AL Urges ICRC to Help End Abuses Against Palestinian Inmates
Local Editor
The Arab League turned to the International Committee of the Red Cross [ICRC] to stand up for the Palestinian prisoners in Zionist prisons and help end the apartheid regime's rights abuses there.
On Wednesday, Arab League Secretary General Ahmed Aboul Gheit sent a letter to ICRC President Peter Maurer, calling on the committee to "urgently intervene with ‘Israeli' authorities to stop the various abuses being committed against those prisoners of war."
Since April 17, over 1,500 Palestinian inmates have been refusing food in protest at the conditions of ‘Israeli' prisons.
The open-ended hunger strike was initially called by Marwan al-Barghouti, who is serving five life sentences in an ‘Israeli' detention camp for his role in the second Palestinian Intifada [uprising] against Tel Aviv.
Al-Barghouti accused ‘Israel' of inhumane treatment of prisoners and judicial apartheid in a New York Times opinion piece published earlier this month outlining the reasons behind the mass hunger strike.
Reports said earlier this week that al-Barghouti's health conditions have been critically deteriorating during the past week.
The letter further urged the ICRC to demand ‘Israel' "ensure treating Palestinian prisoners on hunger strike according to norms and standards set in international humanitarian law."
The Arab League said in a statement that Aboul Gheit's letter is part of contacts "with international actors to stop violations against Palestinian prisoners of war in ‘Israeli' prisons."
On Tuesday, the Arab League head sent a similar letter to UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres, calling on him to condemn ‘Israeli' human rights violations.
He also said the world body should take practical measures and make the regime respect international law as the occupying power, based on the Fourth Geneva Convention.
Palestinians have held several protest rallies in recent days to show their solidarity with those behind bars.
The Palestinian Authority warned that the death of any hunger-striking prisoner may lead to a new Intifada.
‘Israeli' prisons hold around 6,500 Palestinians, including 300 minors. Some of the inmates are held under Tel Aviv's policy of administrative detention, which enables confinement without charge.
Source: News Agencies, Edited by website team
