Mandela Institute: “Detainees in solitary confinement describe their lives as a slow death”

Thursday March 01, 2007 03:16

by Saed Bannoura - IMEMC & Agencies

Lawyer of Mandela Institute for Human Rights – Palestine, Botheina Doqmaq, stated that detainees living in solitary confinement in Israeli prisons are facing harsh living conditions and that they are subjected to bad treatment, lacking food and water.

Palestinian detainee - Archive

Doqmaq met on Tuesday with several detainees who are confined to solitary cells. They complained that the Prison Administration has kept several detainees in solitary confinement for many years, and they are only allowed out for a few minutes each day.

She added that the number of detainees who are confined to solitary cells is gradually increasing.

Doqmaq reported the following cases;

Detainee Hasan Salama, from Khan Younis in the southern part of the Gaza Strip, has been confined to a solitary cell for ten years.

Detainee Mahmoud Issa from Jerusalem has been in solitary confinement for five years.

Detainees Mazin Malsa, Mohammad Abdo, Ahmad Al Moghrabi, Jamal Al Barghouthi, Saleh Al Aroury, Jihad Yaghmour, Mohammad Al Natsha, Mo’taz Hijazi, Jamal Abu Al Haija, Ra’ed Al Sheik, Osama Mohammad, Moneer Rabee’, Mohammad Abu Srour, Aman Mona, Abeer Amro, Abdullah Al Sharabati and Ibrahim Hamid have been in solitary confinement for four years.

Detainee Ibrahim Hamid suffers with a severe health condition. He was interrogated for five months and was then transferred to Ayalon detention facility for forty days before he was transferred to Asqalan prison, where he is still confined to a solitary cell.

Ikrima Thabit, an activist at the Mandela Institute said that Israeli authorities always tries to confine the detainees to solitary cells for extended periods in order to inflict physical and psychological torment on them.

Thabit added that the detainees in solitary cells are denied their visitation rights.