Nafha Society: “100 detainees under interrogation in Al Jalama prison, abused and isolated”

Monday March 17, 2008 22:35 by IMEMC News

The Nafha Society for Defending the Rights of the Detainees and Human Rights reported on Monday that nearly 100 detainees are currently under interrogation in Al Jalama Israeli interrogation facility facing physical and psychological pressures.

The society stated that the detainees never see the sunshine and are not provided with decent and sufficient meals while some of them are sick and need medical attention but also barred from this rights. Some of the detainees have been under interrogation since 180 days.

One of the lawyers of the society stated that he visited a number of detainees in Al Jalama and Petah Tikva prisons and observed the bad conditions and harsh treatment the detainees are facing.

Detainee Ra’fat Yousef Awwad, from Awarta town near the northern West Bank city of Nablus, is gradually losing weight and his body is weakening by the day to the extent that he currently cannot stand or sit to perform prayers.  

Detainee Mohammad Radwan Yassin was recently moved to the prison clinic after suffering an acute infection in his stomach. He also suffered from a slipped-disc in his neck and back.

The Israeli authorities, and in direct violation to the international law, bar the lawyers from meeting the detainees during interrogation and keep transferring them from one facility to another.

Interrogation periods vary depending in the mood of the interrogators, the period could last for days or months while the detainees are tortured, confined to solitary in small dark cells, and not allowed to talk to anybody.

There are 41 detainees who are currently at the Al Ramla Prison Hospital. Some of them need dialysis; others have been through surgeries for implants of artificial intestines, bladders while others are suffering from cancer or chronic diseases.

Several human rights groups repeatedly warned that some detainees might commit suicide due to the ongoing psychological and physical pressures they are subjected to during interrogation.

An Israeli human rights group stated recently that a detainee attempted to commit suicide after the interrogators lied to him and said that they brought his mother and father to interrogate them, and that the army demolished their home.

The Israeli High court of Justice barred these practices but the interrogators did not comply with these orders.   

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