Resolution of the International Association of Democratic Lawyers: Free Walid Daqqah
Whereas, Palestinian prisoner, thinker and writer Walid Daqqah has been jailed in Israeli prison since 25 March 1986 and is currently suffering from a rare bone marrow cancer, myelofibrosis, and
Whereas, Walid Daqqah has been imprisoned for 37 years and his medical condition is rapidly deteriorating, requiring a bone marrow transplant and other specialized medical treatment that has been repeatedly delayed or denied, or is entirely unavailable inside Israeli prisons, and
Whereas, Walid Daqqah’s sentence ended on 24 March 2023 and he is currently being held on an additional two-year sentence for allegedly smuggling a mobile phone into the prison, and
Whereas, Despite his medical condition and the severe deterioration of his health, Daqqah’s appeals for early release have been denied, most recently on 26 July 2023, with claims that his release is barred by the “Prevention of Terrorism” Act, despite the fact that his sentence expired, and
Whereas, Daqqah has been repeatedly transferred back and forth between civilian hospitals and the Ramleh prison clinic, dubbed a “slaughterhouse” by the Palestinian prisoners, and
Whereas, since December 2022, he was mistakenly diagnosed with leukemia; suffered a stroke after medical neglect and mistreatment; was denied treatment for the stroke until his fellow prisoners demanded it; developed pneumonia; had a portion of his lung surgically removed; and has developed multiple infections, and
Whereas, Daqqah has been repeatedly denied release in prisoner exchanges with other Palestinian political prisoners four times, in 1994, 2008, 2011 and 2014, because he is a Palestinian citizen of Israel, yet he has also been denied the rights and privileges granted to Jewish Israeli prisoners, such as conjugal visits and early release, reflecting the apartheid and settler colonial nature of the Israeli prison system, and
Whereas, Walid Daqqah is one of the preeminent intellectuals of the Palestinian resistance movement and has been subjected to solitary confinement in retaliation for his writing and publication, and is the author of multiple books, including: Testimonies of Resistance: The Battle of Jenin Camp 2002 (2004); Consciousness Molded or the Re-identification of Torture (2010); The Story of the Forgotten in Parallel Time (2011); The Oil’s Secret Tale (2018); The Sword’s Secret Tale (2021); The Spirit’s Secret Tale/ The Martyrs Return to Ramallah (2022), as well as unpublished manuscripts, paintings, poetry, lyrics and autobiography, and
Whereas, Daqqah married the activist, journalist and translator Sana’ Salamah on 10 August, 1999 in Ashkelon Prison; after they were denied conjugal visits through multiple appeals, Sana’ gave birth to their child Milad Daqqah on 3 March 2020 through artificial insemination of “liberated semen” smuggled from the prison, and Daqqah’s family has urged the broadest international action for his release;
Therefore, be it resolved, that the International Association of Democratic Lawyers calls for the immediate release of Walid Daqqah for him to receive treatment without restriction in a hospital where the necessary conditions are met for the success of the medical procedures he needs, in the presence of his family,
And be it further resolved, that the IADL calls for the urgent formation of a medical team from his family, prisoners’ institutions, and human rights organizations to visit Walid, in order to break the medical blackout about his condition, and for the immediate and unrestricted access of Walid Daqqah’s family to their loved one,
And be it further resolved, that the IADL will join in all international, Arab and Palestinian efforts to free Walid Daqqah and his fellow 5,000 Palestinian political prisoners in Israeli jails, and to expose and hold Israel accountable for its ongoing medical negligence against Palestinian prisoners, as part and parcel of its unlawful regime of colonial occupation throughout occupied Palestine, including referring this breach of international law and the Fourth Geneva Convention to the International Criminal Court for prosecution of Israeli officials,
And be it finally resolved, that the IADL will follow up on the case of Walid Daqqah and his fellow Palestinian prisoners by advocating for the and to the EU-Israel Association agreement and other free trade agreements with the Israel state, an end to U.S. and other states’ aid to Israel, and exclusion of Israeli police, prison authorities, “Border Police” and other institutions from research programs and joint initiatives, and further urges the U.N. Secretary General and all U.N. committees and agencies to take all available procedures and steps to bring to an end Israeli apartheid, war crimes and crimes against humanity in occupied Palestine, including the exclusion of the Israeli state from participation in the U.N. General Assembly as well as other committees and bodies.
Adopted by the IADL Council
2 July 2023
Resources:
- https://samidoun.net/2023/06/urgent-walid-daqqah-denied-early-release-by-occupation-court-as-he-returns-medication-to-protest-communication-denial/
- https://www.addameer.org/news/5039
- https://samidoun.net/2023/03/free-the-land-free-walid-daqqah-take-action-to-liberate-imprisoned-palestinian-writer-with-rare-cancer/
- https://palestinianyouthmovement.com/free-walid-daqqah
- https://peoplesdispatch.org/2023/06/26/left-publishers-from-across-the-globe-call-for-release-of-palestinian-prisoner-walid-daqqah/