ADDAMEER PRISONERS SUPPORT ASSOCIATION
ADDAMEER Prisoners Support Association is a Jerusalem based Palestinian Human
Rights organization concerned with the plight, conditions and needs of the
Palestinian political prisoners both while in detention and upon their release.
ADDAMEER (Arabic for Conscience) was formally established in 1992 by a group of
former political prisoners with support from concerned lawyers, human rights
advocates and grass roots organizers. ADDAMEER is a non profit, non partisan
organization.
ADDAMEER aims to ensure tbat each Palestinian political prisoner taken by
the lsraeli
authority gets the proper legal representation during the interrogation
process and
imprisonment. ADDAMEER proposes to supply Palestinian political prisoners and
their families with legal as well as emotional support and to fulfill their
basic needs
whenever possible. To this end ADDAMEER has a three part working mechanism.
First ADDAMEER is given notiGe, usually by the family, of a persons arrest.
At this
point ADDAMEER puts its resources to work, to locate the prisoner and send
a lawyer
to ensure his rights during the interrogation plrocess. When there is
evidence of the
use of torture ADDAMEER raises a case for the,prisoner. ADDAMEER sponsors
lawyers
to represent the political prisoner during his court case and' the follow up
Appeals
Court and High Court when required. In 1995 ADDAMEER carried an average of 15
cases a month.
ADDAMEER documents the prisoners living and health conditions and the
difficulties
often encountered by the prisoners such as over crowding, lack of exercise time,
lack of proper medical care, shortage of books and other reading materials. As a
result of their findings ADDAMEER endeavors to involve other human rights
groups
and to pressure the lsraeli Authority in attempts to alleviate the prisoners
situation.
In 1994 with the advent of the Palestinian National Authority retaining
power over
parts of the West Bank and Gaza a new dimension was added to ADDAMEER's work.
ADDAMEER began to work with Palestinian political detainees in prisons under the
Palestinian Authority. Following up on Palestinian political prisoners
proved to be
more tedious due to the fact that there are multiple structures of power through
which one might obtain information about a particular detainee. Furthermore, one
is forced to deal with, as of yet, unstable laws which slow down the process of
locating and giving legal aid to the detain~es. ADDAMEER worked closely with
Middle East Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International in writing their
reports
about human rights violations in the areas under the newly established
Palestinian
National Authority.
CAMPAIGNS
In addition to working on individual cases, ADDAMEER has spearheaded many
campaigns in relation to the issues concernlng Palestinian political problems.
Campaign To End Administrative Detention
Administrative detention is when a prisoner is arrested and kept in prison
without
charge or trial. Detention period rang from 3 to 6 months and can be renewed
automatically without reason. To justify the use of this illegal and inhumane
practice lsrael authorities claim evidence against a prisoner located in a
secret file
which neither the prisoner, or his lawyer are allowed to see for usecurity
purposes".
ADDAMEER believes that these prisoners are actually prisoners of conscience
and are
being held only on the basis of their political beliefs and in turn are a
violation of a
persons right to freedom of speech and expression.
Campaign For Prisoners Rights
As stated previously Palestinian political prisoner often find that their
basic human
needs are not met during their imprisonment. For instance there is a lack of
proper
food and health care in lsraeli prisons. Sometimes prisoners have been prevented
from seeing lawyers or family members. Moreover prisoners are plagued with lack
of fundamental need such as books, exercise time, overcrowding of jails and
poor
sanitary conditions. ADDAMEER works orl an going basis dealing with problems as
they arise or seem most pertinent at the time.
Campaign to Release Women Prisoners
The plight of Palestinian female political prisoners one of the most
difficult. Few in
numbers they have been often overlooked. During a campaign for the release of
women prisoners ADDAMEER was able to help Omayma al Agha get her 2 year old
daughter, Haneen, born in prison, released to family members.
Campaign Against Torture
The latest campaign that ADDAMEER is working on is an International Campaign
Against Torture in the Middle East and Africa, This campaign will encompass work
to end lsraeli and Palestinian torture methods such as "shabh", sleep
deprivation,
violent shaking, through the use of documentation of cases, production of a film
and working with international groups to put pressure on the lsraeli government.
Compagni/e di Napoli - homepage