13 August 1996 -- For immediate release

PALESTINIAN DETAINEES' HUNGER STRIKE ENTERS ITS SECOND WEEK:

STRIKERS ARE BROUGHT TO PRISON ON STRETCHERS

(Jerusalem) Today marks the eighth day of the hunger strike called by three Palestinians detained by the Israeli security services in the Russian Compound jail in Jerusalem. The strike is in protest to detainees' continued detention under degrading and humiliating conditions. The detainees are: Ibrahim Aliyan Zaayid, age 20 years from Beit Iqsa in detention over two months; Rashad Awaad, age 24 years from Beit Iqsa in detention for more than a month and a half; and Salah Taqatqa, age 20 years from Beit Fajaar also in detention for over a month and a half. The detainees began the hunger strike on 5 August 1996.

Reports from another detainee indicate that the strikers' condition is serious - the strikers are very weak, they can no longer walk, and their hair is falling out. Two days ago, the hunger strikers were brought to the prison doctor on stretchers. The doctor reported that their blood sugar level is low and that they have only a few more days to live. Witnesses also reported that representatives of the police and the prison administration informed the strikers that they will die in the prison before they are transferred out. In addition, a criminal prisoner has threatened the hunger strikers.

The hunger strikers are being held in a windowless cell 9 x 2 meters with two other

detainees under interrogation. This cell is utilized by the Israeli Security Services to psychologically pressure detainees under interrogation, although the hunger strikers are no longer being interrogated. The small space, intense heat, complete isolation from the outside and the extended period of time that the detainees have been exposed to these conditions have created an unbearable situation for them.

Charge sheets have been issued against all three hunger strikers for involvement in the sale of weapons. One has also been charged with membership in the PFLP. Under Israeli law, after a charge sheet has been issued, the detainees must be transferred immediately from the interrogation cells to the regular prison cells. In the prison cells, the detainees are allowed to go outside for an hour a day, receive reading materials and a radio, visit with their families and other privileges.

LAWE - The Palestinian Society for the Protection of Human Rights and the Environment calls on the Israeli Prison Services to transfer immediately the hunger strikers from the interrogation cell into the regular prison. The continued detention of the hunger strikers violates both Israeli and international law and constitutes an illegal punishment before trial. LAWE protests the Israeli Security Services' routine practice of exposing detainees under interrogation to degrading and humiliating conditions and causing them physical and psychological harm.

LAWE - The Palestinian Society for the Protection of Human Rights and the Environment is a non-governmental organization, dedicated to preserving human rights through legal advocacy. LAWE is also an affiliate member of the Paris-based International Federation for Human Rights.