Rights group calls for immediate release of prisoner in critical condtion

[ 18/10/2010 - 01:03 PM ]

NABLUS, (PIC)-- The International Tadamun (Solidarity) Foundation for human rights said the Israeli prison authority continues to detain Kifah Awni Qatsh despite her critical health condition. Ahmed Al-Beitawi, a researcher at the foundation, said that Qatsh, a sufferer of immunodeficiency, has developed a case similar to gangrene, that has begun to eat away at her hand. Several of her fingers were amputated due to lack of blood to the limbs. “Qatsh was diagnosed with severe narrowing of the limb arteries ten years back. The disease moved from her chest to the mouth and gums, causing her to lose some of her teeth. The disease then traveled to her limbs resulting in the amputation of her fingers. The prisoner has also sustained other illnesses, such as rheumatism, stomach ulcers, and a breathing crisis,” Beitawi added. The researcher called for the immediate release of Qatsh based on her health condition, which requires doubled attention, especially as the winter approaches, when her health is expected to worsen from the cold and lack of care. Qatsh, who is a wife and mother of one boy and a girl, was arrested from her home on August 1, 2010 before she was transferred to the Israeli Hasharon prison to serve 4 months of administrative detention.