“Ofer” Prison... The Jailer and “Coronavirus” Threaten Palestinian Prisoners’ Lives

By Staff, Agencies

“Ofer” prison administration informed the prisoners today, Tuesday, that 7 new prisoners were infected with coronavirus in the sections 14 and 17, called “Al Maabar”, where the new detainees are usually arrested.

The Palestinian Prisoner’s Club said that the danger to the fate of prisoners increased as they were facing the jailer and the pandemic. And what increased the risk is that the prison administration, which was using the pandemic as a method of oppression and torture, was the only one to talk about the prisoners’ infections.

The Club drew attention to that “Since the end of last August, 14 new cases had been recorded in “Ofer” Prison, and these cases were part of a total 24 cases that had been recorded among prisoners since the start of the pandemic, which included two prisoners whose infections had been detected one day after their release.”

The Club stressed that the international human rights institutions, atop of which is the International Red Cross, should take responsibility for this dangerous development that needs doubled effort and pressure on the occupation to allow a neutral medical committee to oversee the prisoners’ results and tests, and to stop the daily arrests that constitute, along with the contact between prisoners and guards, and the frequent transfers, the main sources of the prisoners’ infection with coronavirus.

It is worth noting that the occupation transformed some sections of the prison to quarantine centers, where even the minimum conditions of healthcare are not available. Additionally, the infected prisoner faces a more difficult isolation process and hard life conditions in those centers.

The Palestinian Prisoner’s Club renewed its call for releasing sick, elderly, or child prisoners with the continued spread of the pandemic, and for making pressure to allow a neutral international medical committee to participate in the examination of the prisoners to make sure they are safe.