Palestinian Prisoners’ Affairs Authority: Prisoners face risk of death on daily basis in Israeli jails
OCCUPIED PALESTINE, June 23 (YPA) – The Prisoners and Ex-Detainees Affairs Authority said on Sunday that the Negev prison administration threatens Palestinian prisoners whose lawyers visit them in prison with torture, which has made them refrain from doing so.
The Palestinian Authority quoted a lawyer as saying that he was surprised “that most of the prisoners he intended to visit refused to go out to meet him, and it became clear during the meeting with one of them (whose name and time of the meeting were not specified) that the jailers had threatened the prisoners who were going out to visit.”
The threats included, according to the lawyer, that “they will be beaten and punished by placing them in an iron cage from morning until evening with their hands and feet tied and their heads on the ground if they go out for a visit.”
The lawyer also confirmed that the punishment “may extend for a day or several days depending on the prisoner’s mood, and during this period he prevents the prisoner from going to the bathroom, eating, or drinking, and if he complains or asks for a simple matter, he is severely beaten and tortured.”
The prisoner conveyed “testimonies of prisoners who were subjected to punishment after meeting with the lawyer, which prompted them to refrain from leaving and to give up the only link between them and their families and the outside world,” according to the Authority.
The conditions of the prisoners crossed the red lines
The authority added that the conditions of the prisoners inside the prison “crossed all red lines, as they face the risk of death on a daily basis, as a result of the physical and psychological torture they have been subjected to since October 7.”
Among the forms of torture they are subjected to are “intentionally hitting prisoners between the corridors and in places where there are no surveillance cameras and focusing on sensitive areas.”
The Palestinian Authority also pointed out that “the prisoners have been wearing the same clothes for more than 8 months, and most of them are filled with blood as a result of their infection with scabies and the severe itching and ulcers it causes.”
The Authority spoke about “deliberate medical neglect of prisoners,” stressing that “treatment has been stopped for the injured and sick, medicine is prohibited, and prisoners are not allowed to file complaints, as papers and pens have been withdrawn to confirm this.”
In conjunction with its devastating war on Gaza since October 7, the Israeli occupation army expanded arrest campaigns in the West Bank, arresting about 9,345 detainees, according to institutions specializing in prisoner affairs.
The occupation army also expanded its military operations, leaving 553 martyrs, including 133 children, in addition to about 5,300 wounded, according to the Palestinian Ministry of Health.
YPA