An Arab human rights committee said on Sunday that Israel is holding 19 Palestinian journalists and media workers in its prisons "under inhumane and cruel health conditions."
An Arab human rights committee said on Sunday that Israel is holding 19 Palestinian journalists and media workers in its prisons "under inhumane and cruel health conditions."
This came in a statement issued by the "Journalists' Support Committee" (based in Beirut) on the occasion of the Palestinian Prisoner's Day, corresponding to April 17 of each year.
On April 17, 1974, the Palestinian National Council (the parliament of the Liberation Organization), during its regular session, approved that date as a national day of loyalty to the "Palestinian prisoners" inside Israeli prisons.
The committee added: "Among the imprisoned journalists are 10 detainees with actual sentences, and 4 journalists who are administratively detained and whose detention is renewed several times, in addition to the detention of 5 other journalists without trial."
And she added, "Journalists are languishing in inhuman and cruel health conditions in which they are denied all their rights."
The committee stated that Israel "persists in the policy of torture against prisoners systematically and under judicial cover to extract confessions from prisoners, including journalists, in an attempt to shackle the press and journalists and suppress media freedoms."
And it warned of "the continuation of the torture of journalist prisoners in the occupation prisons," pointing out that Israel uses "the most heinous means of psychological and physical torture against journalists, such as beatings, shabeh, and deprivation, in order to extract confessions."
The committee called on international and human rights institutions to "intervene to stop the policy of arresting journalists and detaining them in harsh conditions, and to provide them with protection while performing their journalistic duties."
It also called on the International Committee of the Red Cross to "intervene to find out the health status of 4 journalists and media workers who are isolated in solitary confinement cells."
The committee condemned the policy of "extending the administrative detention of a number of detained journalists without charge, confirming the arrest of journalists under flimsy pretexts, and detaining others without charge for several years."
It condemned the "international silence regarding the continued detention of the prisoner, writer Walid Daqqa, who suffers from cancer in the spinal cord."
The prisoner Daqqa, 60, has been detained in Israeli prisons for 38 years, and the non-governmental Prisoner Club says that he is under "tight security in Barzilai Hospital in the city of Ashkelon, on ventilators, after the deterioration of the work of his vital organs, especially the kidneys and lungs, and the lack of blood."
In 23 prisons and detention and investigation centers, Israel is holding about 4,800 Palestinian prisoners, including 29 female prisoners, 170 children and minors, and 700 patients, and among the prisoners have been detained for decades.
Yemen the completion of the prisoner exchange process and the announcement of a new deal on May 15th
The Yemeni government announced the complete completion of the prisoner exchange process with the Houthi group, with the exchange of about 900 prisoners between the two sides, noting that new consultations for the exchange of prisoners with the Houthis would start on May 15.
On Sunday, the Yemeni Houthi group revealed a new deal with the government, which includes the release of 1,400 prisoners from both sides.
This came in a press conference at Sana'a airport held by Abdul Qadir al-Murtada, head of the Houthi prisoners' committee, following the completion of the release of about 900 prisoners from both sides earlier today.
Al-Murtada said, "A future deal will be concluded for 700 prisoners in return for 700 from the other side (referring to the legitimate government)," without additional details about the date of that deal.
He added, "We are happy to complete this deal, which included dozens of abductees," noting that "work is underway to liberate all the prisoners."
Earlier on Sunday, the Yemeni government announced that the prisoner exchange process with the Houthi group had been completely completed, with the exchange of about 900 prisoners between the two sides, in coordination with the International Committee of the Red Cross, which will continue from Thursday.
Meanwhile, the spokesman for the government delegation to the negotiations on prisoners and abductees, Majid Fadayel, announced in a tweet the launch of new consultations for the exchange of prisoners with the Houthis, on May 15.
He added, "We are very keen to release all prisoners and detainees, under the rule of all for all without discrimination."
He stressed that "the negotiating government delegation deals with the prisoners' file with full responsibility and commitment."
Earlier on Sunday, the International Committee of the Red Cross in Yemen announced the arrival of 90 former detainees to Sanaa (north) and Marib (center), as part of the final stage of the prisoner exchange deal.
During the past two days, about 700 prisoners and detainees from both sides were released, including 16 Saudi prisoners and 3 Sudanese prisoners.
By the end of the three stages agreed upon with the International Committee of the Red Cross and the Office of the United Nations Envoy to Yemen, the number of prisoners released by both sides will be 890.
On March 20, the Yemeni government agreed with Al-Houthi to release 887 prisoners and abductees from both sides, at the conclusion of consultations held in Switzerland in this regard.
Yemen is suffering from a war that began after the Houthis took control of the capital, Sana'a, and several provinces at the end of 2014, and the conflict intensified since March 2015, after the intervention of an Arab military coalition led by Saudi Arabia to support the legitimate government forces in confronting the Iran-backed Houthi group.
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