Palestinians rally in support of prisoner on hunger strike

[News_Editor]

Palestinians rally in support of prisoner on hunger strike

2012-02-16 11:55:44 GMT+7 (ICT)

RAMALLAH, PALESTINE (BNO NEWS) -- Dozens of Palestinians rallied in the West Bank on Wednesday to voice their support for a Palestinian prisoner who has been on a hunger strike for 60 days, local media reported.

Demonstrators held a sit-in protest outside the Ofer military camp near Ramallah to demand the immediate release of Khader Adnan, who is being held at an Israeli prison without charges. Clashes broke out after soldiers fired tear gas canisters and rubber-coated metal bullets to disperse the crowd, the Palestine News and Information Agency (WAFA) reported.

At least one person was injured after being hit by a rubber bullet, WAFA reported. A number of other protesters suffered from tear gas inhalation.

The Palestinian Council of Human Rights Organizations (PCHRO), a coalition of several human rights groups in the West Bank and Gaza Strip, released a statement expressing grave concern for what it described as the critical health condition of Adnan. It said a doctor from the Israeli branch of Physicians for Human Rights had visited Adnan on Tuesday and said he was "under a very direct threat of death."

"All of his muscles, including his heart and his stomach, are under threat of disintegrating and his immune system could cease to function at any moment," said the doctor, as quoted by WAFA. "Khader's body is at high risk of sudden heart attack or total organ failure, which would cause imminent death."

Also on Wednesday, the United Nations Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the Palestinian territories, Richard Falk, expressed his urgent and extreme concern regarding Adnan and urged the international community to intervene on his behalf. "I call on the international community, especially States with close relations with Israel, to urge the Israeli Government to fulfill its responsibilities under international law, most urgently with regard to Mr. Adnan," he said.

Falk added: "In view of the emergency of his situation, the Government of Israel must take immediate and effective action to safeguard Mr. Adnan's life, while upholding his rights. The improper treatment of thousands of Palestinian prisoners by the Government of Israel should be of great concern to the international community, and it is a problem that I am paying close attention to in the context of my ongoing visit to the region."

Adnan, a leader in the Islamic Jihad, was detained in December 2011 near the northern West Bank city of Jenin and has been held since without charge. But an Israeli military court sentenced the 35-year-old to four months in administrative detention and upheld his detention order after rejecting an appeal.

Adnan said he will continue the hunger strike, the longest ever in the history of Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails, until his release.

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