Head of Palestinian Bar Association: Red Cross must pressure Israeli enemy to allow prisoner visits
The head of the Palestinian Bar Association in the occupied West Bank, Fadi Abbas, stated on Sunday that the Red Cross, given the continued obstruction by Israeli authorities of visits by the Red Cross and families of Palestinian prisoners held in Israeli jails, must take all necessary measures to compel Israel to allow visits to the prisoners.
In a statement to the Palestinian news agency Quds Press, Abbas added that the Red Cross is required to “carry out its work and fulfill its mandated duties by visiting prisoners in Israeli prisons, facilitating family visits, and playing a central role in monitoring the living and health conditions of prisoners, including providing necessary medical treatment for those suffering from illnesses, which constitute a significant number of prisoners in Israeli jails.”
He emphasized that “the international community and the international contracting parties, under the provisions of Articles 2 and 29 of the Third Geneva Convention and Articles 10 and 124 of the Fourth Geneva Convention, as well as Article 81 of Additional Protocol I, have effectively mandated and tasked the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) with carrying out these duties towards prisoners held by the Israeli enemy.”
He continued: “Therefore, the Red Cross bears the responsibility of upholding this mandate in order to fulfill its duties within the framework of applying international humanitarian law in all matters pertaining to Palestinian prisoners, given that the Israeli enemy is the occupying power.”
The head of the Palestinian Bar Association added: “This humanitarian and legal obligation inherent in the work of the Red Cross, and the role entrusted to it to provide protection and assistance, including visits, necessitates taking all measures to address the violations to which Palestinian prisoners are subjected in enemy prisons, as these constitute grave violations of the provisions of international humanitarian law.”
He stressed that the inaction and procrastination of international actors make them complicit in all the abuses suffered by prisoners in enemy prisons.
Abbas stressed that internationalizing this issue is a collective moral and legal commitment and responsibility for all actors, given its central role in the Palestinian people’s cause.