PCDD calls for boosted release efforts on Palestinian Prisoner Day

[ 17/04/2011 - 10:10 AM ]

GAZA, (PIC)-- The Palestinian center to defend detainees has called for increased efforts to help release Palestinians held in Israeli jails marking Palestinian Prisoner Day on April 17. The rights group confirmed that the Israeli occupation government continues to engage in abusive practice against its Palestinian captives and called on rights groups to pressure Israel to abide by international conventions protecting the rights of prisoners taken by an occupying force. According to data provided by the PCDD in a fresh press release, the Israeli prison administration is currently holding 6,800 Palestinians, among them 36 women and 340 children. 304 of those prisoners were imprisoned before the Oslo Accords and 137 have been jailed for more than 20 years. Some 1,600 prisoners have fallen ill and are denied proper medical attention and doctor visits, the report states. The most prominent violation the PCDD highlighted was solitary confinement and medical neglect. PCDD director Ismail Thawabita vowed that the center would continue to fight for the Palestinian prisoners in ”all local, regional and international forums” until the day of their release. Thawabita called on Palestinian factions that have captured Gilad Shalit to stand firm on their demands to release the tortured resistance prisoners in a swap deal, confirming that the Palestinians support those demands.