A Palestinian prisoner in Israel on his 29th day of hunger strike punished by transferring him to another prison
shahennews
The Israeli Prison Service (IPS) today transferred a hunger-striking prisoner to Asqalan Prison in southern Israel in order to punish him for being on 29 days of hunger strike in protest against his administrative detention, according to the Prisoners Affairs Commission.
It said in a press statement that Imad Sawarka, who has been on a hunger strike for 29 consecutive days, was punitively transferred from the Naqab Prison to Asqalan Prison.
It added that Sawarka, a 37-year-old father of five children from Jericho, has been on hunger strike in protest against extending his administrative detention for the third time in a row.
Sawarka was detained in July of the last year, and the Israeli intelligence has issued three administrative orders against him, each lasting for four months. He is a former prisoner who spent a total of 10 years in Israeli detention facilities.
Israel’s widely condemned practice of administrative detention allows the detention of Palestinians without charge or trial for renewable intervals ranging between three and six months based on undisclosed evidence that even a detainee’s lawyer is barred from viewing.
The US State Department has said in past reports on human rights conditions for Palestinians that administrative detainees are not given the “opportunity to refute allegations or address the evidentiary material presented against them in court.” Amnesty International has described Israel’s use of administrative detention as a “bankrupt tactic” and has long called on Israel to bring its use to an end.
Palestinian detainees have continuously resorted to open-ended hunger strikes as a way to protest their illegal administrative detention and to demand an end to this policy, which violates international law.
K.F./M.K.
