mad the next day, covers himself in feces and cuts himself to ribbons or, hangs himself with a sheet or mattress cover strips braided into a rope. The next day he’s gone, the empty cell a ‘stark’ (ha/h) reminder of what happens here. I’ve seen it many times…
In this place you cannot have anything, say anything, see anything, know anything, do anything, be anything, hear anything or enjoy anything. It’s beyond being merely inhumane; locus es terribilis iste! – “this place is terrible!” Some of you might be quick to say “well, they’re capital murderers and they shouldn’t have anything anyway”. To you I would say, again, not all of us are guilty but besides that, our court sanctioned punishment is DEATH; we forfeit our very lives for the crimes we’re accused of, so we shouldn’t have to forfeit more, extra-judicially, in the meantime just because others want to make us suffer. If you believe otherwise, then you are the very thing you accuse us of being: a remorseless, vile, sociopathic killer. The mark of a civilized society is supposed to be it’s ability to rise above the baser instincts of animalistic terror. If you wish to visit that upon us, you are not part of civilized society. It is that same society which condemns such actions by sentencing people to death who commit them… i.e. again, you become the ‘monster’ you loathe…
March 26, 2010
[Note: Hank Skinner was scheduled to be executed on March 24, 2010. The U.S. Supreme Court granted a stay with less than an hour to spare.]
A day with death’s embrace.
I feel really out of place right now. Once you really prepare yourself for death and are convinced of its happening, it seems difficult to come back to life. Almost like I don’t want to be here. I’m at least somewhat used to the feeling. Having engaged transcendental states of being from a young age, I’ve felt odd like that, coming back onto this plane of existence. I’ve pierced the vale many times, peered over the wall into the eternal valleys. This one was different, though. Against my will, more intense, more lingering and with definite after effects. I still feel death’s bony digits clutching at my shoulders, trying to pull me down and over into the abyss.
The last 24 hours were hard. This officer I’d always traded shot with decided to get tetchy and wrote me a 2 cents case claiming I’d “threatened” him. They put me on level III and took all my stuff, then just continued to terrorize me endlessly until I left the hell hole at noon the 24th.  By the last two weeks they were shaking me down every day and 7 days out started shaking me down twice a shift = 4 times a day. Then parked an officer in a chair in front of my door around the clock. I am the only person out of the last 6 prisoners executed to have been mistreated in this way and I know that for a fact because I was there, to see how they were treated, from October 13th until March 24th.
I really enjoyed my final visits, especially with my daughters. My oldest daughter, Natalie Jo, I have not held her since she was 5 or 6, not seen a photo of her since she was 11. My middle daughter, Kristen Nicole, I’ve never seen her in person although I’d been in her presence when she was a kid, it was very difficult for me to sit there and look at them as grown women…It was worth all I suffered this past month just to get them out here, sitting side-by-side and talk to them. There were no awkward moments. We fell right into it like we’d been there all along…I got to see my wife, but didn’t get enough time with her. I didn’t get to see everyone I wanted to see but I guess 3 out 4 aint’t bad. I have to thank Warden Lester for that. For some reason he and I are now able to hold a civil conversation, which previously we’d never done in 13 years…
So we come to the day of death. Tuesday (23rd) night, Don Guido Todeschini from the Vatican in Rome, Italy, along with deacon Jose Angel Vitela from the Saint Francis Order, San Martin de Porres Mission in Corrigan, Texas, were supposed to give me confession, communion, the last rites, extreme unction and an apostolic blessing from the Pope (Don Guido tells me that this blessing will carry me straight to heaven to stand before St Peter, upon my death and that it carries the authority of the Pope, as if he, were actually here himself). For whatever reason, someone in the chaplaincy made an issue of minor technical matters and cancelled the ceremony. This arbitrary action of course had a great negative effect on me, as by Wednesday (24) it appeared I was going to die spiritually unprepared and lacking. Warden Simmons came to the rescue and assembled the crew at a table behind the visit area. Don Guido performed a beautiful ceremony in Italian and Latin, conferring upon me the sacraments and the apostolic blessing, along with the last rites and extreme unction. After this ceremony I felt blessed and totally at peace. I went back into the visit with my wife but time was short and I did not bet to tell her half of what I wanted/needed to.
When I got to the Walls unit everything changed. They were exceedingly humane to me and I was grateful for that…They’d told me I could get in my last meal only what they had on hand in the kitchen, so I listed several things, to give them a choice of entrées to make sure I’d get some. They made it: 3 pieces of popeyes style fried chicken, 2 catfish fillets, 2 bacon double cheeseburgers, a large order of fries, a bowl of raw onion, bowl of shredded cheese, bowl each of Ranch dressing and Tartar sauce and a chocolate milkshake. Chaplain Hart told me prisoners prepare the last meals. I asked him to be sure and tell them how much I truly appreciated that food…It was the best food I’ve had in 13+ years, hands down. My eternal thanks to the convicts who cooked it. The only persons who could have done better is Mrs. Maggard (my pastor’s wife) or my mama.
I’m told that most guys who go over there can’t eat their last meal. Too nervous. I was calm as a cucumber. I truly felt like I had God’s hand on my shoulder. I can’t say why but I also had the idea that there were thousands of prayers being said for me, all over the world…
The warden come in there to see me. I’d braced myself for some cool hand Luke’s walkin’ boss kinda speech – “what we have heah is, failure to communicate” ha/ha. But no, the guy, Warden O’Reilley, was nice as he could be…At 3:00pm Chaplain Hart went over to see the witnesses at the Hospitality House, to prepare them…I spent 30 minutes with [lawyer] Doug [Robinson], then my Pastor, Albert Maggard, came in for 30 minutes. We had a good prayer and visit, which gave me more strength. I went back to the holding cell at 4:00pm to devour more of that fine meal and talk on the phone. Even Doug remarked on how calm I was, before he left. I’m not afraid of death. I am scared of those noxious chemicals they use to kill you. 8-10 minutes would seem an eternity when you’re paralyzed and suffocating to death…
Like I said, I had God’s hand on my shoulder and all the love and support in the world to back me up, so I was ok. I think some of the guys who’ve died over there all alone and it makes me want to cry. There is definitely a spiritual pall, an ethereal darkness over that place. I can “see” shades and remnants. I brought their psychic spoor back here with me. For the past 3 days I’ve slept a lot and dreamed of many who died there; all of whom I knew and whom I called an associate or friend. It’s now Sunday 28th and I’m still tired and I give out…
Back to the drama on death watch. I’d finished making all my calls but I ran over, past 5:00pm. So my last call was to my lawyer. Official news of the stay came at 5:40pm, the Sgt told me. So I was 20 minutes away from death – they kill you at 6:01pm. Doug told me, “hello? Hank? You have the most uncanny sense of timing of anyone I know.” I’m like “Yeah? Why is that?”; he said “Well…” and hesitated. The way I heard “well”… I thought he was gonna say “the Supreme Court just turned you down, I’m so sorry”; but instead he said “we just got word the Supreme Court granted you a stay and set the case for their conference calendar”. He said some other stuff but I couldn’t hear it ‘cause I’d dropped the phone and was too busy whooping and hollering to hear anything. I kinda slid down the wall and caught the receiver up and thought I heard him say they’d be up to see me tomorrow. So I quickly hung up and asked to call my daughter Kristen so I could tell her and Natalie Jo, which I did. Kristen immediately started crying – I’m like “child, I swear. First you’re crying ‘cause I’m gonna die, now you’re crying ‘cause I’m gonna live?” She says “but Daddy, I’m so happy!” Well, Hell. I guess I couldn’t argue with that, huh.
Mentally though, I could not process this stay right away. I felt, physically, like a thousand pound weight was lifted off my chest. Then I felt so light and thought I was gonna float off the ground and my chest started hurting ‘cause my heart was beating so hard. I was trying to talk to Chaplain Hart and Lt Seitz but I really couldn’t hear what they were saying because of the buzzing in my ears…
They put me in the van and brought me back here to Polunsky at dusk, in a light rain. I was glad to see the rain…
July 13, 2011
…Death row prisoners…are not sentenced to any term of penal servitude, but only to death as our punishment—after we’re convicted and sentenced, we are not TDCJ prisoners. We’re still wards of the counties from which we came. Back in the 1930-40’s, when a bucket of KFC and a lynching were popular Sunday-after-church events on the courthouse lawn, the legislature decided to build the “Short Row” at the Walls…That’s why [Texas criminal code] commands we be “safely held” by the director of TDCJ until such time as our convictions and sentences are either carried out, reversed or commuted. They can’t make us work because we’re not sentenced to penal servitude and, a court couldn’t sentence us to penal servitude and death on top of or, at the end of it, ‘cause that would violate the 8th amendment, double jeopardy, etc.
We are not segregated because we’re the worst-of-the-worst, like Ad Seg…We’re segregated only because we’re sentenced to death and prison administrators think that “we have nothing left to lose” so we’d be more “prone to act out” and do something to an officer, etc. The death sentence itself, not us, presents the security risk. The U.S. Supreme Court has repeatedly ruled that we are not similarly situated to Ad Seg for purposes of 1st, 8th, and 14th amendment analysis. They’ve also ruled that any punishment outside the context of our sentences without due process is presumptively illegal and violates the 8th amendment. So, we (death row) enjoy a “higher” status legally; our rights fall somewhere between that of a pretrial detainee and a convict sentenced to prison, see?…
Texas, since [the] Ruiz [case], has consistently sought was to evade their responsibilities regarding due process and punish us, retaliate against us too, on mere whim of whatever clown is in power back here at the time. Huntsville headquarters has helped them by consistently weakening the due process required before we can be punished, in direct violation of Supreme Court precedent. However, as we all know, Texas has a long history of bucking Federal law and doing whatever they want…
Before [Warden Timothy] Lester left on June 24th, he had the welders seal up the rat-holes on all the doors. For those of you who don’t know what a rat-hole is, let me explain. The cell doors here slide back and forth on a track in the top of the door and a guide 6” off the floor on the bottom. The doorway is a portal and the door on the outside slides to cover it and it locks by use of an electromagnetic drop pin. The door is thus actually on the outside of the threshold. The bottom of the door is 6” off the floor. So, you used to have a 30” wide by 6” high open area there so that, even locked in the cell, you’d have some way to interact with your fellow prisoners and safely socialize by use of a “life-line”—prisoners here makes lines out of old onion bags or the fiber strings out of old sheets. In this way you could send your neighbors 4 or 5 tacos made from commissary-bought items or share books, magazines or newspapers…
All we have to do in here is read and write or play chess over the run. They’ve taken everything else away from us. We play Scrabble or dominoes too. But we are otherwise extremely isolated in here and we have no TVs, thus no news or other windows as to what’s going on out there. I have not seen a TV since 1997. So, with that little rat-hole you maintain your sanity because when this cell you’re entombed alive in starts whipping your ass, you can get out there on the run and one of your friends is just on the other end of that string, so you can get out of that bed and reach out to someone. We get only 1 hour a day, 4 days a week, out of our cells, in a cage in the common area right in front of our cells. So the majority of our time is spent in this 7 ft by 12 ft concrete and steel tomb with only a toilet and sink and steel bunk in it. I’ve been here 17+ years, the experts on SHU (Special Housing Units) environments, in a published story in Time magazine a year or two ago, said that about five years is the maximum anyone can sustain in a place like this and still be called some semblance of sane. I’m not sure how I’ve managed to keep my sanity this long…
Others are not as lucky (or, as cursed, depending on how you look at it) as I am. Many here are illiterate or, although literate, have no help out there. We look out for those unfortunate prisoners and we make sure we talk to them, share with them, try to give them something to look forward to and hold on to, for their sanity. Then too, there are those here who depend on their hustle to survive. Some of them draw and sell their artwork to others here for stamps, sundries, food and hygiene/clothes items they need. Those prisoners will now be doing without, lying in their bunks to let insanity claim them. Those who wash clothes for a hustle can no longer do that. The activity, something to do, some small goal to attain for today, has kept them sane all these years. I recently wrote Warden Butcher and told him that it was a stupid, stupid mistake to weld those 4” x 6” plats over the rat-holes and that whoever made that dumb-ass decision will soon live to regret it, I am certain…
Living under a sentence of death is one of, if not the, most debilitating experiences you can imagine. It literally crushes you under its weight. All of the prisoners here who’ve been here more than 3 or 4 years are psychologically damaged. If you had people like Dr. Craig Haney, Dr. Terry Kupers, Dr. Stuart Grassian and people who work with them to come in here and individually assess each prisoner, you’d see how damaged they are. I see it every day. It’s bad.
And, Texas is not playing with this death penalty biz either. They kill one, two or three of us almost every week. The pall of death is always looming over us. All of the recent “security measures” enacted by the clowns who run this place do nothing at all to enhance security, but does everything to drive these prisoners crazier…
So here is death row, men who are living the last days of their lives and about to die, being treated worse by far than population prisoners when it’s supposed to be the other way around; and worse, being punished with no due process whatsoever…
I don’t think I’m any saint myself, do not get me wrong; but, I can truthfully say that I have never and, would never, stoop to the levels these pathetic fools do, to nitpick, hate on, back stab, retaliate against, and otherwise mistreat prisoners who have little of nothing and cannot defend themselves otherwise because the very people who are responsible for affording them due process and doing the right thing, are instead robbing them of it, hiding it and lying about it, while snickering behind their backs at how they screwed them over. And you, the public, your tax dollars pay these clowns salaries you have a right to demand a little more from and, a little better of, your state officials, and you should do so!
Jeff Blackburn, an attorney with the Texas Innocence Project, says that I have an attitude toward and (intense) dislike of, law enforcement and (TDCJ) authority. He is absolutely correct. All of the above, and more, are the reasons why.
A guy in population who gets screwed over has time to regroup, to recover, and recoup his losses so, it’s not too bad for him—he’s out there where he can move around and do something for himself. It won’t take but a day or two, he’s flying again. A prisoner on death row, however, is locked in a box and isolated. He has only a finite number of days in which to live before he’s executed. So anything taken from him, he likely cannot get back and that is especially so now that they’ve sealed up the rat-holes and isolated us further, literally entombing us alive.
The things I see go on here, I’d liken it to a thief who goes into the mail boxes of old folk’s and steals their welfare or Social Security checks; or someone who’d rape and sodomize a paraplegic in a wheelchair. Mistreating those who’re about to die and using the notoriety of a death sentence to do it, to hide behind as an excuse; it’s just so far down in the various castes of sorriness, it makes me ill. Mistreating people just because of their status or situation, which allows them to get away with it. We have some very good officers working here. I mean that strictly in the sense of humanitarian. The problem lies not with them, they get mistreated too, by the same rank and admin who forces them to mistreat us…

lundi 7 novembre 2011

Hamas prisoner exchange deal a "great step forward"

 
2 November 2011


















Palestinian political prisoners recently went on hunger strike to protest deplorable detention conditions.
The prisoner exchange deal was a major achievement for Hamas and a great step forward for the Palestinian people, particularly the prisoners’ movement.
Hamas earned respect and credibility for its management of a very complex issue. In particular, the entire operation was played out on Palestinian land and largely handled in Palestine for five years under complicated and dangerous circumstances.
The deal brought joy to the lives of prisoners, their families and all Palestinians living in Palestine and abroad. It was a joy combined with honor, dignity and the promising spirit of victory.
Veteran prisoners who were not included in the deal have endured, along with their families, untold pain and suffering. The released prisoners and all the Palestinian people sympathize with them and understand these feelings.
It is important to highlight, however, that the continued suffering of the remaining prisoners is not caused by the prisoner exchange deal, but rather in spite of it. It is caused by a lack of a Palestinian vision for liberation that is tangible and ripe for the moment.

No deal without its limitations
The idea that postponing the prisoner swap could have improved the terms of the deal is simply not true. On the contrary, postponing could have jeopardized the agreement entirely. Such deals are done when the timing is right. They cannot be rushed, postponed, or determined beforehand.
The prisoner swap deal, or any deal of that sort, is not without its limits. One should not expect from a deal to liberate all 6,000 prisoners languishing in Israeli jails. We should evaluate Hamas’ success or failure based on the following question: did the movement exhaust all its capabilities before signing off on the deal? The answer is a definite yes.
The deal, as it was achieved, is the outcome of certain power dynamics, and approving it was a legitimate and appropriate action. In the history of all struggles and liberation movements, even among the victorious, there are losses and victims. That does not make the victory any less significant.
Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh emphasized an important point in his liberation speech in Gaza.
“The borders of historic Palestine — Gaza, the West Bank, and the 1948 areas — are the borders of the prisoner exchange deal.
“With resistance we liberated Gaza. We liberated the land and the people,” he said.
Indeed, as Haniyeh claimed, resistance achieved what no other track, such as negotiations, was able to achieve or even come close to achieving.

Failure of West Bank “leadership”
In addition to liberating the prisoners and their families from the burden and suffering of imprisonment, the exchange represents another important development. The swap exposed a Palestinian leadership in the West Bank that does not hold much promise, as it has no real vision or project for liberating the rest of the political prisoners.
It is no secret that this leadership is under the illusion that progress is possible without resistance, that it will come about as a gesture of good faith on the part of Israel. The history of the struggle with Israel, however, has taught us that the Zionist state will not hesitate to commit any crime against the Palestinians, unless it is unable to do so or pay the price. The prisoners will not be liberated by laws, courts, mercy, or futile negotiations.
The prisoner exchange deal has created a new margin of freedom for Palestinians and an atmosphere of national reconciliation. It has also rehabilitated a supporting Arab role that had been suppressed by peace agreements from Camp David to Oslo to the so-called Arab Peace Initiative.
It has restored the value of resistance and the prospects of liberation, reaffirming that what was taken by force can only be restored by force; what was taken by occupation can only be restored by liberation; and what was taken by dispossession can only be restored by return.

Inclusion of 1948 prisoners
Hamas’ insistence on including in the prisoner swap deal for Palestinians living in the 1948 lands is a strategic accomplishment. It is not the first deal, historically speaking, to include prisoners from that part of historic Palestine. It is, however, the first deal since the Oslo accords to do so, setting a precedent for the future.
The deal also revealed the multi-strategic role that the new Egypt can play in liberating prisoners and restoring Palestinian rights, if the political will is there.
Hamas was able to take advantage of Israeli public opinion, which pressured the Israeli government for the return of the imprisoned Israeli soldier, Gilad Shalit. It withstood Israel’s repressive escalation against it, against the prisoners movement and against Gaza.
After the deal, the people expect any action by the Palestinian leadership on the prisoners issue to be connected to the question of their release. The goal is to liberate the prisoners and not merely to improve the conditions of their imprisonment.
It is no longer acceptable to postpone the issue of prisoners or give priority to other issues, as is the case with the Palestinian Authority’s pointless negotiations, conditioned as they are on freezing settlement expansion. The framework around the issue of political prisoners, namely that there will be no final peace agreement without the release of all prisoners, is practically a deferment strategy. But Palestinians do not want this issue deferred as this is an opportunity hastened by the prisoner swap deal.
Israel is taking precautions to prevent the capture of its soldiers and to create a deterrent policy that includes liquidating Palestinian leaders, tightening their grip on prisoners and using intelligence and technological assets. These methods, however, have been tried, and the Palestinian people have remained undeterred.
Nevertheless, one should not underestimate Israeli plans, and there is a need to fashion a Palestinian strategy to minimize the price paid in struggle while maximizing the benefits. This requires Palestinian preparedness. There is also pressing need for a supportive Arab contingent and for investment in Turkey’s role. Since both Egypt and Turkey desire regional power status, they can help foster, along with popular Palestinian, Arab and international solidarity movements, a safety zone that could deter Israel, liberate political prisoners and restore Palestinian rights.

Ameer Makhoul is a Palestinian civil society leader and political prisoner at Gilboa Prison.
This article is co-published by Beirut-based al-Akhbar and translated from Arabic.