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Occupation magazine - Life under occupation

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New report on the conditions of Palestinian women prisoners held in Israel
By Women`s Organization for Political Prisoners (WOFPP)
December 2010 Newsletter
December 13, 2010
http://www.wofpp.org/english/december10.html


There are, at present, 39 women political prisoners in the Israeli jails: 22 in Hasharon Prison (Tel Mond), 16 in Damoon Prison (Carmel Mountain), 1 in Neve Tirza Prison (Ramle).

Hasharon Prison (Tel Mond)

Family visits
Sanabel Breek, 22 years old, from Nablus, was arrested on 22 September 2008. The Israeli authorities prohibit her parents from visiting in prison, and her brothers are too young to travel alone.

Health care
Kahera elSa`adi, from Jenin Refugee Camp, was arrested on 30 May 2002. At the beginning of November 2010, the prison authorities prohibited a private dentist who was sent by Yusef elSadeq Association (prisoners support association) from treating her. The treatment was planned and had been coordinated with the prison authorities. WOFPP`s lawyer, Taghreed Jahashan, sent the prison authorities a detailed letter about the prisoners` right to be treated by private doctors. At the end of November 2010, Kahera elSa`adi was allowed to be treated by the dentist.

Women under administrative detention
Hanaa Shalabi, from Burqin, Jenin district, an administrative detainee, was arrested on 14 September 2009. In October 2010, the military court rejected her appeal against the administrative detention.
A day before the session in court, she was transferred to a separation cell in Neve Tirza Prison, and after the session in court, the prison authorities kept holding her in the same cell. After three days she went on a hunger strike, and two days later she was transferred back to a wing with other women political prisoners in Hasharon Prison.
Muntha elTawil, 44 years old, from elBirah, an administrative detainee, was arrested on 8 February 2010. In November 2010, the Israeli authorities extended her administrative detention to an additional three months.
Linan Abu Ghulmeh, an administrative detainee, from Beit Furiq, Nablus district, was arrested on 15 July 2010. On 26 October, she went on a hunger strike demanding to be with her sister, Taghreed Abu Ghulmeh, who was held in Damoon Prison. When she was on a huger strike, the prison authorities transferred her to an isolation cell, prohibited her from speaking with other prisoners and from receiving family visits. On 3 November, WOFPP`s lawyer got a letter from the prison authorities informing her that they had sent a request demanding to transfer Linan Abu Ghulmeh to Damoon Prison. Therefore, Linan suspended her hunger strike. After the Israeli authorities refused to transfer her, she went on a hunger strike again on 2 December 2010. On 8 December 2010, when WOFPP`s lawyer visited her, she was on 6th day of her hunger strike.
Kifah Katash, 37 years old, from elBirah, an administrative detainee, was arrested on 1 August 2010. She suffers from a chronic disease that gets worse in winter and sometimes causes her great pains. In December 2010, the Israeli authorities extended her administrative detention to an additional five months.

Sentences
Nilly Safadi, 33 years old, from Nablus, was arrested on 11 November 2009. On 5 December 2010, she was sentenced to 20 months imprisonment.

New prisoners
Hanan elHamud, 41 years old, mother of three, from Bethlehem, was arrested on 11 October 2010 and brought to the Russian Compound Detention Center (Moskobiya, Jerusalem). After some days, she was transferred to Neve Tirza Prison (Ramle) and in the middle of November 2010 to Hasharon Prison.
Hadeel Abu Turki, 15 years old, from Hebron, was arrested on 14 November 2010 and brought to a detention center in Qiryat Arba. After two days, she was transferred to Hasharon Prison.
Shahira Burkan, 52 years old, from Hebron, was arrested from the house where she lives on 23 November 2010 at 2 o`clock at night, and brought to Ashkelon Detention Center to a very dirty, cockroach-infested cell. In the detention center she endured interrogations, the interrogators shouting and cursing her. The authorities prohibited WOFPP`s lawyer from visiting her in Ashkelon Detention Center. On 30 October 2010, she was transferred to Hasharon Prison.
Four of her sons are political prisoners who were arrested in October 2010. The Israeli army demolished her house in October 2010.

Released prisoners
`Alya elMuhtasib, from Hebron, was arrested on 12 March 2010 and released on 20 September 2010.

Damoon Prison (Carmel Mountain)

On 2 December 2010, all the women political prisoners from Damoon Prison were transferred to Hasharon Prison because of a huge fire on Carmel Mountain. WOFPP`s lawyer was visiting the women political prisoners at the time when the fire broke out. She and one WOFPP member who drove her to the prison insisted on staying nearby. They left the area only after they were informed that the women prisoners had been evacuated, and were really convinced when they themselves saw the buses of the Prison Service arriving at the prison and leaving afterwards. On 8 December the prisoners were transferred back to Damoon Prison.

Family visits
Faten elSa`adi, from Jenin Refugee Camp, was arrested on 8 May 2008. Her family members are still prohibited from visiting in prison. On 10 October, the parole board refused her request for early release after she had served two thirds of her term.
`Aysha `Ghanimat, 20 years old, from Surif, Hebron district, was arrested on 2 September 2009. The prison authorities refused her request to meet her brother who is also a political prisoner.
Taghreed Abu Ghulmeh, 27 years old, from Beit Furiq, Nablus district, was arrested on 15 July 2010. The Israeli authorities prohibit her family members from visiting her. Her mother has a permission to visit Taghreed`s sister, Linan Abu Ghulmeh, but is prohibited from visiting Taghreed and Taghreed`s brother, `Ahed Abu Ghulmeh, who is also a political prisoner.

The way from prison to court
Sumoud Karaja, 22 years old, from Safa, Ramallah district, was arrested on 25 October 2009. She was supposed to be in a court session on 9 November 2010. A day before the session, she was transferred to Neve Tirza Prison (Ramle). In Neve Tirza she refused to be searched in the nude. The guard tried to force her to be searched but she still refused. Two additional guards, one man and one woman, came and severely abused her: They handcuffed her hands very tightly, took off her head cover, submitted her to a severe beating, spat on her face and cursed her. Then they transferred her to a very dirty cockroach-infested isolation cell without water. She asked for water and soap but the guards refused her request. WOFPP`s lawyer took an affidavit from her.

Neve Tirza Prison (Ramle)

Wafaa elBis, from Jebalya Refugee Camp in the Gaza Strip, was arrested on 20 June 2005. On 17 October 2010, she was transferred to a separation cell in Neve Tirza Prison. The prison authorities took most of her family pictures and told her that she could have four pictures only. Like all the prisoners` families from the Gaza Strip, her family is prohibited from visiting the prison.
WOPFPP`s lawyer handled the issue of Wafaa`s solitary confinement with the Central District Commander of the Prison Service and, at the end of November 2010, a decision was made to transfer Wafaa to Hasharon Prison.


WOFPP needs donations to enable us to continue frequent lawyer`s visits in the prisons.
For donations to WOFPP:
Bank account:
Women`s Organization for Political Prisoners (WOFPP(
Account number: 471067
BANK HAPOALIM
Branch 532
Daniel Frisch St. 3,Tel Aviv 64078, ISRAEL
IBAN number: IL 60-0125-3200-0000-0471-067
BIC (swift): POALILIT

Address to receive the contribution:
WOFPP
Frug Street 30
Tel Aviv 63417, ISRAEL


A.K.
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