Israeli prisons are worst around world: NCHR president

CAIRO – 24 April 2018: Israel does not meet the minimum standards for the adequate health care and humane treatment of prisoners as per international conventions and its prisons amount to the worst in the world, Mohamed Fayek, president of the National Council for Human Rights (NCHR), said on Tuesday.

During his address to the Palestinian embassy in Cairo on the occasion of the Palestinian Prisoners' Day, Fayek reiterated Egypt’s incessant commitment to preserving the rights of Palestinian inmates and the Palestinian people, who have been resisting the decades-long Israeli occupation since 1948.

“We all seek peace and justice for all parties to enable the Palestinian people to get their legitimate rights based on the international law,” Fayek said, emphasizing that peace cannot be a bargain. “All the legislative measures that Israel has undertaken to alter the status of Jerusalem and seize the Palestinian lands are not correct and that the responsibility for the occupations remains Israel’s.”

Fayek also regretted the American administration’s decision to transfer their embassy to Jerusalem, adding that its attempts to reduce the aid delivered to UNRWA, to pressure the Palestinian Authority to accept the decisions and resume the peace negotiations, will eventually be futile, stressing that all these measures only get in the way of realizing true and just peace.

“The American-Zionist alliance puts the Palestinian people between two options, either voluntarily waiving their inalienable rights or making them accept the fait accompli on the ground imposed contrary to the United Nations resolutions,” Fayek added.

He explained, “The Palestinian people have no choice but to press ahead to snatch their rights to dignity and freedom,” stressing the necessity of the Palestinian factions to remain undivided to ensure that the continued efforts of the Arab nations and Palestinian resistance to defend the Palestinian cause are not dispersed.

He furthermore called on the international community to support the Palestinian demands, and he emphasized the need to provide material and moral support to the relevant bodies that provide assistance to the prisoners.

The ceremony was attended by the Palestinian ambassador to Egypt and its permanent representative to the League of Arab States, members of the National Human Rights Council, and contingents of the Egyptian parties and Palestinian organizations.