Jerusalem, July 29: Hundreds of Palestinian detainees have criticized the deteriorating conditions in Israel’s desert prison of al-Naqab, saying they are denied their basic rights.
They complain that the Israeli administration refuses to treat sick prisoners despite ill health. They say that when transferred to Israeli hospitals, doctors in many instances have falsely claimed that they are fine and sent them back to their cells.
Several prisoners met with a Palestinian Prisoners Society (PPS) lawyer this week and complained of their deteriorating conditions.
The PPS attorney reports that one of the prisoners, Mansour, recently collapsed during morning exercises and was transferred to the prison clinic. The doctor there claimed that Mansour was fine.
Prison officials were asked to bring in a medical specialist to treat Mansour’s skin allergies and high blood pressure. The man, who has been in Israeli prisons for 30 years, is also reportedly suffering from insomnia and hearing loss in his left ear.
The PPS attorney said that there are 27 such detainees at the prison, all of whom have been denied their basic rights.
He called on the Israeli prison authorities to begin legal proceedings in accordance with administrative regulations, rather than arbitrarily denying rights to political prisoners.
The attorney said that the Red Cross ignored him when he told them about the plight of these detainees. He says he has run into many such obstacles with the prison administration, especially when officials manipulate intelligence in order to extend detentions for prisoners nearing the ends of their sentences.
The lawyer also discussed the problem of transporting prisoners. Trips that should take no more than a few hours take days and are marred by physical and emotional abuse, which is the lot of thousands of Palestinians currently in Israeli prisons.
—-Agencies