Iraq to host conference on prisoners in Israeli jails

An international conference on the Palestinian and Arab prisoners in Israeli jails is to be held in the Iraqi capital of Baghdad Tuesday. The two-day conference will be attended by Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, Arab League Secretary General Nabil al-Arabi and a large number of Arab and international officials and personalities and human rights organizations. Several prisoners released from Israeli jail and children of prisoners held in Israeli jails as well as international law experts will also attend the conference. The participants will discuss the legal status of Palestinian prisoners in Israel jails following UN recognition of a Palestine as non-member state and the decision’s effects on their issue. The conference will also demand the international community and the UN Security Council to bear their responsibilities towards Israeli government’s measures against prisoners that contradicts with the simplest principles and laws of international community. According to the recent Palestinian statistics, Israel is holding 4,700 prisoners in 23 prisons and detention camps in Israel and in the West Bank of whom 198 children, 8 females, 14 members of Palestine Legislative Council. Meanwhile, the Palestinian Prisoners Club (Nadi Al-Asir) said that 22 Palestinian prisoners have been in Israeli jails for more than 25 years.