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The occupation authorities arrested 7000 Palestinians in 2022
January 1, 2023

Detainees' institutions: (The Commission of Detainees' Affairs, The Palestinian Society Prisoner's Club, Addameer Association for Human Rights, and Wadi Hilweh Information Center) pointed out, in the joint annual report, that 2022 was the bloodiest year ever, and was full of crimes and violations in comparison with the last few years.

The report reviews two parts, the first part provides an overview on arrest campaigns, and the second part includes an overview on the transformations which lived by detainees in Israeli prisons. The report showed that there are a lot of changes across arrest campaigns implemented by the Israeli forces, which were basically connected to the escalation of struggle against the occupation.

The Israeli occupation forces arrested (7000) Palestinians from Jerusalem and Gaza Strip, where this was the highest rate of arrests in comparison with last year, especially in the West Bank. Last year, arrest cases in the West Bank and Jerusalem were (6000) cases, including (2000) arrests in the lands occupied in 1984. (882) minors have been detained in 2022, in addition to (172) women and (2409) administrative detention orders.

There are (40) injured persons who got arrested in 2022, including children. Arrests increased on April 2022, with (1228) cases, and May and October 2022 with (690) cases. With regard to the number of arrests in Palestinian cities, Jerusalem had the highest number with (3000) cases, and (106) cases in Gaza Strip, including (64) Fishermen. (600) orders of house custody have been issued, the majority of them are from Jerusalem.

There are currently (4700) detainees in Israeli prisons, distributed to (23) prisons and detention centers, including (29) women in Damoun prison, (150) minors and (850) administrative detainees, including (7) minors and (2) women. Moreover, there are (330) detainees who spent more than 20 years in prison, (25) of them are imprisoned before the Oslo Accord, such as the detainees Kareem Younis and Maher Younis, who were imprisoned since 1983.

Furthermore, there are (552) detainees who are sentenced to life imprisonment, the highest of which goes for the detainee Abdullah Barghouthi, with (67) life sentences.

With regard to the martyrs of the Captive Movement, the number has increased to (233) martyrs by 2022, the last of whom was the detainee Naser Abu Hmaid.

Women detention and targeting

 (172) women have been arrested in 2022; the majority of them are from Jerusalem, where the Israeli authorities tend to arrest women in order to practice pressure against detainees to surrender themselves.

Women detainees are subjected to torture and violations, and they are deprived of many of their rights. They suffer from the policy of medical ignorance, which led to the martyrdom of the detainee Saadyeh Farajallah from Hebron.

By the end of 2022, there are (29) women in Israeli prisons including two minors and two women under the administrative detention. In addition, there are (10) injured detainees, such as Israa Jaabees, who is sentenced to 11 years, and suffers from burns all over her body.

The Israeli authorities violated the right of women detainees in Israeli prisons, contradicting the Convention against Torture of 1987, which forbids the degrading treatment, and also contradicting the United Nations Standards Rules for the Treatment of Prisoners of 1955.

Women detainees are living in difficult and inhumane circumstances, without taking into account their special needs and rights. They are subjected to physical torture and medical ignorance and deprived of their basic rights.

The policy of detaining children

The Israeli occupation authorities arrested (882) children in 2022, where arrests are accompanied by torture and violence, reflecting the firm policies of the occupation in targeting children. Violation against children increased in 2022, and it is represented in shooting them in order to practice pressure against their families, and some of them had been arrested while being injured, and then they got transferred to hospitals and subjected to interrogation. In addition, administrative detention was imposed against children, where (19) minors have been arrested under the administrative detention, and currently there are (7) of them.

The total number of children in Israeli prisons are (150), held at (Ofer, Damoun and Megiddo) prisons. The flagrant violations against them are represented in arresting them late at night, beat them in front of their families, shooting them and keeping them handcuffed during interrogation.

These actions cause physical and psychological problems, which enable the occupation authorities to take confessions and force them sign unknown papers. The most prominent case in point is the detainee Ahmad Manasra, who was arrested on the age of 13. He suffers from difficult health and psychological condition. He is currently held in solitary confinement, where the Israeli authorities refused to release him despite all the legal efforts, and classified his case as "Terrorism act".

Detention campaigns in Jerusalem

(300) arrest cases have been recorded in Jerusalem in 2022, including (654) children and (129) women.

Detention campaigns were accompanied by intensive torture, beat and violent attacks against detainees and their families, in addition to vandalism in their houses and properties. Regarding the months with high rate of arrests, April witnessed (793) cases, followed by May with (401) cases, then October with (343) cases and November with (214) cases.

A serious precedent happened in 2022, when collective arrest cases have been implemented against worshippers in Al-Aqsa Mosque, after storming it last April in Ramadan, where people got beaten and insulted.

The Israeli authorities pursued the policy of (arrest immediately after release), against detainees from Jerusalem, where they tend to arrest them on their way home or at the gate of the prison. Then they got released under different conditions such as deportation of Jerusalem.

 The minister of army issued an order to confiscate the money of detainees from Jerusalem, according to the so-called law of (anti-terrorism) of 2019, affecting (41) detainees from the lands occupied in 1948 and (8) detainees from Jerusalem.

(43) Persons from Jerusalem have been sentenced to administrative detention in 2022, including two members of the Legislative Council, besides; many people have been arrested under feeble excuses such as writing posts on social media.

 

* Firm and systematic policies and crimes committed by the occupation authorities

 The crime of administrative detention

The occupation authorities pursued the policy of administrative detention as a firm policy against Palestinian people for decades, which increased recently and implemented against former detainees.

In response, detainees conducted struggle acts in order to confront this policy. However, (2409) orders of administrative detention orders have been issued in 2022, including (63) orders against people from Jerusalem and the lands occupied in 1948.

The highest rate of administrative detention orders was in January with (315) orders. There are currently (850) administrative detainees in Israeli prisons, including (7) minors and (2) women.

(30) Detainees started a hunger strike in September 2022 to confront and protest against the policy of administrative detention, and boycott all military courts specialized in administrative detention. The strike lasted for 19 days, and there are currently (80) detainees who still boycotting the military courts.

The administrative detention also included children, where (19) minors have been arrested in 2022, (4) of them have been released and (8) have exceeded the age of 18 while being in detention, and (7) still detained.

 

 

 

 Shooting detainees (rising numbers of injured detainees)

The occupation authorities escalated gunfire against detainees during arrest campaigns, where this year witnessed the highest rate of injuries among detainees.

Human rights organizations monitored (40) arrest cases for wounded persons who got shot, where (4) of them martyred: (Dawood Zubaidi, Mohammed Hamed, Rafiq Ghannam and Maher Turkman).

A case in point is the detainee Nour Al-deen Jarbou from Jenin, who was shot and had hemiplegia. Among the detainees who were released later, the detainee Shouman, whose leg was amputated after he was shot by the Israeli forces in April 2022.

Human rights organizations confirmed that the majority of wounded detainees have been subjected to interrogation inside hospitals and transferred to interrogation centers. The Israeli authorities tend to transfer wounded detainees to the clinic of Al-ramla prison, in spite of their urgent need of health care in hospitals.

The policy of collective punishment

The increasing arrest campaigns were accompanied by a remarkable increase of torture against detainees and their families, as part of collective punishment practiced by the Israeli authorities.

Collective punishments aim at taking revenge and create a state of panic among civilians. Arrest campaigns usually start at midnight, where the occupation forces storm Palestinian cities and villages and conduct inspections and incursions into houses, destroying houses belongings and creating a state tension among house residents.

Frequently, the occupation soldiers stated a field interrogation with detainees and their families, accompanied by beat, shouting and cursing.

 Silwad village as a sample

The occupation authorities conducted a vast campaign of arrests in Silwad on July 2022, which included many violent attacks and torture against the residents. The campaign resulted in detaining (30) persons from the village, in addition to arresting more than (45) persons in less than one month.

 A case in point is the detainee Ihsan Hamed, 21, who was subjected to field interrogation and violent attack during his arrest. His mother said: "Special Forces stormed the house at 5:30 am, and entered Ihsan's room and isolated us in different rooms, and the interrogation lasted until 8:30 am, and they destroyed the house furniture and the windows".

The policy of collective punishment also includes using dogs to attack detainees during arrest campaigns in order to terrify them, where the dogs attack detainees and bite them, and the soldiers leave them bleeding.

The crime of torture

The occupation authorities escalated the use of torture against Palestinian detainees, which is considered a firm policy used to take revenge from Palestinians in 2022. Human rights organizations cited many cases of torture against detainees implemented during interrogation.

However, torture was not limited to interrogation centers, but was developed in 2022, starting from field interrogation ending with detaining them in cells.

 (73) detainees was killed since 1967, after being subjected to torture, such as the detainee Arafat Jaradat, who died in 2013 at Megiddo prison due to torture and the detainee Raed Jaabari, who died in 2014, in addition to Yaseen Saradeeh and Azeez Ewaisat.

The year of 2019 witnessed an excessive use of torture, where human rights organizations documented tens of narratives for detainees who have been tortured at Almaskoubya prison. Moreover, the Israeli authorities escalated the torture and abuse against detainees in coincidence with the rising confrontation in April and May 2022.

The crime of withholding remains of detainees and martyrs

The Israeli authorities pursued retaining hundreds of remains of detainees and martyrs in the "cemetery of numbers" and refrigerators. This policy increased in 2015, where there are (117) martyrs, whose remains are retained, including the remains of (11) detainees.

The Israeli authorities tend to use this policy in order to duplicate the suffering of detainees and martyrs families and take revenge of them. The Captive Movement sacrificed with (233) martyrs since 1967, including (73) who have been killed due to torture, (74) due to medical ignorance, (79) due to deliberate killing and (7) killed by direct shooting.

 There are (11) Martyrs remains, whose families wait to bury them: Anees Dolah, Azeez Ewaisat, Fares Baroud, Nassar Taqatqa, Bassam Sayeh, Saad Gharableh, Kamal Abu Waar, Sami Omour, Dawood Zubaidi, Muhammad Turkman and Naser Abu Hmaid.

There are fears of stealing organs from martyrs' remains, where the head of the Institute of Forensic Medicine, Yahouda Hes, stated that he was observing the operation of stealing cornea from Palestinian martyrs, in addition to their skin to use it in the treatment of wounded soldiers.

The policy of house custody

The Israeli occupation has invented new type of prison, created particularly for the people of Jerusalem and their children, calling it "house custody ". This phenomenon emerged after the protests against kidnapping the child Muhammad Abu Khdair on July 2014, and increased after Jerusalem uprising on October 2015.

The Israeli authorities resort to house custody as a means of punitive procedure against children from Jerusalem under the age of 14. However, the Israeli law does not allow detaining children, but the courts sentence them to house custody until they issue a real sentence against children, noting that this period is not included in the whole sentence.

 In house custody, the child is prevented from getting out of his home, and is kept handcuffed with electronic bracelet that has GBS system. Statistics showed that more than (600) cases of house custody were two types: the first type is holding the child with his family in the house in accordance with court decision until the sentence issued, where the family is forced to pay high sums of money to get their son released.

The second type of house custody is represented in deporting the child to another city, which distract and separate the family. House custody causes many mental and psychological effects on children and their families, where the parents are forced to observe the child permanently and prevent him from getting out, in implementation of the conditions imposed against them by the Israeli courts.

 Targeting journalists and activists

The Israeli authorities pursued targeting Palestinian journalists and activists in 2022, where tens of arrest cases have been recorded against them during practicing their work. It's worth mentioning that there currently (15) journalists held in Israeli prisons, (5) of them are held under the administrative detention.

 A case in point is the detainee Nidal Abu Aker from Bethlehem, who spent 16 years in prison, and has been released on May. He got rearrested again on August and sentenced to administrative detention for 6 months, where he went on a hunger strike besides 50 detainees in 25/9/2022 protesting against their administrative detention.

The Israeli violations against journalists were not limited to beat and detention, but it went beyond that to reach killing. A case in point is the journalist Shireen Abu Aqleh from Jerusalem, who was killed deliberately during practicing her work in Jenin in 11/5/2022.

Closing human rights organizations

The Israeli occupation forces stormed the headquarters of 7 human rights organizations working in Palestine in 18/8/2022, (Al-haq Defending Human Rights, Addameer Association for Human Rights, Bisan center for Research, Health Work Committees, and Defense for Children International, Agricultural Work Committees and the Union of Palestinian Women Committees).

The Israeli authorities ordered to close those organizations, after vandalized their belongings and confiscated some stuff, and justified this act by fighting terrorism, which is part of their policies practiced against Palestinian people and national and local organizations that work according to the Palestinian Work law. The Israeli attack against Palestinian Human Rights organizations did not begin in August, but was practiced in last few years through incursions and confiscating belongings from these organizations, and arresting the workers. They also tended to chase those workers and prevent them from practicing their work.

This approach escalated to affect human rights organizations working to defend the rights of Palestinians and expose the Israeli crimes committed against them.

Since decades, these organizations have been working to improve the situation in terms of human rights in the Palestinian territories. 3 of these organizations are specialized in detainees' affairs, visiting detainees in prisons and providing legal help. Israel justified the decision of closure depending on the law of Anti-terrorism of 2016, in addition to the so-called confidential file.

Stealing the money of Palestinians and inciting against detainees

The Israeli authorities pursued incitement campaigns against detainees, in coincidence with the pressure of the extremist right- wing, which was escalated through the past decade, in an attempt to criminalize their legitimate struggle against the occupation and present them as criminals and terrorists.

They attacked the Palestinian leadership because of supporting the detainees and martyrs, and insisting on fulfilling their national, humanitarian and financial obligations towards them. The Israeli parliament has legalized stealing the money of Palestinians in 2018, by passing a law that allows deducting part of tax revenues equivalent to the payments of detainees and martyrs families.

 The Israeli ministers' council decided to start deducting the money from tax revenues in 2019, in an attempt to put more pressure on the Palestinian government and blackmail it to stop paying for detainees and martyrs families. By conducting this procedure, they created deep financial crisis in Palestine which affected the budget of the Palestinian authority. The persistence in deducting money from tax revenues came under the frame of economic war committed by Israel to bargain on our rights.

By the formation of the extremist right wing Israeli government headed by Nitanayho, and Ben-Gvir as the minister of Internal Security, who will be supervising the Israeli prisons, it is expected to increase the incitement against detainees, which will create more tension among detainees in Israeli prisons.

The conditions of the Captive Movement in 2022

The Captive Movement faced many transformations in terms of the abusive measures and punitive procedures of the prisons administration. These transformations happened after the systematic violations implemented against them, which increased after the escaping operation (freedom tunnel) last September.

The Captive Movement confronted the Israeli incitement, especially by the extremist right wing, where the cause of detainees was an important topic in their elections. They announced their intention to amend their existing extremist laws and pass new racist laws which allow executing detainees.

This part of the report reviews the most prominent violations and systematic firm policies implemented by the administration of prisons against detainees.

The crime of medical ignorance, a tool of execution and murder

The Israeli authorities pursued to use the policy of medical ignorance against detainees, aiming at killing them, where they intend to leave detainees without any medical assistance, and there is no doubt that the administration of prisons implement systematic abusive measures which contribute in increasing the number of sick detainees.

 According to statistics made by human rights organizations in Palestine, there are currently more than (600) sick detainees in Israeli prisons by the end of 2022, including (200) who suffer from chronic diseases, (24) detainees have cancer, (6) disabled, (33) have eyes problems, (34) have kidney diseases, (120) injured with live bullets, (58) with heart diseases, (16) with blood diseases, (79) with bone diseases, (45) suffer from mental illnesses, and (27) have respiratory disorders, in addition, tens of detainees suffer from toothache and other chronic diseases such as diabetes and hypertension.

A case in point is the detainee Waleed Daqqa, who was diagnosed with cancer, and the detainee Naser Abu Hmaid who was suffering from cancer and martyred in December. It is obvious that the Israeli occupation authorities intend to torture and abuse sick detainees, contradicting all international laws and agreements which guaranteed the appropriate medical care for detainees, where (74) detainees were martyred due to this racist policy.

There are currently (14) detainees who are held permanently at the clinic of Al-ramla prison, such as the detainees (Mansour Muwqadi, Mutasem Raddad and Nahed Aqra).

It is worthy to mention that the majority of detainees who martyred in prison were suffering from cancer, without having the right diagnosis of their conditions, because the administration of prisons intended to inform them at advanced stage.

The crime of solitary confinement

The policy of solitary confinement is one of the most prominent procedures escalated by the administration of prisons against detainees in 2022.

More than (70) detainees experienced the solitary confinement in 2022, where (40) of them are still isolated, the oldest of whom is the detainee Muhammad Jubran, 39, from Ramallah. He has been isolated for more than 15 years, where he is detained since 2006 and sentenced to life imprisonment.

Human rights organizations confirmed that this policy is considered one of the most dangerous measures aiming at destroying their will , by isolating them in cells not suitable for human life ( dark, narrow dirty and full of insects). Through the past few years, detainees implemented many battles and protests to confront this policy.

They entered collective hunger strike in 2012, which lasted for 28 days. The administration of prisons pursued isolating the heroes of "freedom tunnel" and their companions who helped them when they escaped. This crime caused many mental and psychological problems to detainees, such as the detainee Ahmad Manasra who is still isolated since a year in difficult conditions.

The policy of incursions and inspections

The Israeli authorities pursued implementing systematic campaigns of incursions and inspections in prisons' sections, where this policy is used to impose control on detainees. Many incursions have been implemented this year, where the Israeli forces destroyed detainees' belongings, and attacked detainees, and transferred and isolated many of them.

The incursions have been focused on the second half of the year in (Hadareem, Naqab, Megiddo, Ofer and Remon) prisons. For instance, Special Forces stormed section (22) of Naqab prison in 30/11/2022, and entered the cell of the detainee Thafer Remawi, the uncle of the martyrs (Jawad and Thafer Remawi), and attacked him with his colleagues and transferred them to other cells and prevented them from family visits.

It is worthy to mention that the administration of prisons has implemented the most violent incursions since 2019, during which tens of detainees got injured.

Depriving family visitation and impose more obstacles

The Israeli authorities continued to put more obstacles on family visitation, where many detainees are punished due to party affiliation. The administration of prisons deals with any right of detainees as a crime, in order to impose more abusive measures against them.

 However, families who are allowed to visit detainees in prisons face degrading and harsh procedures, such as inspections and passing through many checkpoints. Several arrest cases have been recorded this year during family visits, such as the detainee Aseel Teeti from Nablus, who got arrested during the visitation of her brother Sabe' Teeti.

Battles conducted by the Captive Movement to confront the prisons system

Detainees continued their struggle against the system of prisons and escalated their confrontation and protests, especially after imposing systematic punitive procedures against them.

The unity of detainees contributed in preventing some of the punishments imposed on them by the occupation authorities, where detainees are getting ready for new steps and decisions that will be linked to the actions of the right wing government.

Detainees sentenced to life imprisonment

(4700) detainees are currently held in Israeli prisons, including (552) who are sentenced to life imprisonment, the highest sentence goes for the detainee Abdullah Barghouthi, from Ramallah, who is sentenced to life imprisonment 67 times.

(5) Detainees have been sentenced to life imprisonment in 2022: (Muntaser Shalabi, Muhammad Kabha, Khalil Abdulkhaleq, Ahmad Asafrah and Bilal Abu Zaid), where their sentences are accompanied with high fines reaching to millions of shekels. There must be recalls to the international community to stop this mockery, where the Israeli judiciary system should not be a tool of extremism and revenge.

Achievements of the Captive Movement

Detainees never stopped challenging their jailer, while they strived always to turn the prisons into something that gives hope to fulfil their dreams despite the obstacles they face. Detainees were able to achieve some of their goals, such as education, prison literature, hunger strike and sperm smuggling.

Education inside the prisons:

(406) detainees have passed the final high school exam in 2022, (411) detainees enrolled in Bachelor program in (Alquds Open University, Alquds University and Palestine University), and (200) detainees enrolled in Master's program.

Prisons Literature

Detainees in prisons have released many books in political, cultural and social fields in 2022. They tried to document their experiences in prison and expose the crimes of the occupation. A case in point is a book released by the detainee Amani Hasheem titled "Determination raises hope".

Hunger strikes

 (75) Detainees have entered hunger strike since the beginning of 2022 protesting against arbitrary measures imposed on them by the occupation authorities. Many hunger strikes were successful, especially those which have been conducted against the administrative detention, where detainees achieved their demands.

Smuggling sperms

Detainees pursued to smuggle their sperm outside the prisons in order to become fathers, against the will of Israel, where 3 detainees were able to do it this year, and 7 children were born. The first attempt was in 2012, which encouraged more detainees to do the same to create new lives from the occupation's cells.