Palestinian detainees demand proper medical attention, direct treatment to urgent cases

Sunday April 20, 2008 00:09 by Saed Bannoura - IMEMC News & agencies

One of lawyers of the Palestinian Prisoners Society visited Galboa’ Israeli prison and met with a number of Palestinian detainees who informed him of ongoing violations and of urgent cases of detainees who need immediate medical treatment. This report includes number of detainees imprisoned by Israel, including detainees who died in prison, female and child detainees.

The Lawyer met with detainee Mohammad Sabbagh, a spokesperson of the detainees, and also met with detainee Ahmad Abdul-Qadir Salim. Both detainees demanded more attention to the detainees’ case especially since there are dozens of detainees who are seriously ill and need medical treatment.

The detainees demanded to receive the forensic report of detainees Fadi Abu Al Rob who died in prison apparently of medical negligence and torture.

The lawyer also met with detainee Hilal Odeh who said that the detainees are not receiving their daily needs, including proper food which forces them to buy their food from the overpriced prison canteen, yet most of the detainees do not have any money.

The Palestinian Prisoner Society said that detainee Zakariyya Mohammad Ammar, from Jenin, is in a critical health condition as he suffers from a heart disease, kidney disease, ulcer, a disease in his Gall Bladder in addition to allergy. He was kidnapped by the army on March 3, 2008.

The society also stated that detainee Allam Al Atary lost one of his eyes due to a sickness while the prison administration is still refusing transfer him to a specialized hospital.

On April 17, the Palestinian Prisoners Day, the Palestinian Prisoners Society reported that there are 9500 detainees, including 250 children and 81 women, currently imprisoned by Israel.

There are 23 detained mothers, including two who are imprisoned with their infants. The two are Fatima Al Ziq and her 3-months old infant, Yousef, Khawla Zeitawi and her infant Ghad. Also, two of the detained females are underage.

The society reported that there are more than 1000 detainees who are sick and need medical attention, 500 of them need surgeries.

The Society added that 195 detainees died in Israeli prisons since 1967 due to medical negligence and torture, 19 of them died during the Al Aqsa Intifada. The latest casualty is Fadil Shahin from the Gaza Strip. 151 detainees, including 5 women, are Arab residents of Israel.

58 of the detained Palestinian women were sent to court and were sentenced, the rest are still under interrogation and awaiting trial. Four female detainees are imprisoned under administrative detention orders.

It is worth mentioning that 400 detainees were kidnapped by the army before 1993, and 67 detainees were kidnapped more than 20 years ago.

palestine | prisoners | news report saed at imemc dot org