Wednesday, April 8, 2009

1600 detainees need medical attention

Wednesday April 08, 2009 22:27 by Saed Bannoura - IMEMC & Agencies

The Palestinian Center for Defending the Detainees reported that the number of sick detainees in Israeli prisons is gradually increasing due to the Israeli policy of medical neglect which is causing further deterioration in the health conditions of the detainees. The center said that there are 1600 sick detainees who need urgent attention.

Image reprinted from Palestine-Info
Image reprinted from Palestine-Info

The center added that the rooms in the detention centers lack proper ventilation and are dark day and night, which is increasing humidity.

The Center said that as the world marks the World Health Day, the number of sick detainees arrived to 1600, including 16 who have cancer, and are not receiving the needed treatment.

Furthermore, the Center reported that 550 detainees need urgent surgeries, and 160 detainees who suffer from cancer, kidney or heart problems.

There are 16 detainees who use wheelchairs and crutches, 80 detainees who are diabetic, two bind detainees, 40 detainees who were shot prior to their arrest and still have fragments in their bodies, in addition to 14 detainees who are permanently at the Al Ramla Prison Hospital which lacks the basic equipments.

Dozens of detainees became sick and wounded due to extreme torture during interrogation, as they were subjected to physical abuse and are placed in tiny, cold and dark cells that are filled with humidity.

Other sorts of torture used by Israel are forcing the detainees to stand for extended periods, and subjecting them to streams of very cold wind, in addition to tying them to chairs for long periods with their hands tied behind their backs and heads bent down or forced back.

The center said that 195 detainees died in Israeli prisons since 1967. The number includes detainees who died due to medical neglect and/or torture. The most recent casualty among the detainees is Jom’a Ismail Mousa, from Jerusalem. He died at the Al Ramla prison on December 24, 2008.

Report: 1,600 Palestinian patients in Israeli jails
[ 09/04/2009 - 09:14 AM ]

GAZA, (PIC)-- The Palestinian center for the defense of prisoners reported Tuesday that the number of Palestinian patients imprisoned in Israeli jails amounted to 1,600 prisoners, 16 of them suffer from cancer, adding that Israel pursues the policy of medical neglect and provides Palestinian patients only with palliative medical treatment.

In a report issued on the occasion of world health day and a copy of which was received by the PIC, the center said that the only medication prescribed for all diseases in Israeli jails is different kinds of painkilling pills.

According to the report 550 Palestinian prisoners are in need of urgent sugary and 160 others suffer from serious diseases like cancer, heart problems and kidney failure while 18 detainees use wheelchairs and crutches.

The report added that 80 prisoners are diabetic and dozens are threatened to lose their eyesight and two already went blind as a result of medical neglect, in addition to dozens of patients who have different medical cases and are still imprisoned in Israeli jails.

The report underlined that the number of Palestinian prisoners who died in Israeli jails amounted to 195 victims, pointing out that this toll does not include the detainees who died as a result of medical neglect or were killed as a result of torture or physical assaults.

In a related context, the Palestinian ministry of detainees and ex-detainees said Wednesday that the Israeli occupation exploits the impoverished Gaza people's means of livelihood and their freedom to blackmail them into working for it as agents and provide information about the Palestinian resistance.

In a press statement received by the PIC, Riyadh Al-Ashqar, the director of information office in the ministry, deplored the Israeli occupation for kidnapping and attacking Palestinian fishermen at sea in order to pressure them to work as informers or else they and their boats would be targeted by the Israeli navy.

Ashqar added that Israel pursues this malicious policy against Palestinian children in detention centers in the West Bank and the Palestinian lands occupied in 1948, where the detained children are maltreated and then bargained for their freedom and release from jails in exchange for working for Israel as informers.

The ministry warned of the consequences of falling into the clutches of treason in exchange for material inducements and called on all concerned institutions to carry out a wide campaign to raise the awareness of Palestinian citizens in this regard.