The Israeli Bar Association: “Many Palestinian detainees are in solitary confinement since 5 years"

Monday August 25, 2008 21:34 by Saed Bannoura - IMEMC & Agencies

The Israeli Bar Association issued a report on the Palestinian detainees in Israeli prisons and revealed that there several detainees who spent many years in solitary confinement without any legal status or charges.

The reported revealed that those detainees are not defined as administrative detainees, and are imprisoned for extended periods, as high as five years, without charges or trial.

The Bar Association added that there are seven detainees in Ayalon and Kitziot detention camps who were placed in solitary confinement five years ago and now they are still in solitary confinement while no charges were filed against them.

The Association said that these incidents violate the international law. One of the cases is the case of detainee Mahmoud Az’an, who was kidnapped by the army 10 years ago and it still imprisoned without any charges or trial.

The Association also said that the prisons lack the basic components and the basic medical services which increased the number of deaths among the detainees in recent years. The detainees are also repeatedly attacked and abused by the Nahshon Division which is a military branch in charge of transferring the detainees to court or from one prison to another.

The report also focused on medical negligence and the insufficient number of physicians and nurses comparing to the high number of detainees. A significant number of detainees who died in recent years died due to medical negligence practiced by the prison administration.  

israel | prisoners | news report saed at imemc dot org