RAMALLAH, APRIL 14, 2011 (
WAFA) –A report by the Palestinian Ministry of Detainees Affairs published Wednesday said that Israel had arrested a total of 750,000 Palestinians since the start of the occupation in June 1967.
The report, issued to mark the April 17 Prisoners’ Day, said that nearly 6,000 Palestinians are currently held in Israeli prisons, including 37 female prisoners, 245 minors, 180 administrative detainees, and 12 lawmakers and political leaders. They are held in 17 different prisons and detention centers.
It said that Israel had arrested 12,000 women and tens of thousands of children. It said 70,000 Palestinians had been arrested since the start of Al-Aqsa Intifada in September 2000, including over 850 women and 8,000 minors.
The report said that 302 prisoners have been held since before the Oslo agreement and the establishment of the Palestine Authority in 1994, the least one has been in prison for 17 years, 136 have been held for 20 years and over. Four of the prisoners have been in prison for over 30 years.
There are approximately 1500 prisoners suffering from different kinds of illnesses and need extensive health care, including hundreds suffering from serious diseases such as cancer, heart problems, and mental illness
A total of 202 prisoners have died in prison since 1967, of them 70 died as a result of torture, 51 as a result of medical negligence, 74 as a result of premeditated murder immediately after their arrest, and seven were killed when soldiers and guards opened fire at them inside the prison.
W.S./M.A.
