http://www.counterpunch.org/rooij10132004.html

What about the prisoners?

The core of AI's efforts have to do with "prisoners of conscience", prison conditions, and torture. So, it is of some interest to determine how this issue is dealt with pertaining Palestinian prisoners and the Abu Ghraib torture scandal [12]. The table below provides some context for the Palestinian prisoners.




Number of Palestinian Prisoners (July 8, 2004) Total 5,892

Children (age < 18) 351

Women 75

Age > 50 42

42 Violation of accords [1] 433

Pct of prisoners put on trial 25%

Administrative detention [2] 786



Notes: [1] All prisoners held prior to the signing of the Oslo Accords should have been released. [2] Administrative detention is illegal under international law. Administrative detention orders may last for up to six months, with Palestinians held without charges or trial during this period. Israel routinely renews the detention orders thereby holding Palestinians without charge or trial indefinitely. During this period, detainees are often denied legal counsel. Source: http://www.nad-plo.org/faq1.php



The Palestinian case

Technically, AI doesn't publish the lists of prisoners of conscience [POC], and one must trawl through its public record to determine if there are Palestinian POCs. During the second intifada, its record indicates two POCs and two "possible" POCs, and no other information on Palestinian prisoners is evident. There are many Palestinian "administrative detainees" -- those held without charges, without trial, and for indefinite terms -- yet AI doesn't deem fit to bestow on them its magic POC label. The contrast with the treatment of Cuban POCs is stark: here even people paid by the US embassy for subversive activities earned a POC status, and simple search of the AI-USA website or some of the right-wing Cuban-American websites reveal 88 POCs [13]. This implies that a large percentage of "political" prisoners in Cuba are POCs [14]. While the Palestinian POC list is not made public, when it comes to Cuba, a different standard applies [15].