Jeddah (UNA) – On the occasion of Palestinian Prisoner’s Day, which falls on April 17 of each year, the General Secretariat of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation expressed its deep concern over the deteriorating conditions of Palestinian prisoners in Israeli occupation prisons, whose number exceeds 9500, including 73 female prisoners and 350 children, in addition to detainees from the Gaza Strip whose number is unknown.
The General Secretariat warned of the seriousness of the systematic and inhumane crimes to which Palestinian prisoners are subjected in Israeli occupation prisons, the latest of which is the ratification of the death penalty against them, and their deprivation of the most basic human rights guaranteed to them by international humanitarian law, such as education, treatment and contact with the outside world, in addition to subjecting them to torture and assault in a deliberate and systematic manner, dehumanization, psychological terror, sexual violence, rape, starvation, solitary confinement and other measures that amount to a war crime and a crime of genocide under international criminal law.
The General Secretariat also affirmed that these actions, perpetrated by the Israeli occupation, constitute a violation of all standards and rules stipulated by international humanitarian law, the Charter of Human Rights, the Geneva Conventions, and other relevant international conventions, which necessitates redoubling efforts to pursue and hold the occupation accountable under international criminal law.
The General Secretariat of the Organization held Israel, the occupying power, fully responsible for the lives of all Palestinian prisoners, especially children, women, the sick and the elderly, and renewed its call to all parties of the international community to assume their responsibilities and compel the Israeli occupation to respect its obligations towards the rights of Palestinian prisoners.
It also affirmed its continued political, legal and media efforts to promote solidarity with Palestinian prisoners in Israeli occupation prisons and to convey their suffering and their voice to the entire world through relevant international forums, including the United Nations General Assembly, the Security Council, the Human Rights Council, the International Court of Justice and the International Criminal Court, in order to defend the rights of Palestinian prisoners and work to achieve freedom, justice and dignity for them.
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