Watch .. the Lebanese prisoner Hussein Qutaish tells Al -Jazeera the story of his suffering and liberation

Al -Jazeera Net Correspondents

Beirut Only 23 days spent by the Lebanese prisoner, the liberated Lebanese Hussein Qutaish in the occupation prisons after his arrest on February 16 in the town of Hala during his inspection of the conditions of his town that the Israeli aggression affected by Lebanon, and despite the lack of days of his family, Qutaish tells Al -Jazeera the tragedies he was exposed to these days.

“On February 16, when we got to the dirt curtain in the town of Hala, it was not intended in my mind that only a few minutes would separate the moment of my freedom and a new stage of suffering that started from families. On that day, there was a strange feeling that controlled us as if the Israelis had already withdrawn, we entered the town, we wandered in the Al -Fouqani neighborhood, we lost the houses, and there was nothing that raised suspicion or suspicion.”

Qutaish adds that the way back was not as expected; While they got out of the Al -Fawqani neighborhood, an Israeli soldier appeared in the middle of the road, and the young men who were in the foreground were arrested and searched, then they were allowed to pass, and when Hussein approached, he was surprised by the crater of the gun directed to him, and the first bullet was launched, his nephew was injured in his leg, and he fled towards the valley, but Hussein was not lucky like him, he fell to an injured land and the blood flowed from his foot.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=agfiquvbkf8

After that, an Israeli patrol arrived at the place, 4 of the town’s sons tried to help him, but the occupation would not have allowed this, the second patrol that was held by the four young men, and carried Hussein Al -Jarj with them to the Al -Abbad site.

From this site, Hussein was placed in an ambulance to Safed, where he underwent several surgeries, but Hussein was not just a patient who needed care, but was a prisoner undergoing harsh investigations.

Hussein underwent 5 rounds of psychological pressure, provocative phrases and attempts to submit it and push him to recognize; “We destroyed your homes”, “We ruined your area,” words that were given to him like bullets, but he stood up, and remained coherent despite the wounds that were bleeding in his body.

After the end of the surgeries, he was transferred to Ramla Prison, there he found himself in a tight cell crowded with 9 prisoners: 7 Palestinians from Gaza and the West Bank, and a Lebanese youth named Ali Tarhimi from the town of Jabshit.

Patience and steadfast test

Hussein says, “The prison was not just walls and barbed wires, but rather a real test of patience and resilience. Nutrition was so bad that the starvation was almost touched, and medical care was completely absent, the doctor visited us 3 times a week by hardly putting a little gauze and iodine and then leaving in a hurry, because the wounded in prison treats the wounded, and the patient takes care of the patient.”

On March 11, the news came to him that he would be released from him, but until the moment of freedom was not free of torment, they carried it and moved from one car to another amid the payment, insult and restrictions until he finally reached the head of the Naqura, where the Red Cross was waiting for him to fold the page of the families, but he opened with it a new page of steadfastness and clinging to the earth more.

Harsh conditions

Last Tuesday, Israel released 4 Lebanese civilians who had arrested them in January and February last, namely: Hussein Faris, who was arrested from his village Maroun Al -Ras, Hussein Qutaish, who was arrested by a wounded from his village, Hala, Ahmed Shukr, who was arrested in Hala, and Mohamed Najm, who was arrested in the Al -Nahhas hill.

Despite the release of these people, the Israeli army is still holding a number of civilians and prisoners of Hezbollah in the absence of any official figures regarding the number of prisoners, while Israel has not revealed additional details about them.

The testimonies of the returnees from families are frequent about the harsh and brutal circumstances that they went through, as they talked about sleep deprivation and exposure to psychological and physical torture, especially during the investigations.

One of the Lebanese prisoners, and Al -Jazeera Net contacted him and refused to reveal his identity, to his suffering, saying, “I would not like to tell … what do I want to tell, and who was, the situation was more difficult than explaining him with words?”, Which reflects the silence applied by many of these in light of the harsh conditions they went through.

After stopping the hostilities, the Israeli authorities began expanding the hostage policy as a number of citizens were kidnapped, both individually or collectively, during the first withdrawal period that lasted 60 days, as well as during the deadline until February 18.

Legal protection

In this context, the law professor at the Lebanese University, lawyer Dr. Jad Touna, explains, in his interview with Al -Jazeera Net, that civilians who do not participate in the fighting directly must enjoy full legal protection under international humanitarian law, especially the provisions of Article 3 common to the four Geneva Conventions.

Its taste added that the detention of civilians in cases of conflict must be in accordance with strict legal principles, so that no party in the conflict may deal with civilians as prisoners of war, and that the concept of the prisoner of war indicates exclusively to the fighters who fall into captivity, which requires civilians to enjoy strict legal protection and ensure that they are not exposed to any kind of cruel or inhumane treatment.

Its taste pointed out that the International Criminal Court is any violation related to the treatment of civilian prisoners such as “war crimes” that the perpetrators can be pursued before, and therefore any violation of the rules of international humanitarian law, especially with regard to the treatment of civilians, exposes the perpetrators to criminal accountability at the international level.

He concluded its taste by saying, “According to the provisions of international humanitarian law, no country may use civilians as a means of political or military pressure, and countries that are holding civilians or even fighters within the framework of armed conflict must commit to respecting the rules of international humanitarian law that are based on the necessity of respecting human rights standards and preserving human dignity.”