There are 28 Palestinian political prisoners in the Israeli Ramle
Prison Hospital. But they are not receiving medical treatment.
Thousands of Palestinians go without the basic necessities of health
care in Israeli prisons, but it was largely unknown that those with
critical enough cases to be taken to the hospital were not being
treated either.
A Mandela Institute lawyer, Buthaina Dukmak, visited with several of the political prisoners. She reports that 13 Palestinian political prisoners are in the Ramle Hospital suffering from paralysis or such severe disability that they cannot move without either human or wheelchair assistance.
She said on Thursday that the public is being seriously misled. “The prison administration is putting these prisoners in the prison hospital to mislead public opinion with an act of deception to make it look as if there is the requisite health care. This is untrue. Despite ill health and poor conditions, the hospital administration procrastinates in meeting even their most basic health needs and nutritional requirements. But Israeli forces do not relent in conducting provocative searches of the ill prisoners.”
Dukmak said that the Israeli prison administration has taken seven people to the hospital in the past 10 days who were shot by Israeli forces and badly in need of treatment. In addition to a lack of basic treatment, proper clothing is not even being provided. The disabled are suffering the most.
The Mandela Institute findings include the case of political prisoner Mansour. He was arrested on 2 July 2002. Israeli soldiers had shot him in the stomach before his arrest and he was taken to the Ramle Prison Hospital and has become a permanent hospital prisoner. However, he has still not received treatment.
Attorney Dukmak reported that Ahmed Al Tamimi has been struggling with his health for six years, in constant pain and illness. But the prison hospital will not treat him because the Israeli administration has been in an ongoing internal battle as to who will pay the cost of his operations.
Political prisoner Khalid Baraheh was in Israeli Nafha Prison complaining of joint pain since 8 July 2004. He was found to have infections that had spread to the point of becoming incurable when he was finally transferred to the Ramle Prison Hospital on 29 January 2005.
Israeli forces shot and arrested Khalid Jayousi during his wedding. He received no treatment in spite of being taken to Hadassah Hospital after his arrest. The Israeli Salem Military Court extended his sentence even though he was taken to the court in a hospital robe while handcuffed to another man. After the court, he was taken to the Ramle Prison Hospital where he is still awaiting treatment.
The Mandela Institute found that the Palestinians in this prison hospital are not often allowed to contact their families. When visits are allowed, they are often canceled. The prisoner patients are not given adequate food, are kept in isolation, and are not given proper, if any, medical treatment.
Dukmak said that the psychological toll on the Palestinians has produced a constant state of fear and anxiety.
