Hawara prisoners suffer food poisoning after served bad food

[ 19/09/2010 - 03:57 PM ]

NABLUS, (PIC)-- The international Tadhamon (solidarity) foundation for human rights  said prisoners in the Hawara detention center near Nablus are suffering from malnutrition, while noting some cases of food poisoning. The foundation’s attorney Ahmed Toubasi said the Hawara prison administration serves an insufficient amount of food to prisoners with no regard for variety. Besides serving poor quality foods, sweets have been banned. Prisoners are normally served chilled milk and eggs not suitable for eating, and in most cases refuse to eat meals. One prisoner said he suffered from an upset stomach and food poisoning after eating breakfast one morning. After he experienced a severe case of diarrhea he was not permitted to leave to the bathrooms or provided treatment. Referring to a number of prisoners he visited in Hawara, Toubasi said: “The prisoners suffer - in addition to poor food - from medical neglect and poor treatment from the guards, who deliberately provoke prisoners and humiliate them during count, which is taken three times a day.” As of Thursday Sept. 16, 15 Palestinians are being detained in the Hawara prison. In the same context, a man arrested at late night told Toubasi he was severely beaten by Israeli soldiers who detained him. Tadhamon foundation researcher Ahmed al-Beitawi said the arrestee was taken three days back from his house in the Old City of Nablus. He previously spent four and a half years in Israeli jails in two arrests ahead of his last arrest. Beitawi said Israeli forces have ramped up arrest operations throughout the West Bank, especially against political prisoners who were previously released.