PALESTINIAN PRISONERS ANGERED BY HEBRON AGREEMENT

PRISONER UNREST LIKELY

16 January 1997

Yesterday, Palestinian prisoners from Ashqelon prison expressed their bitter disappointment and frustration at having been excluded from the Hebron Agreement. Representatives of the prisoners informed an attorney for LAW, during a visit yesterday, that the prisoners intend to undertake protests within the prison to demand their release and to increase pressure on both the Israeli and Palestinian authorities to implement the already-negotiated prisoner releases. These protests will include a series of one and two day hunger strikes.

All groups, including prisoners from the Fatah faction, have committed to participate in the protests. They warn that difficult prison conditions, coupled with official diplomatic neglect of their imprisonment, is escalating tensions inside the prison and increasing opposition to the peace process.

In a related matter, Palestinian administrative detainees incarcerated at Megiddo prison in Israel communicated their disappointment with their meeting with Israeli Member of Knesset Dedi Zucker (Meretz party), who visited the prison empty-handed and offered no new ideas or proposals for the release of the administrative detainees. The detainees in Megiddo informed LAW of their increasing frustration at having been excluded from the negotiations and that they too are considering escalating their protest activity in response to the Hebron agreement.

LAW - the Palestinian Society for the Protection of Human Rights and the Environment reiterates its demand that Israel release the Palestinian prisoners according to its obligations under Annex VII of the Interim agreements. About 5000 Palestinian prisoners and 270 administrative detainees, from the Occupied Palestinian Territories, the Palestinian Autonomous areas and including foreign nationals, are currently held in Israeli prisons inside Israel.

LAW - 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. LAW is also an affiliate member of the Paris-based International Federation for Human Rights.