G4S Protest Demands Freedom For Fayez Sharary And Solidarity With Standing Rock

On Friday 18th November 2016 Inminds human rights group protested outside the headquarters of the British security company G4S to demand the release of British national, father of five, Fayez Sharary who was abducted by Israel on 15th September 2016 before being tortured for 3 weeks by the Israeli secret police Shin Bet. Fayez is caged at Israel's G4S secured Ofer prison in the West Bank.

Fayez’s wife Laila and their young daughter Aya attended the protest. Laila Sharary read out a short message where she lamented the lack of action from the British government and pleaded for human rights organisations to help secure her husbands freedom.

Inminds chair Abbas Ali said "We are shocked that a British citizen has been kidnapped and tortured by Israel with the assistance of a British company G4S, and shamefully the British government is silent about it and is doing nothing to secure his release. In an unprecedented move even the Israeli judge admitted Fayez has been tortured and his forced confession, after three weeks of torture, is worthless and inadmissible, and that Fayez should be released. The Israeli military of course overturned the judge’s ruling and Fayez is left rotting in an Israeli hell hole secured by G4S. We demand that the British government put pressure on the Israeli regime to immediately and unconditionally release Fayez Sharary so he can be reunited with his family. And we demand G4S end its criminal complicity in Israeli war crimes against the Palestinian people."

The Inminds protest was also in solidarity with the indigenous people of Standing Rock - the Sioux whose water supply and sacred sites are threatened by the Dakota Access Oil Pipeline that has been rerouted to go through their land.

Inminds chair Abbas Ali said "Thugs from the same British company G4S that secure Israel's torture dens and dungeons are also employed by the oil pipeline company as mercenaries to crush the popular resistance against the raping of indigenous Sioux land, the desecration of their sacred sites, and the poisoning of their water supply. We stand united with the Sioux of Standing Rock against the ethnic cleansing and colonisation of indigenous peoples and their lands whether it be in Palestine or in Standing Rock."

UPDATE - 2ND DEC 2016

For over 4 years Inminds, as part of its Palestinian Prisoners Campaign, has protested regularly outside the global headquarters of G4S demanding G4S stop securing Israels prisons and interrogation centres where Palestinians, including young children, are caged and tortured. Over the years G4S has on several occasions, both in direct email correspondence with Inminds and in statements to the media, promised to end its contracts, first in the West Bank, including with Ofer Prison and then later promising to end all its contracts in Israel, including all its contracts with the Israeli prison service. But the promises have proved to be hollow with nothing materialising.. that is until this month when on 2nd December 2016 G4S sold most of its Israeli holdings including all its contracts with the Israeli prison service. The Financial Times admitted the reason behind the G4S exit was to "extract itself from reputationally damaging work". Whilst G4S still has a small foothold in Israel, this is never the less a great victory for the global boycott movement, of which Inminds is a part of, which has campaigned against G4S around the world for many years. Inminds first protest against G4S was on 12th October 2012: http://inminds.com/article.php?id=10568

In light of the torture, Judge Azrieli said Fayez’s confession was “not given voluntarily� and its “value was zero.� The Judge added that several of the crimes attributed to Sharary did not even fit the definitions of crimes under the IDF’s West Bank laws.

The Public Committee Against Torture in Israel responded to the story noting “using torture happens and is not exceptional in interrogations.." It stated that over a 1000 complaints of torture have been submitted but not a single complaint has led to a criminal investigation, let alone a trial or a conviction. Israeli law has never criminalized torture and whilst Israel is a signatory to the UN Conventions Against Torture it insists that it doesn't apply to Palestinians. United Nations funded Treatment and Rehabilitation Center for Victims of Torture for Occupied Palestinian Territory, in 2014, treated 845 Palestinian victims of torture including 317 women and 135 children.

Despite the judge’s ruling Fayez Sharary was never released and is still caged at Israel's notorious G4S secured dungeon at Ofer in the West Bank.

We are honoured to have Fayez Sharary’s wife Laila Sharary here; she has a short message to read out:

Thank you Laila, I just want to finish by saying that Fayez Sharary and his family are all British citizens, an Israeli judge has gone on record to admit that a British citizen has been tortured and that there is no case to answer, yet the British embassy has done nothing to secure Fayez's release! Admission by an Israeli judge that a British national has been tortured in Israel and is being caged for no legal reason should have raised alarm bells in the foreign office. Yet no action has followed. We urge you to please write to your MPs, that they demand action by the foreign office. At the very least, they can send someone from the embassy to attend Fayez's military hearings - the next hearing is on 14th December.

I also want to emphasis that the reason we are holding this protest outside the headquarters of the British security company G4S is that G4S secures Israel's interrogation centres and prisons where Palestinians like Fayez and children as young as 12 years old are tortured and caged. We ask that people of good conscience please urge your local councils, colleges, banks and supermarkets not to use the services of G4S whilst G4S is complicit in Israeli war crimes against the Palestinian people.

Shame on you G4S!
Shame on you G4S!

Free Fayez Sharary!
Free all Palestinian political prisoners!
Free Palestine!

We are also here today outside the global headquarters of the British security company G4S to stand in solidarity with the indigenous Sioux tribe of Standing Rock in Dakota whose water supply and sacred sites are threatened by the Dakota Access Oil Pipeline that has been rerouted to avoid white towns and their water supplies, and instead to go through Sioux land in violation of the treaties the Unites States government signed with the Sioux nation.

Mercenaries from this same British company G4S, that is complicit in the torture and caging of Palestinian prisoners, are being hired by the oil pipeline company to crush the popular peoples resistance against the raping of indigenous Sioux land, the desecration of their sacred sites, and the poisoning of their water supply. As more state police refuse to serve on behalf of these corporations, the use of private armies like those provided by G4S becomes prevalent. As British people it’s our duty to tell the British company G4S to get out of Standing Rock, as we tell them to get out of Palestine.

We stand united with the Sioux of Standing Rock against the ethnic cleansing and colonisation of indigenous peoples and their lands whether it be in Palestine or in Standing Rock. From Palestine to Standing Rock – Injustice anywhere threatens justice everywhere!

Solidarity with Standing Rock!

Stop the Dakota Access Pipeline!

We stand united – from Palestine to Standing Rock!

We are now going to show a short 8 minute film about Standing Rock..