Women's Organization for Political Prisoners (WOFPP)
Newsletter April 2010
There are, at present, about 39 women political prisoners in the Israeli jails: About 19 in Hasharon Prison (Tel Mond), about 14 in Damoon Prison (Carmel Mountain), two in Kishon Detention Center (Jalameh), two in Neve Tirza Prison (Ramle) and the rest in several detention centers.
Prisoners protest
On 1 April all the political prisoners (men and women) in the Israeli jails have begun protest measures against the deterioration of the conditions:
Against the harsh and humiliating attitude to their families, when they come to visit them, of the attitude of the Israeli occupation army at checkpoints and of the prison authorities in prisons.
Against prohibiting the prisoners' families from Gaza Strip from visiting in the prisons for more than three years.
Against prohibiting hundreds of prisoners' families from visiting in the prisons on security pretexts.
Against prohibiting the prisoners' families from bringing books.
Against prohibiting the prisoners from participating in the matriculation exams (Tawjihi).
On 1 April the prisoners have gone on a family visits' strike for one month.
Demonstrations of solidarity with the political prisoners in the Israeli jails will take place during April in front of the prisons.
3 April 2010: A demonstration in front Gilboa Prison
Handicraft
The prisons authorities are still preventing the women political prisoners' families from handing over handicraft materials.
In March 2010, the International Committee of The Red Cross brought the women political prisoners handicraft materials, but only a very small amount. The prisoners ask to abolish the prohibition on letting in handicrafts' materials that has been imposed by the prison authorities.
Shoes
The prison authorities are still preventing the women political prisoners' families from bringing shoes: The prisoners should buy shoes in the prison canteen. The shoes in the canteen are much more expensive, and there are almost no shoes for women.
The way from prison to court
When the authorities take the women political prisoners from prison to court, the prisoners suffer from harsh and humiliating attitudes from “Nahshon” unit guards (“Nahshon” unit - the prison authorities' special unit for guarding the prisoners outside prison). Women political prisoners who have a session in court are brought to Neve Tirza Prison (Ramle) a day, or some days, before the session and are held in the wing with criminal prisoners who are hostile towards them. On session day: at dawn, the prisoners are taken to the car and are put in with criminal prisoners, sometimes without partition, even though the criminal prisoners try to harass them. Sometimes they stay long hours in the car, handcuffed, without food and water and no possibility to use the toilet. Sometimes there are dogs in the car.
Hasharon Prison (Tel Mond)
Nada elDirbas,
from Jerusalem, was arrested on 5 May 2007. In March 2010, she was transferred from Damoon Prison to Hasharon Prison. The parole board refused to grant her an early release after she had served more than two thirds of her term.
Family visits
Kahera elSa'adi,
from Jenin, was arrested on 30 May 2002. The Israeli authorities have prohibited her daughter and her son from visiting her since their 16th birthdays.
'Abeer Odeh,
from Tulkarem district, was arrested on 9 August 2009. Most of her family members are prohibited from visiting in prison. Her brother got permission for a one-time visit but because of the closure that Israel imposed on the West Bank, he could not visit her. Now he has to ask again for permission, and it may take a long time.
When she was brought to a court session she complained there about the guards' attitude towards her on the way from prison to court.
Irena Sarahna,
from Dehaishe Refugee Camp, Bethlehem district, was arrested on 23 May 2002. The prison authorities are still preventing her from meeting her husband who is also a political prisoner. She had not seen him for about a year.
Ahlam elTamimi,
30 years old, from Ramallah, was arrested on 14 September 2001. She was married after her arrest. After about four years of submitting appeals to meet her husband who is also a political prisoner in an Israeli jail, she was finally permitted to meet him for the first time on 2 March 2010. The prison authorities allowed the meeting only behind a glass partition, and they could talk only by telephone.
Women under administrative detention
Rajaa elGhul,
an administrative detainee, 39 years old, from Jenin Refugee Camp, was arrested on 31 March 2009. The court shortened her administrative detention order to 3.5 months. She had suffered a lot on the way to court. The guards (from Nahshon unit) brought her to the bus at 3 am. They sat her next to a criminal prisoner who smoked in the bus, and it made Rajaa feel bad because she suffers from health problems. Rajaa's court session had finished at 15:00 o'clock. She was then brought to Neve Tirza Prison (Ramle), where she arrived at 19:30 o'clock. All these hours she had asked for water, but was not given any. In Ramle she was examined by a physician who gave her pills but she could not swallow them because the guards did not bring her any water. The guards had left her in Neve Tirza Prison (Ramle) until 22:00 o'clock. Only then did they bring her back to Hasharon Prison. She arrived there exhausted.
Hanaa Shalabi,
from Burqin, Jenin district, an administrative detainee, was arrested on 14 September 2009. On 14 March the Israeli authorities extended her administrative detention order to an additional six months
Muntha 'Abed Tawil,
44 years old, from elBira, was arrested on 8 February 2010. When she had a court session, the prison authorities brought her six days before to a separation cell in the criminal prisoners' wing in Neve Tirza Prison (Ramle).
Sentence
Ghofran Zamel,
26 years old, from el'Ein Refugee Camp, Nablus district, was arrested on 29 August 2009. On 22 March 2010, she was sentenced to 10 months' imprisonment and a fine of 5000 NIS (about 900 $).
Damoon Prison (Carmel Mountain)
Amal Jum'ah,
from 'Askar Refugee Camp, Nablus district, was arrested on 9 May 2004. She was in a hospital where she underwent surgery to remove her uterus. She suffered from such harsh conditions in hospital that a day after the surgery she asked to be returned to prison and not to stay in hospital for the period of five days that the physicians deemed necessary after the operation.
All the time in hospital her hands and her legs were handcuffed to the bed. When she wanted to go to the shower they added another vertical shackle that tied the shackle of her hands to the shackle of her legs. There were some hospital staff members who treated her well, but she suffered from very bad treatment from others.
Suad Nazal,
24 years old from Qalqilya, was arrested on 23 August 2009. She suffers from problems in her jaw. Although there was a court decision that the prison authorities must give her medical treatment, she still had not received any treatment until the end of March 2010. They only give her pain killer pills.
The Israeli authorities prohibit her adults family members from visiting in prison.
Wurud Qasam,
from Tirah in the Triangle, was arrested on 4 October 2006. She asked the prison authorities several times to get a weekly newspaper called "Panorama" that is published in the area where she lives, but the prison authorities refused.
Iman Ghazawi,
from Tulkarem, was arrested on 3 August 2001. The parole board refused to grant her an early release after she had served more than two thirds of her term.
Sumoud Karaja,
from Safa, Ramallah district, was arrested on 25 October 2009. She was supposed to be in a court session on 17 March 2010. The trip to the court began the day before. First, the prison authorities transferred her to Neve Tirza Prison (Ramle). They took her to the bus and left her there about two hours; then brought criminal prisoners from Hasharon Prison and sat them next to her without a partition. In Neve Tirza Prison she was held in separation in the wing of criminal prisoners who cursed her all the time. Next day, guards woke her at 4 am and told her to prepare herself for the travel to court. Then they told her that the session was cancelled, then they said it was not cancelled, and so on until 13:00 o'clock; then finally they said that the session was cancelled and that they will return her to Damoon Prison. That same day she did not get any food until 16 o'clock. It was the third time that she was on her way from prison to court. The two times before were similar and even worse because on the bus there were also dogs that were barking all the time.
The Israeli authorities prohibit all her family members from visiting in prison.
Neve Tirza Prison (Ramle)
Wafaa elBis,
from Jebalya Refugee Camp in the Gaza Strip, was arrested on 20 June 2005.
For more than 6 months she has been held in separation in the wing of the criminal prisoners who cursed her. On 17 March 2010, at the request of the prison authorities, the district court in Petah Tiqva approved the extension of her period of separation to three additional months. WOFPP's lawyer Taghreed Jahshan represented her in court and asked not to extend the separation and to return her immediately to the wing of the women political prisoners in Damoon Prison.
Since about a month she has not been able to go out during recreation time because the yard is flooded with sewage.
New prisoner
'Alya elMuhtasib,
from Hebron was arrested on 12 March 2010.
Kishon Detention Center (Jalameh)
New prisoners
Iman Nazal,
from Qalqilya, was arrested on 15 March 2010.
'Ayshe Nazal-Sabri,
from Qalqilya, was arrested on 15 March 2010.
New prisoner in unknown Detention Center
Salam Tsafi,
was arrested on 28 March 2010 at Qalandiya checkpoint (an Israeli checkpoint near Ramallah).
The International Women's day 2010
On the occasion of the international women's day, "Coalition of Women for Peace" organized a demonstration in front of Hasharon Prison with the slogans: "Free all the women political prisoners", "Solidarity with the women political prisoners", "Proper medical care for the women political prisoners" etc. Dozens of women and men took part in the demonstration.
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 of the person to receive the contribution:
WOFPP
Frug Street 30
Tel Aviv 63417, ISRAEL