Palestinian prisoners of Assabea to go on hunger strike in protest at violations

[ 27/12/2010 - 10:48 AM ]

GAZA, (PIC)-- Ahrar center for the prisoners' studies and human rights said that the Palestinian prisoners in Assabea prison on Monday may go on hunger strike in protest at their inhumane incarceration conditions and the violations committed against them by the prison administration. Lawyer Mohamed Abdeen told Ahrar center on Sunday that over the past week, the prisoners refused to have many meals and warned the prison administration that they would take protest steps if it persisted in not answering their just demands. The lawyer who was able to visit prisoner Imad Al-Sharif, sentenced to life imprisonment, said that the administration of Assabea prison tightens the noose around prisoners and neither provide them with their basic needs nor let them to buy anything from the store inside the prison. The prisoners cannot run electric appliances because the electricity is very weak and the administration did not solve this problem, the lawyer affirmed, adding that they are also allowed to leave their rooms only for 50 minutes to stroll in a very small area. Director of Ahrar center Fouad Al-Khafsh appealed to international human rights organizations and the media outlets to highlight the issue of Palestinian prisoners and expose the violations committed against them by Israel. For its part, the Israeli prison authority decided on Sunday to suppress 250 Palestinian prisoners in the Negev prison and transfer them to a number of central jails. It intends to send troops from Nahshon unit to forcibly evacuate the sections of the prison after the prisoners expressed their rejection of this arbitrary decision. The Negev prisoners said they would take protest steps in response to the decision which violates the agreements reached with the Israeli prison administrations on the need to inform the prisoners about their transfer one week earlier. In a related context, the prisoners' center for studies reported that the Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails are exposed every year to more than 780 inspections and search raids by Israeli troops and jailers. The center affirmed that the military units specialized in inspections, some of them are known as Masada, Nahshon, and Dror, carry out every year about 60 violent search raids in every prison. Director of the center Rafat Hamdouna stated that the strip search is also one of the most problematic violations the prisoners are exposed to, especially during their transfer to another prison, court, or hospital. The Palestinian ministry of prisoners' affairs said in a report published by the Palestinian information center (PIC) that Israel is holding in its prison 36 Palestinian women in harsh imprisonment conditions. The ministry stated that the female prisoners are imprisoned in Damon and Hasharon prison and among them 13 women suffering from deliberate medical neglect. The health conditions of some female detainees are described as very serious.