JENIN (PIC)– The Israeli military court has decided to renew the solitary confinement of Sheikh Jamal Abul Haija one of the prominent Hamas leaders in Jenin for one more year.
Sheikh Jamal has been in complete isolation in his detention cell ever since his arrest on 26/4/2002 in harsh incarceration conditions especially when one of his hands was amputated.
The Ahrar center for prisoners’ studies said that the court that extended Sheikh Jamal’s isolation violated all international laws and norms because it did not allow his lawyer to attend and did not translate the court deliberations to the Sheikh other than the fact that the court lasted for five minutes only. The Israeli prosecutor claimed that presence of the Sheikh amongst other Palestinian detainees posed “dangers” and he should not meet or see anyone the center elaborated.
Sheikh Jamal suffers from various diseases including rheumatism and needs an eye surgery in addition to a skin disease that was not treated. One of his hands was amputated in the Jenin refugee camp battle in 2002 while two of his sons are imprisoned in Israeli jails the first Abdul Salam who is sentenced to eight years while Emad has been under administrative custody for the past two years. The Sheikh’s wife was arrested for nine months and his daughter Banan for one month.
Relatives of the Sheikh are barred from seeing him topped by his wife and offspring.
Ahrar noted in a study that 18 Palestinian prisoners are held in complete isolation under very difficult conditions and are banned from family visitation.
Meanwhile the Nafha legal society defending human and prisoners’ rights announced that the Palestinian detainee Nora Al-Hashlamon a mother of six children would be released on 7/3/2008. The lawyer of that society said that Hashlamon went on hunger strike for 27 days and only ended it when the Israeli prisons authority agreed not to renew her administrative detention in return for ending her strike.
Nora 27 started the hunger strike in mid December 2007 demanding her release after two years of administrative detention without any charge.
Nora’s husband Mohammed is held in the Negev desert prison since September 2006 also under repeated administrative detention orders. The Israeli military court renewed his detention for the fourth time running only a few days ago.
