Two Thousand Ill Palestinians in "Israeli" Prisons

Local Editor, 15-04-2010

According to the Centre for Prisoner Studies in the Palestinian territories, there are 2,000 ill Palestinian and Arab detainees being held in "Israeli" prisons. This constitutes 25% of the total number of declared Palestinian detainees in "Israeli" custody. Sixteen of these prisoners are seriously ill with cancer.

In a press release, the human rights group stated that the total number of Palestinians and Arabs held by "Israel" now stands at about 8,200, ten percent of whom come from the Gaza Strip. Five hundred detainees originate from Jerusalem in the occupied zones. Among those being held, often without charge, are 380 children and 34 women.

The Centre's statement highlighted the impact of Zionist regime's policies which violate the rights of Palestinian prisoners, citing the imposition of solitary confinement, the blocking of visits and carrying out humiliating searches of prisoners' families. The Centre also mentioned cultural deprivation, as well as policies of medical negligence towards ill prisoners, particularly those with chronic diseases.

"Meeting these policies with silence encourages the "Israeli" government and the management of the "Israel" Prison Service to persist in their violations and to continue to interfere with principles of human rights as well as international laws and conventions," said Raafat Hamdouna, the centre's director. He called upon human rights and humanitarian organizations to put pressure on the "Israeli" occupation authorities to allow the entry of specialized doctors to treat chronic cases within prisons and to end their abuse of Palestinian and Arab prisoners.