Palestine Think Tank

In the UK, where I am living, there is a Ministry of Justice, but in Palestine, where my home country is, there is a Ministry of Prisoners. Does this make any sense?

Well, it seems that it does, after all, states create Ministries to solve the problems affecting a large sector of their citizens. It is common sense to have a Ministry of Education because almost half of the country will be students at different levels, and many people work in the education system. This sector faces many obstacles that need to be resolved, and that’s why there is a ministry of Education in every country. But why is Palestine is the only country in the universe that has a Ministry of Prisoners?

When you read about a Ministry of Justice you will feel hope, it tells you that there is justice, and there are laws, and being requested to report there for any reason does not make you a criminal, it is just a system that investigates to find out the truth, there is even no indication of punishment when you read its name.

While when you see the Ministry of Prisoners, you will discover immediately that you are dealing with something totally different. You are starting at the other end of the system. You are starting from where other democracies end. You are at the punishment side without having to go through the fair proceedings. What is dealt with here is prisons and prisoners’ issues only, no mentioning of justice since justice is not the issue.

Becoming a prisoner in Palestine does not necessarily happen because you are found guilty. You might be there without a trial, you might end up in a cell when you are innocent, and this is why you need a Ministry at least to fight for your rights

A man might be imprisoned if his child throws a stone at an Israeli military vehicle. A woman might end up imprisoned to pressure her brother or husband to confess or to cooperate. A child can end up imprisoned for being mentally retarded, thus not obeying the curfew orders called upon by the occupation authorities.

The shocking fact that most Palestinians have been or are imprisoned by the Israeli occupation at one time or another, and here I am not talking about imprisoning one and a half million people in the Gaza Strip, or the people imprisoned behind the apartheid wall, what I am talking about is real prisons in which no one would argue about their definition. Twenty percent of the Palestinian people have been imprisoned in the last decade by the Israeli occupation, and this is the highest percentage of citizens worldwide. Palestinians are the only people where imprisonment is a word in every family’s vocabulary.

According to statistics of the Ministry of Prisoners, there are more than 11,000 Palestinians imprisoned in Israeli prisons, distributed over 23 Israeli prisons and detention centres. 1,705 are detained from the city of Nablus. This makes them 14.5% of the total percentage of detainees in the West Bank.

A report by The Public Committee against Torture in Israel reported six cases of Israeli forces threatening Palestinian prisoners through detaining their innocent family members this year (April 2008). There are documented reports of detaining members of families of Palestinian prisoners without any legal reason to do so. This report has been submitted to the Knesset itself. The president of the Israeli General security Service (Shin Bet) confirmed that one incident at least was proven by the Investigation Unit during the hearing of the case.

Such phenomenon might explain the need for a Ministry of Prisoners.

References
Palestinian Ministry of Prisoners
Director of Bureau of Statistics Awni Farawana
Public Committee against Torture in Israel
Reporter Ahmad Budairy BBC- Jerusalem
Arab Media Internet Network / Amin