Palestinian activists sit in a mock prison, during a protest in solidarity with Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails. (Photo via Twitter)
Ramallah, August 15 (RHC)-- A rights group has censured the Tel Aviv regime over its inhumane mistreatment and harsh measures against Palestinian prisoners, stating that the inmates are exposed to various forms of torture at detention centers across the occupied territories and are losing their lives.
Qadoura Faris, chairman of the Palestinian Prisoners' Club (PPC), expressed his deep concern over the deteriorating condition of many Palestinians in Israeli jails, hoping that all Palestinian inmates would be released within a comprehensive framework for the exchange of prisoners.
He strongly criticized Israeli officials for their deliberate medical negligence of Palestinian prisoners and refusal to provide them with basic health services and essential medical needs, saying, “Israel is trying to prepare the ground for the gradual death of all Palestinian prisoners.”
Khalil Awawdeh is reportedly in a critical condition over 150 days into his hunger strike.
Faris went on to shed light on the plight of Palestinian child prisoners, stating that the Israeli regime is seeking to instill intense fear in them.
He pointed to the case of Ahmad Manasra, a 20-year-old Palestinian man who has developed serious mental health problems since his arrest as a child seven years ago, as a flagrant example of Israel's violence against imprisoned children.
The PPC chairman also hailed the spirited resilience and steadfastness of Palestinian prisoners, stating that the decision by Palestinian hunger striker Khalil Awawdeh, who has refused food for more than 160 days in a bid to draw attention to his detention by Israeli forces without trial or charge, shows that the spirit of resistance runs high among Palestinian detainees.
Israeli forces arrested the 40-year-old father of four in December last year. Dalal Awawdeh, Khalil’s wife, said his condition had deteriorated, prompting Israeli authorities to move him to a hospital on Thursday. Awawdeh now requires a wheelchair and is showing memory loss and speech difficulties, according to his lawyer Ahlam Haddad.
There are thousands of Palestinians held in Israeli jails. Human rights organizations say Israel violates all the rights and freedoms granted to prisoners by the Geneva Convention.
Palestinians and human rights groups say administrative detention violates the right to due process since the evidence is withheld from prisoners while they are held for lengthy periods without being charged, tried, or convicted.
Palestinian detainees have continuously resorted to open-ended hunger strikes in an attempt to express outrage at detentions. Israeli jail authorities keep Palestinian prisoners under deplorable conditions lacking proper hygienic standards. Palestinian inmates have also been subject to systematic torture, harassment, and repression.
