Palestinian detainees suffering harsh living conditions, ill-treatment

Friday August 03, 2007 22:23 by IMEMC Staff

Akram Abu Siba’, secretary of the Detainees Office in Jenin district, stated on Friday that Palestinian detainees in Israeli prisons are facing harsh living conditions, abuse and are deprived from their basic rights, while dozens of detainees are placed in solitary confinement for extended periods.

Palestinian detainees - Archive Photo

He added that dozens of detainees are sick and need medical treatment but the Israeli prison administration is neglecting their rights and depriving them from the needed medical attention.

Some of the cases mentioned in the report are; detainee Khader Turkman is suffering from a neurological disease, detainee Adeeb Al Qit, was shot and injured prior to his arrest and need surgeries, detainee Yasser Nazzal suffers from several diseases, detainee Montaser Abu Ghalion need ophthalmic treatment, detainee Anan Abu Khurj suffers from a liver disease, and detainee Khalil Misbah suffers from a heart disease.  

Also, dozens of detainees are deprived from their visitation rights while the administration refuses to give any explanation for these illegal acts.

Abu Siba’ added that several detainees spent more than five years in solitary confinement and were repeatedly transferred from one detention facility to another without any explanation from the administration.  

He also said that the isolated detainees are deprived from their visitation rights, are not even allowed to communicate with other detainee, and are repeatedly attacked and violated by the soldiers.

Abu Siba’ stated that these procedures are direct violations to the international law and the basic principle of human rights, especially the Fourth Geneva Conventions.

The detainees are also provided with bad and insufficient food which forces them to buy their own food from the prison canteen which is always over-priced.   

The Detainees Media Office initiated a campaign and contacted several parties and institutions in order to arrange protests against these violations and to contact several human rights groups in order to practice pressures on the Israeli Prison Authority to improve the conditions of the detainees and provide them with the basic rights guaranteed by the international law and the Fourth Geneva conventions.

palestine | prisoners | news report saed at imemc dot org