WEST Palestinian prisoners-related institutions and human rights organizations launched an international campaign to combat sexual and physical violence against Palestinian prisoners in Israeli prisons and to punish those responsible.
Representatives of institutions, including the Palestinian Prisoners Association and the Palestinian Prisoners and Released Delegation, held a press conference in the city of Al-Bire in the central part of the occupied West Bank.
At the press conference, it was announced that an international campaign had been launched to publicize the violations suffered by Palestinian prisoners, to provide legal protection to the prisoners, and to hold those responsible accountable.
In the joint statement distributed by the Palestinian Prisoners Association, it was stated that the campaign aims to break down the wall of silence that forms on the victims due to the nature of these crimes, to make the victims' voices heard and to turn their testimonies into a legal process that will ensure the prosecution of those responsible.
Campaign organizers emphasized that this initiative is the beginning of a long-term process aimed at revealing crimes of sexual violence against Palestinian prisoners, ending the silence around these crimes, and creating a comprehensive legal file based on victim statements and documented testimonies.
Within the scope of the campaign, a call was made to the United Nations (UN), the International Criminal Court, the relevant special mechanisms of the UN and the countries party to the Geneva Conventions to take urgent and effective steps to protect Palestinian prisoners, to launch independent investigations into the crimes committed against them, and to hold those responsible accountable.
"It is part of the open pursuit against Israel"
Emani Serahine, Press Coordinator of the Palestinian Prisoners Association, told the AA correspondent that the campaign is part of the open pursuit against Israel and the cumulative activities carried out by various institutions since the beginning of the war on the Gaza Strip.
Serahine stated that the campaign includes legal teams and human rights organizations operating on different international platforms in coordination with Palestinian official authorities.
At the press conference, the testimonies of former prisoners who stated that they were exposed to sexual violence and violations in Israeli prisons and the statements of their families regarding the psychological and social effects of these events were shared.
Campaign Coordinator and former prisoner Yusuf Amayira said that the campaign was launched after obtaining statements and testimonies from prisoners, detainees and released persons for three years.
Amayira stated that after the documentation process, the campaign emerged and was officially declared.
Raid Abu al-Homs, Chairman of the Palestinian Prisoners and Released Delegation, said that prisoner-related institutions have documented many statements regarding the violations in question.
Abu al-Homs described what Palestinian prisoners in Israeli prisons were subjected to as "silent genocide".
Emin Şuman, Chairman of the High Commission for Prisoner Affairs, said that the campaign was launched during an unprecedented increase in cases of sexual violence against captives, especially since October 7, 2023.
Şuman noted that the campaign aims to mobilize international human rights and law organizations to combat these violations.
President of the Palestinian Prisoners Association, Abdullah Zaghari, stated that the relevant institutions have collected testimonies and documents as evidence regarding the violations in Israeli prisons in the last three years. Arguing that these practices were not isolated incidents, Zağari stated that the violations were carried out within the scope of a "systematic policy".
Hilmi al-Araj, Director of the Center for the Defense of Freedoms and Civil Rights, also said that sexual violations against Palestinian prisoners have reached the level of "war crimes and crimes against humanity".
Arac called for action to be taken by international institutions and courts to track down and hold accountable those responsible.
Institutions related to Palestinian captives state that Israel has increased its violations against male and female captives within the scope of its "revenge policy" since it launched its attacks on the Gaza Strip in October 2023.
According to the latest data from Palestinian institutions, approximately 9,400 Palestinian and Arab prisoners, including 99 women and more than 350 children, are being held in Israeli prisons.
3,244 of them are administrative detainees who are detained without any charges or trials.
Palestinian institutions accuse Israel of torture, starvation and medical neglect of detainees and call for international intervention to protect prisoners and investigate violations in prisons.