As Prisoners Day approaches, female detainees appeal to be freed

Monday March 26, 2007 22:44 by Saed Bannoura - IMEMC & Agencies

The Nafha Society for Defending Human Rights and the Rights of Detainees stated that female Palestinian detainees are facing harsh living conditions in Israeli prisons, suffering from torture, repeated attacks and the deprivation of basic rights.

Female detainees in Isaeli prisons

The Society called on the Palestinian people, president, government and all factions to organize a wide campaign for the support of the detainees who are facing Israeli violations of their rights and of international law.

 The Society added that several female detainees are confined to solitary underground cells which are dark and humid, and are deprived of their visitation rights.

As the Prisoners Day approaches, April 17,  female Palestinian detainees and all other Palestinian detainees in Israeli prisons are still living in bad conditions. They are facing continuous harassment, which contradicts international law and the principles of human rights.

There are 128 female Palestinian political detainees imprisoned by Israel, among them 62 who are already sentenced by Israeli courts, 63 who are detained without a trial and three who are detained under Administrative Detention orders without charges.

95 of them are single, 21 are married , one is engaged and seven are divorced. 70 female detainees are imprisoned in Al Ramleh Israeli prison, and 58 are in Telmond.

Nearly 10,000 Palestinian people are imprisoned by Israel.

The distribution of female detainees according to their area of residency is as follows; 10 from Jerusalem, 19 from Hebron, 9 from Bethlehem, 33 from Nablus, 2 from Nazareth, 24 from Jenin, 8 from Ramallah, one from Shakhneen, 12 from Tulkarem, 4 from Qalqilia, and three from the Gaza Strip.

Also, there are twelve female detainees who are under the age of 18, among them seven in Al Ramleh, and five in Telmond.

Prison administration places obstacles and restrictions on the entry of books and is barring them from carrying out their prayers together.

The detainees are repeatedly attacked and sprayed with gas in addition to being hit and clubbed by the soldiers. Some of them have ben confined to solitary cells for a whole month, while others have been forced to pay fines as a sort of punishment.

Prison cells are small and lack sufficient beds, one in every three detainees has to sleep on the ground. The rooms lack proper ventilation since the Israeli troops cover the windows with iron bars that block the sunshine and the wind, even though they are small.

Food provided for the detainees is insufficient and of a bad quality, while the administration does not provide the detainees who suffer from certain illnesses with the food that their special diets require.

The administration does not provide the detainees with the necessary materials and tools, such as cleaning equipment, bed covers, shampoo et cetera. This forces the detainees to buy these goods for high prices.

The Administration barred the entry of clothes to the detainees five months ago. The clothes are usually brought by the parents, or the Red Cross and other human rights groups.

Several detainees are mothers, and some of them were detained with their new born babies before the Prisoner Administration decided that the children should be released and sent to their families when they turned two.

Detainee Noura Jaber is a mother of six children, she is imprisoned under administrative detention orders, and her husband Sami Al Hashlamoun is also imprisoned.

Detainee Itaf Oleyyan was recently separated from her child Aisha, and is still imprisoned under administrative detention orders. Israeli Prison Authorities have renewed her detention orders four times without trail, each renewal results in six more months of imprisonment.

The Society and several human rights organizations have appealed to the international community to intervene and expose the illegal Israeli practices against the detainees imprisoned by Israel, who are suffering under bad living conditions and constant abuse.

The Society also stated that several detainees are ill and need immediate, proper medical attention. Several detainees need surgery, while others are handicapped and need daily medical assistance and the proper environment.

palestine | prisoners | news report saed at imemc dot org