Conditions in the Israeli Telmond Prison are deplorable for the women being held there, according to Hanan Al Khatib, a lawyer with the Palestinian Prisoner Society who was able to tour the facility today. The 108 women, including a number of minors, who are currently being held in the facility, have said that their Israeli captors torture them on a regular basis during so-called ‘interrogation sessions’.The women have been threatened by the Israeli authorities that they will be moved to the infamous Ramle Prison, near Tel Aviv, in which case they have said they are prepared to hunger strike in protest.
Palestinian women in prison are often arrested as ‘bait’, to encourage a ‘wanted’ brother or relative to turn himself in, according to the Palestinian Prisoner Society. This type of ‘baiting’ is illegal under international law, and although Palestinians have proven in Israeli courts that the Israeli army is engaging in this practice, Israel has never been convicted in an international court for this violation. U.S. troops in Iraq have recently been accused of beginning to use ‘baiting’ as a technique to capture resistance fighters in their illegal occupation of Iraq.
The women imprisoned in the Telmond facility, have said that in addition to being tortured, they are also frequently put into solitary confinement, unable to continue their studies, and denied medical treatment. They implored the world community to intervene on their behalf by pressuring the Israeli government for their release.
