Eight human rights organizations have petitioned the Israeli Supreme Court to allow Palestinian security detainees to talk to their families by phone, in light of the prevention of visits to families due to the outbreak of the Coronavirus.
The human rights institutions and associations that submitted the petition are: “HaMoked”, the Center for the Defense of the Individual, “Al-Dameer”, “Al-Meezan”, “Physicians for Human Rights,” “The Association for Civil Rights,” “The People´s Committee Against Torture,” “Adalah,” and the Association. Parents are against detaining children. "
According to a statement issued by these institutions, which reached "Al-Quds" today, Thursday, the submission of this petition comes in the wake of the suspension of family visits to detainees during the third closure period due to Corona, which entered into force in Israel on Sunday of this week.
The statement indicated that while criminal prisoners in Israel are allowed to communicate by phone on a daily basis with their family members, the majority of Palestinian prisoners and detainees are defined as "security" persons, who are prohibited by the Prison Authority from conducting telephone conversations.
Jessica Montell, Director General of HaMoked - Center for the Defense of the Individual, said: We have been living under conditions of the epidemic for 10 months, and the (Israeli) Prisons Authority has not yet prepared to ensure that there is contact between the detainees and their families. Now, with the visits ceasing due to the third lockdown period, thousands of people are, once again, isolated from the outside world. In light of the current uncertainty, and at a time when we are all concerned about the spread of the virus, the families of the prisoners have no way to know the condition of their children, and they have absolutely no way to know what is happening with them in the time of the epidemic. Detaining prisoners under these circumstances is a violation of their right to family life and their right to live in dignity. "
