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III. The Peace Accords between
the PNA and Israel and the case of prisoners
A. Oslo Declaration of
Principles
The Oslo Agreement that was
signed on 13 September 1993 did not refer to the case of detainees in its
articles. Member of the Negotiation Committee in Taba and the person in
charge of the prisoner’s file at the time, Mr. Ziad Abu Zayyad, said,
“Those who participated in the secret negotiations that led to the signing
of Oslo did not include any Palestinian negotiators from the Occupied
Territories.” He added that “those who signed do not have the same
sensitivity and empathy with the case of the prisoners as do Palestinians
in the Occupied Territories.”
In one of their letters to
President Arafat, written following the signing of the Declaration of
Principles in Oslo, the prisoners asked, “where is our place in the
Accords?”
B. Post Oslo: the Cairo
Agreement (Gaza/Jericho), signed on 4 May 1994
Pursuant to a decision that the
case of prisoners would be raised during Cairo negotiations within a
Palestinian-Israeli cooperative committee, negotiations began in Cairo
between Palestinians and Israelis on 13 October 1993 with a view to
implementing the Declaration of Principles.
During the negotiations, the
Israeli and Palestinian media continued to broadcast the Israeli’s will to
release most Palestinian prisoners from Israeli jails in the near future.
Detainees, however, became increasingly impatient with all the lack of
action. During a press conference on 17 October 1993, the late Israeli
Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin spoke on the issue of prisoner release. “We
are talking about a large number of prisoners, but the date of their
release is under discussion.” An Israeli military spokesman stated that,
“releasing prisoners depends on the progress of the Peace Process.” A
gradual release would mean that those prisoners who were accused of
throwing stones and bottles and those who have been sentenced to less than
five years were to be released first. Prisoners who had committed more
serious violations would be released at a later stage.
In contrast to this position and
in a telegram sent by him to the families of detainees who were staging a
sit-in within the premises of Red Cross, President Arafat stated that
“there will be no peace until all Palestinian prisoners are released.”
Also during negotiations, high
officials from the PLO sent a letter to Palestinian detainees in Israeli
prisons telling them that “Israel had agreed to release 3500 prisoners
once an agreement with Israel on the implementation of self rule” was
reached. The letter also stated that Israel has agreed to release the
remaining 7000 prisoners from the West Bank and the Gaza Strip by 13 July
1994.
A final Agreement was signed on
4 May 1994. Under Article 20 of the Cairo Agreement (Gaza/Jericho), Israel
undertook to either release 5000 Palestinian prisoners from the West Bank
and Gaza Strip or to hand them over to the PNA within a period of 5 weeks.
Subsequently Israel released only 4450 prisoners (out of the total of
10500 held at the time in Israeli prisons), 550 of whom were handed to the
PNA to be held in Jericho until they complete their sentences.
Israel has forced all prisoners
from the Palestinian Opposition who are to be released to sign a pledge
announcing their commitment to the Oslo Accords.
The pledge states the following:
Pledge
“ I, the undersigned…………
ID Number…………
Pledge to avoid any terror or
violent acts. I also declare that I am fully aware that signing this
pledge is part of the condition of my release from prison. I also know
that my release has been executed as part of the peace process between
Israel and the PLO which seeks to implement the Declaration of Principles
that was signed on 13 September 1993, which I fully support.
This pledge contradicts Article
19 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights which provides that
“Everyone has the right to
freedom of opinion and expression; this right includes freedom to hold
opinions without interference and to seek, receive and impart information
and ideas through any media and regardless of frontiers.”
C. Taba Agreement
When the Taba Agreement was
signed on 28 September 1995, the number of prisoners remained 6000.
Article 16 of the Taba Agreement states that Israel would release or hand
over detainees and prisoners from the West Bank and Gaza. During the
agreement’s first phase, a limited number of prisoners shall be released.
The second phase of prisoner release will take place prior to the
elections of the Palestinian Legislative Council. During the third phase,
prisoners will be released according to the detailed classifications
contained in Appendix 7 of the Taba Agreement. The prisoners released are
to be free to return to their homes in the West Bank and Gaza.
Annex 7 from the Taba Agreement
on the release of Palestinian prisoners and detainees states:
The release of detainees and
prisoners, as agreed upon in Article XVI of this agreement will be carried
out in three stages.
The following categories of
detainees and / or prisoners will be included in the abovementioned
releases:
All female detainees and
prisoners shall be released in the first stage of release;
Persons who have served more
than two thirds their sentence;
Detainees and / or prisoners
charged with or imprisoned for security offenses not involving fatality or
serious injury;
Detainees and / or prisoners
charged with or convicted of non-security criminal offenses; and
Citizens of Arab countries being
held in Israel pending implementation of orders for their deportation.
Detainees and prisoners from
among the categories detailed in this paragraph, who meet the criteria set
out in paragraph 2 above, are being considered by Israel to be eligible
for release:
Prisoners and / or detainees
aged 50 years and above;
Prisoners and / or detainees
under 18 years of age;
Prisoners who have been
imprisoned for 10 years or more; and
Sick and unhealthy prisoners and
/ or detainees.
3. The third stage of release
will take place during the permanent status negotiations and will involve
the categories set out above, and may explore further categories.
The agreement stipulated that
1500 detainees, including women, be released during the first phase.
However, the Israeli Authorities released only 882 prisoners, among them
375 prisoners on criminal charges. Only one woman was released: the rest
refused to leave unless all women prisoners were released.
In the second phase, 1200
prisoners were to be released. On 10 and 11 January 1996, the Israeli
authorities released 782 prisoners and 260 respectively.
160 of those released were from
Gaza. They were arrested because they had entered Israel without having
work permits. 200 of the released prisoners had been arrested on criminal
charges. Most of those released had already completed their prison
sentences or had little time left to serve. It is important to note that
Israel did not consider humanitarian cases during the release process.
The third phase is due to be
implemented during the Final Status Negotiations and will be implemented
in accordance with Appendix 7. The categories enumerated in Appendix 7 are
not exhaustive and may be added to during the negotiations.
The Wye River Accords’ treatment
of the issue has been summarized above.
In all the aforementioned
Agreements, Palestinian prisoners with Israeli nationality (granted in
1948) and those coming from Jerusalem were not mentioned. In addition, the
destiny of 450 prisoners who are sentenced to life imprisonment, named as
those whose “hands are drained in Jewish blood” according to the present
Netanyahu Government, is still unknown. The Israeli government behaves as
if it is the only authority with the power to determine detainees destined
for release. Israel also continues to arrest people from Areas B and C and
on borders and at military checkpoints.
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