A Freed Female Detainee: `“Female Detainees are Facing Very Difficult Conditions’

Translated by: Saed Bannoura

Tahani Nassar, 19 years old, from Tulkarem refugee camp, in the north of the West Bank, said that after she spent two months in Telmond detention camp female detainees in Israeli detention camp are facing very bad conditions.

Nassar was sentenced to twelve months, ten executive, said that female detainees are subjected to daily violations.

“Army breaks into our rooms on daily basis, search them, and confiscates clothes and electric tools mainly used for boiling water, they also transfer several detainees from one branch to another as part of psychological pressure on us”, Nassar said.

“When they break into our rooms, they bring more than 40 soldiers, in addition to the head of the jail and a security officer, they just break into our rooms and destroy everything, they continuous assaulted the detainees and in one case they electrified one detainee who lost consciousness for more than two hours, other detainees were beaten and sprayed with gas causing skin burns and problems”, Nassar said.

Nassar said that several detainees were placed in solitary detention for periods which varied between 21 and 30 days, and were subjected to different sorts of torture and humiliations in addition to banning them from relieving letters from their families for more than two months.

Concerning medical treatment and attention, Nassar said that several detainees are suffering from problems in the Stomach, back pain, problems and paints in the joints, while prison administration refuses to provide them with the needed medication and treatment, the only medication provided to them is painkiller pills.

“One of the detainees, Na’ima Al-Nakhla, 60 years old, from Al-Jalazon refugee camp, is suffering from mental problems, diabetes, another detainee, Manal Ghanem, is suffering from Thalasemia while her new born baby who was born while she was in detention is suffering from malnutrition while the administration refuses to provide him with the needed food and medication”, Nassar Said.

The detainees, and despite all military procedures against them, are determined not to be defeated by the conditions imposed on them in detention and are living in detentions as one big family for better or worse facing one destiny.

It is worth mentioning that in Tulkarem alone, there are eighteen female detainees including Do’aa Al-Jayyousi who is sentenced to three life terms, Shifa Al-Qudsi, Seema Anbass a wife of a resident who was shot dead by the army, Nisreen Abu-Zeina, Abeer Odeh, Raweya Al-Sheikh, Manal Ghanim and Asma’ Hussein.

Meanwhile, there are more than 111 female detainees imprisoned in two main prisons, Telmond Ha-Sharon and Al-Ramleh detentions, among them at least three detainees sentenced to several life terms.