Het stokje van Khader Adnan, de legendarische Palestijnse hongerstaker die het 66 dagen volhield tot Israel (deels) met zijn eisen akkoord ging, is overgenomen. Hana Shalabi (28) uit Burqin bij Jenin is inmiddels aan haar 21ste dag bezig. Sinds haar arrestatie op 16 februari heeft zij niet meer gegeten, alleen water gedronken. Net als Khader zegt Hana bij haar arrestatie te zijn mishandeld (zij moest zich naakt uitkleden voor een mannelijke soldaat en werd geslagen). En net als Khader werd zij - zonder dat er tegen haar een aanklacht openbaar werd gemaakt - tot administratieve detentie veroordeeld.
Hana, wier broer in 2005 door het Israelische leger werd gedood, had al eerder ervaring met administratieve detentie. Tot ze onlangs onder de gevangenenuitruil tegen Gilad Shalit werd vrijgelaten zat ze 25 maanden vast zonder dat er een aanklacht tegen haar was ingediend. Nu is ze dus op
dezelfde duistere gronden opnieuw gearresteerd.
Gezamenlijke verklaring van Addameer Prisoner Support and Human Rights Association and Physicians for Human Rights-Israel op 6 maart 2012:
- Notwithstanding the Israeli Military
Court decision on 4 March to shorten her administrative detention order
from six months to four months, Hana Shalabi expressed her undeterred
intention to continue her hunger strike, now on its 20th day, in protest
of the torture, assault and degrading treatment to which she has been
subjected and of her ongoing detention without charge or trial.
Yesterday, 5 March, Hana stated during a visit with
Addameer-affiliated lawyer Muna Naddaf that she has not eaten and has
only been drinking water since her arrest. During the past four days,
she has only been able to drink 1.5 liters of water total due to
experiencing extreme nausea, though she has not been vomiting. She
stated that she is feeling pain in her chest below her heart and pain
above her waist, in addition to dizziness. The lawyer noted that Hana
had difficulty speaking without pausing, and would breathe for moments
before resuming speech. The lawyer also observed that Hana looked very
tired and did not move very much.
Hana
confirmed that on 16 February, she was forcibly strip searched by a male
soldier and assaulted, merely hours after soldiers brought her to Salem
Detention Center following her arrest. In the affidavit given to
Addameer Lawyer Samer Sam’an, Hana described the forced strip search and
assault at the hands of the soldiers of the Israeli Occupying Forces as
“utterly degrading” and that what they did to her was “not acceptable
in all customs of the world”. She subsequently began her hunger strike
and was placed in solitary confinement.
On 4 March, during the
Military Court of First Instance session to review her administrative
detention order issued by the Israeli military commander on 23 February,
Judge Dalya Kaufman dismissed the request by Hana’s lawyers to call on
witnesses to testify to the assault and abuse inflicted upon Hana. The
judge stated that the request was denied based on the fact that “the
prosecution requested the military police to conduct an investigation”.
The judge then confirmed her administrative detention order for a period
of four months.
On 5 March, an appeal was
filed to the Israeli Military Court of Appeals regarding Hana’s
administrative detention order. The session is scheduled for tomorrow, 7
March, at 1:30pm. On 1 March, Hana’s lawyers also filed a complaint to
the Israeli Attorney General and to the Israeli military prosecutor
regarding the assault.
Notably, during the past
week, other Palestinian political prisoners have begun to join in Hana’s
hunger strike in protest of the unjust Israeli military court system,
which does not afford them due process and does not abide by
international legal standards.
Weeskinderen in Gaza demonstreren in solidariteit et Hana Shalabi. (Electronic Intifada/Maram Humaid)
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