GAZA, September 28, 2011 (WAFA) - Al Mezan Center for Human Rights Wednesday called on the international community to compel Israel to respect its obligations under international law, particularly, prisoners’ visitation rights.

In a press release, the center stressed the need to compel Israel to commit to Standard Minimum Rules for the Treatment of Prisoners, which was adopted in 1955, and other related international standards as well as to work on insuring the release of all Palestinian prisoners, at the forefront the detained representatives of the Palestinian people.

It demanded the entire world’s supporters of peace, democracy and human rights to launch the biggest solidarity campaign in support of the Palestinian prisoners detained at the Israeli prisons and to exert popular pressure on their countries to have them uphold their legal and ethic responsibilities under humanitarian and international law in order to stop the Israeli government’s violations, in particular its violations of prisoners’ rights.

The center considered the Israeli escalations part of their efforts to deprive the Palestinian prisoners of their rights as it had previously prepared a draft resolution called ‘Shalit Law’; which aims to deny detainees of their simplest rights, including visitation rights, education and others as well as applying the ‘Unlawful Combatants law’, which undermines the most basic standards of international justice.

It condemned subjecting the Palestinian prisoners to torture and other degrading punishments, such as solitary confinement, strip searches, denial of family visits and its escalated suppressive measures against prisoners.

T.R./F.R.