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Occupied West Bank of Palestine- After Palestinian anger and a public campaign that went viral and attracted international attention and condemnation, a pregnant Palestinian detainee was released from an Israeli prison and placed under house arrest to give birth at home.
The 25-year-old Anhar al-Deek, who is 9 months pregnant, was released from the Damon prison in Israel late on Thursday. House arrest.
She was sentenced to prison after several months in solitary confinement in Hasharon prison in Israel. Although she was pregnant, she was still interrogated and subjected to harsh conditions.
Anhal was arrested in March after entering an illegal Israeli settlement near Kafr Nai’ma, which was built on land belonging to the al-Deek family.
After clashes with a dozen settlers, Anhal was arrested by Israeli soldiers who accused her of attempting to attack with a knife.
As the birth of her child approaches, the Israeli Prison Service (IPS) has repeatedly rejected requests from her family and lawyers to release her on humanitarian grounds so that she can give birth with her family.
Instead, IPS ruled that Anhar will perform a Caesarean section in an Israeli hospital while cuffing her arms and legs to the bed.
However, her family, lawyers and supporters continue to fight for her release, and they are confident of the unfair prison conditions.
“We very much hope that Anhar will be released because our lawyers are arguing in the Offer Military Court [near Ramallah] Anhar’s brother Motee al-Deek told Al Jazeera that since the birth of her 2-year-old daughter Julia, Anhar suffered from depression, psychologically troubled, and was attacked by more than a dozen settlers and soldiers.
‘Security threat’
Milena Ansari from Addameer, a Palestinian prisoner organization, said that Anhar was not charged with attempted murder, but only assault, because it was determined that she only picked up a knife after entering the settlement, where she had a quarrel with a group of settlers. They called the Israeli army and led to her arrest.
Ansari told Al Jazeera: “Usually, Israeli military prosecutions will win 99% of the cases against Palestinians, and the harshest accusations and punishments will be used as a means of compulsory occupation.”
Ansari said: “Before she was released, we asked ourselves many times why a pregnant woman who was taking a tranquilizer gave birth would pose any security threat to the Israeli authorities and need to be handcuffed.”
“The detention, imprisonment and abuse of pregnant women violate international humanitarian law, especially Article 76 of the Additional Protocol to the Geneva Conventions of August 12, 1949, which requires detained pregnant women and mothers with dependent babies’ The case gets the highest priority’.”
The UN’s rules on the treatment of female prisoners and non-custodial measures for female offenders clearly stipulate: “Women shall not be used to restrain women during their childbirth, during childbirth and immediately after their birth.”
Ansari said that the Hasharon prison, where most of Anhal’s interrogations are conducted, is also known for its poor conditions, Ansari said.
She added: “The cell is small, there is a lack of medical staff, the food is not good, and women have no privacy under 24-hour surveillance.”
Bad publicity
As Anhal was detained for a long time, angry Palestinian citizens staged protests in her village, cities in the West Bank, Gaza, and the Israeli prison where she was imprisoned.
Her family and supporters called for international intervention, the Palestinian Authority’s representative to the United Nations outlined the harsh conditions of Anhal’s imprisonment to international organizations, and the Palestinian Minister of Health expressed concern.
The International Red Cross also monitors developments.
After Anhal issued a call to “Every free and glorious person, take action with just one sentence”, her release campaign went viral on social media.
Supporters of Anhal say that bad publicity helped ensure her release.
Addameer reported that her case further revealed the exceptional circumstances of other Palestinian women who gave birth in Israeli prisons, who were subjected to deliberate medical negligence and cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment.PDF).
If she continues to be detained, she will not become the first Palestinian female prisoner to give birth while in custody in Israel.
Since 1972, eight cases of imprisoned Palestinian pregnant women who gave birth in occupied prisons have been recorded.
Addameer said: “In these cases, pregnant female detainees are still subjected to severe and systematic interrogation, torture and ill-treatment by the occupying power despite their poor physical condition. Other Palestinian detainees have also suffered this practice.”
According to human rights organizations, in addition to arrests and interrogations, pregnant Palestinian women detainees also face continued restraints and poor living conditions, leading to high-risk pregnancies and endangering the lives of women and their unborn children.
In a report submitted to the Human Rights Council in 2008, the UN Special Rapporteur on torture specifically pointed out that the practice of shackles is problematic.
“Unless there are absolutely compelling reasons, pregnant women should not be deprived of their freedom, and their special vulnerabilities should be kept in mind. Physical restraints should be avoided during delivery,” the rapporteur said.
On Friday, when Anhal and her family celebrated her first taste of freedom in months at Kafr Nai’ma, her brother Ahmed said her family was relieved after her release.
“We are very worried about Anhal and the baby’s health and what might happen to her,” Ahmed told Al Jazeera.
“Her daughter Julia used to repeatedly ask her mother where she was. When we showed her pictures of Anhal, she would burst into tears. But now the mother and daughter are reunited and hug each other.”
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