18 aug 2016
Bassam al-Sayeh next?
Over 207 Palestinian prisoners have died in Israeli jails, 55 among whom due to intentional medical negligence.
Human rights groups slammed the preplanned medical negligence perpetrated by the Israeli prison service (IPS) as part of a policy of psycho-physical torture against Palestinian detainees.
Recently, on Tuesday evening, former Palestinian prisoner Naim Shawamreh, who developed muscular dystrophy while serving his sentence in Israeli jails, succumbed to his illness three years after he was released in 2013.
Ex-prisoner Jawad al-Faroukh, 30, said in an affidavit that he had been left without treatment for the severe inflammation he caught as a result of the heavy beating to which he had been subjected by the occupation troops during his abduction from his own home in December 2015.
“Israeli medics at Ofer and Negev prison clinics provided me with pain soothers during the six months I spent in administrative detention,” said Faroukh.
He added that the IPS had been dragging their feet over his need of an urgent surgery prescribed by medics at an Israeli hospital “My name was registered on the waiting list but I was released without undergoing the surgery.
I am still suffering due to the medical negligence I had been made to endure in Israeli custody,” he added. “Now I am barely able to move my hands as a result of the unbearable pains I am enduring,” al-Faroukh further stated.
The wife of the cancer-stricken Palestinian detainee Bassam al-Sayeh urged the human rights institutions to translate condemnation into action and urge the Israeli occupation to provide Palestinian detainees with the needed medical treatment.
She spoke out against the medical neglect endured by her husband in the Ramla prison clinic ever since he was arrested in October 2015.
Despite the fact that Sayeh has been diagnosed with blood and bone cancers, along with cardio-vascular diseases, his name is still put on waiting lists in anticipation of urgent surgeries.
“Medics in the Ramla clinic are officers and wardens recruited by the IPS. It is no wonder that humanitarian criteria are the least of their concerns.
They are treating prisoner patients in exclusively military, rather than humanitarian, terms,” Sayeh’s wife noted, raising alarm bells over the turn for the worse her husband’s health has taken pending a surgery that would never perhaps see the day.
Head of the Palestinian Prisoners Center for Studies, Osama Shaheen, said over 1,200 sick detainees are held in Israeli jails, including 24 cancer-stricken patients.
“The Israeli occupation authorities keep sick detainees in detention until no chances are left for them to recover.
As a result, they die shortly after they get released from jail,” Shaheen noted. He condemned the silence maintained by the international community and the Palestinian Authority (PA) as regards the case of sick Palestinian detainees.
Shaheen urged the PA to file a complaint at the International Criminal Court (ICC) over the tragedy endured by Palestinian detainees.
“The only hope left for sick detainees and their families are the deals struck by the Palestinian resistance, otherwise their fate would not be so much different from those who breathed their last behind prison bars,” he further stated.
Over 207 Palestinian prisoners have died in Israeli jails, 55 among whom due to intentional medical negligence.
Human rights groups slammed the preplanned medical negligence perpetrated by the Israeli prison service (IPS) as part of a policy of psycho-physical torture against Palestinian detainees.
Recently, on Tuesday evening, former Palestinian prisoner Naim Shawamreh, who developed muscular dystrophy while serving his sentence in Israeli jails, succumbed to his illness three years after he was released in 2013.
Ex-prisoner Jawad al-Faroukh, 30, said in an affidavit that he had been left without treatment for the severe inflammation he caught as a result of the heavy beating to which he had been subjected by the occupation troops during his abduction from his own home in December 2015.
“Israeli medics at Ofer and Negev prison clinics provided me with pain soothers during the six months I spent in administrative detention,” said Faroukh.
He added that the IPS had been dragging their feet over his need of an urgent surgery prescribed by medics at an Israeli hospital “My name was registered on the waiting list but I was released without undergoing the surgery.
I am still suffering due to the medical negligence I had been made to endure in Israeli custody,” he added. “Now I am barely able to move my hands as a result of the unbearable pains I am enduring,” al-Faroukh further stated.
The wife of the cancer-stricken Palestinian detainee Bassam al-Sayeh urged the human rights institutions to translate condemnation into action and urge the Israeli occupation to provide Palestinian detainees with the needed medical treatment.
She spoke out against the medical neglect endured by her husband in the Ramla prison clinic ever since he was arrested in October 2015.
Despite the fact that Sayeh has been diagnosed with blood and bone cancers, along with cardio-vascular diseases, his name is still put on waiting lists in anticipation of urgent surgeries.
“Medics in the Ramla clinic are officers and wardens recruited by the IPS. It is no wonder that humanitarian criteria are the least of their concerns.
They are treating prisoner patients in exclusively military, rather than humanitarian, terms,” Sayeh’s wife noted, raising alarm bells over the turn for the worse her husband’s health has taken pending a surgery that would never perhaps see the day.
Head of the Palestinian Prisoners Center for Studies, Osama Shaheen, said over 1,200 sick detainees are held in Israeli jails, including 24 cancer-stricken patients.
“The Israeli occupation authorities keep sick detainees in detention until no chances are left for them to recover.
As a result, they die shortly after they get released from jail,” Shaheen noted. He condemned the silence maintained by the international community and the Palestinian Authority (PA) as regards the case of sick Palestinian detainees.
Shaheen urged the PA to file a complaint at the International Criminal Court (ICC) over the tragedy endured by Palestinian detainees.
“The only hope left for sick detainees and their families are the deals struck by the Palestinian resistance, otherwise their fate would not be so much different from those who breathed their last behind prison bars,” he further stated.
16 aug 2016
Naim Shawamrah 46
A former Palestinian prisoner who served 19 years in Israeli custody died on Tuesday after a painful struggle with muscular dystrophy, the Palestinian Prisoner’s Society said.
In a statement, the group said Naim Shawamrah, 46, died at al-Ahli hospital in Hebron.
Shawamrah, a resident of the village of Dura south of Hebron, was released in early 2014 as part of an agreement with Israel in conjunction with US-mediated peace talks with the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO).
Shawamrah was one of some 104 Palestinian prisoners held since before the 1993 Oslo Accords to be released as part of the deal, which was later suspended following the disappearance of three Israeli teenagers in June, which led to a crackdown in the occupied West Bank and a devastating Israeli offensive in the besieged Gaza Strip.
Shortly following his release from prison, Israel prevented Shawamrah from traveling to Jordan to receive medical treatment for the muscular dystrophy he developed in 2013 while in prison.
Rights groups have widely condemned Israel for its medical negligence of Palestinians in its prisons, which Addameer has called a "deliberate policy of neglect."
Earlier this month, a number of Palestinian rights organizations established a committee to follow the cases of Palestinians in poor health being held in Israeli prisons.
Palestinian ex-prisoner succumbs to disease caught in Israeli jail
Former Palestinian prisoner Naim Shawamreh, who developed muscular dystrophy while serving his sentence in Israeli jails, has succumbed to his illness three years after he was released.
The Prisoners’ and Ex-Prisoners’ Committee said Shawamreh’s death was the result of Israeli medical negligence in prison. The committee’s director Issa Qaraqe urged the international community to seriously work on halting such preplanned Israeli crimes against Palestinian detainees.
“Israel’s murder policies have reached intolerable levels in prisons, where illnesses have swiftly spread among the detainees,” he said. “We’ve frequently encountered detainees who spend the last days of their lives in hospitals without returning to their homes.”
Qaraqe called for the need to file a lawsuit with the International Criminal Court at the soonest time possible so as to impeach Israeli criminals for their crimes against the Palestinian people.
The Center for the Defense of Freedoms and Civil Rights (Hurriyat) held the Israeli occupation government, prison service, and medics accountable for the death of Shawamreh.
A statement by Hurriyat said Shawamreh’s death sounds the alarm over the death risks run by sick detainees in Israeli lock-ups. Naim Shawamreh, 46, was sentenced to life imprisonment in 1995.
He was released in 2013 after serving nearly 19 years in prison, following negotiations.
Meanwhile, European MPs joined a rally staged by dozens of Palestinian protesters and activists in Ramallah city, holding the Israeli occupation authorities responsible for Shawamreh’s death. Former Greek MP Zoe Konstantopoulou said she will work, along with her Irish and Icelandic fellows, to transmit the true tragedy endured by the Palestinians to their countries.
She added that contacts have been underway to mobilize solidarity with the Palestinian detainees. “Naim died as a result of the deliberate medical negligence in Israeli prisons,” a rally-goer said. “He would not have got to this point if he had been taken care of. The protesters further expressed their support for prisoner Bilal Kayed, on hunger strike for the 68th consecutive day in protest at being held administratively, without trial, in Israeli jails.
A former Palestinian prisoner who served 19 years in Israeli custody died on Tuesday after a painful struggle with muscular dystrophy, the Palestinian Prisoner’s Society said.
In a statement, the group said Naim Shawamrah, 46, died at al-Ahli hospital in Hebron.
Shawamrah, a resident of the village of Dura south of Hebron, was released in early 2014 as part of an agreement with Israel in conjunction with US-mediated peace talks with the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO).
Shawamrah was one of some 104 Palestinian prisoners held since before the 1993 Oslo Accords to be released as part of the deal, which was later suspended following the disappearance of three Israeli teenagers in June, which led to a crackdown in the occupied West Bank and a devastating Israeli offensive in the besieged Gaza Strip.
Shortly following his release from prison, Israel prevented Shawamrah from traveling to Jordan to receive medical treatment for the muscular dystrophy he developed in 2013 while in prison.
Rights groups have widely condemned Israel for its medical negligence of Palestinians in its prisons, which Addameer has called a "deliberate policy of neglect."
Earlier this month, a number of Palestinian rights organizations established a committee to follow the cases of Palestinians in poor health being held in Israeli prisons.
Palestinian ex-prisoner succumbs to disease caught in Israeli jail
Former Palestinian prisoner Naim Shawamreh, who developed muscular dystrophy while serving his sentence in Israeli jails, has succumbed to his illness three years after he was released.
The Prisoners’ and Ex-Prisoners’ Committee said Shawamreh’s death was the result of Israeli medical negligence in prison. The committee’s director Issa Qaraqe urged the international community to seriously work on halting such preplanned Israeli crimes against Palestinian detainees.
“Israel’s murder policies have reached intolerable levels in prisons, where illnesses have swiftly spread among the detainees,” he said. “We’ve frequently encountered detainees who spend the last days of their lives in hospitals without returning to their homes.”
Qaraqe called for the need to file a lawsuit with the International Criminal Court at the soonest time possible so as to impeach Israeli criminals for their crimes against the Palestinian people.
The Center for the Defense of Freedoms and Civil Rights (Hurriyat) held the Israeli occupation government, prison service, and medics accountable for the death of Shawamreh.
A statement by Hurriyat said Shawamreh’s death sounds the alarm over the death risks run by sick detainees in Israeli lock-ups. Naim Shawamreh, 46, was sentenced to life imprisonment in 1995.
He was released in 2013 after serving nearly 19 years in prison, following negotiations.
Meanwhile, European MPs joined a rally staged by dozens of Palestinian protesters and activists in Ramallah city, holding the Israeli occupation authorities responsible for Shawamreh’s death. Former Greek MP Zoe Konstantopoulou said she will work, along with her Irish and Icelandic fellows, to transmit the true tragedy endured by the Palestinians to their countries.
She added that contacts have been underway to mobilize solidarity with the Palestinian detainees. “Naim died as a result of the deliberate medical negligence in Israeli prisons,” a rally-goer said. “He would not have got to this point if he had been taken care of. The protesters further expressed their support for prisoner Bilal Kayed, on hunger strike for the 68th consecutive day in protest at being held administratively, without trial, in Israeli jails.
10 nov 2015
Ghassan al-Rimawi 27
Former Palestinian prisoner Ghassan al-Rimawi, 27, passed away early Tuesday after a long battle with cancer.
Al-Rimawi, a native of the central West Bank city of Ramallah, died in the Jordanian Hussein hospital where he was being treated.
Al-Rimawi was offered treatment by the King Hussein Cancer Foundation in Jordan after Hadassah hospital in Israel refused to take him under the security pretext.
Al-Rimawi had been detained by the Israeli occupation forces three times, twice in 2005 and again in 2010, during which time he developed blood cancer. He was released after seven months in detention.
According to the Council for European Palestinian Relations (CEPR), poor conditions in Israeli prisons have led to the deterioration of health for a large number of Palestinian prisoners.
"Prison clinics have become renowned for offering only aspirin for all health treatments and physicians within the clinics are all soldiers," CEPR said in a report.
Former Palestinian prisoner Ghassan al-Rimawi, 27, passed away early Tuesday after a long battle with cancer.
Al-Rimawi, a native of the central West Bank city of Ramallah, died in the Jordanian Hussein hospital where he was being treated.
Al-Rimawi was offered treatment by the King Hussein Cancer Foundation in Jordan after Hadassah hospital in Israel refused to take him under the security pretext.
Al-Rimawi had been detained by the Israeli occupation forces three times, twice in 2005 and again in 2010, during which time he developed blood cancer. He was released after seven months in detention.
According to the Council for European Palestinian Relations (CEPR), poor conditions in Israeli prisons have led to the deterioration of health for a large number of Palestinian prisoners.
"Prison clinics have become renowned for offering only aspirin for all health treatments and physicians within the clinics are all soldiers," CEPR said in a report.
19 oct 2015
Number of Palestinian martyrs who died in Israeli jails due to deliberate medical neglect mounted to 55 after prisoner Fadi al-Derbi has recently died.
Detainees and ex-detainees committee said, in a statement on Saturday, that prison doctors do not conduct required health examinations for patient prisoners in full disregard to Geneva agreements and international conventions.
The committee accused Israeli prison administration of failure to bear its responsibility for and to fulfill its duties toward Palestinian sick prisoners. It expressed its concerns over the serious health conditions of dozens of detainees.
The committee said Israeli prison administration adopts a policy of slow death against sick captives and even commits crimes against them.
The detainees committee demanded to open an international investigation supervised by the United Nations in order to investigate Israeli violations of human rights. It also demanded the Red Cross to oblige Israel to offer health care services to prisoners within international rules and regulations.
Detainees and ex-detainees committee said, in a statement on Saturday, that prison doctors do not conduct required health examinations for patient prisoners in full disregard to Geneva agreements and international conventions.
The committee accused Israeli prison administration of failure to bear its responsibility for and to fulfill its duties toward Palestinian sick prisoners. It expressed its concerns over the serious health conditions of dozens of detainees.
The committee said Israeli prison administration adopts a policy of slow death against sick captives and even commits crimes against them.
The detainees committee demanded to open an international investigation supervised by the United Nations in order to investigate Israeli violations of human rights. It also demanded the Red Cross to oblige Israel to offer health care services to prisoners within international rules and regulations.
16 oct 2015
Head of the Palestinian Committee for Prisoners’ Affairs Issa Qaraqa said Friday in a press conference that the Palestinian Authority will head to the International Criminal Court (ICC) after the death of a Palestinian prisoner in Israel’s jails in suspicious circumstances.
Qaraqa’s statements came shortly after Israeli authorities handed over the body of the prisoner Fadi al-Darbi who died two days ago in Soroka Hospital after suffering from a stroke earlier in the day.
The PA is working on the formation of an international investigation committee over the Israeli deliberate medical negligence to al-Darbi’s health condition.
Many Palestinian sick prisoners were victim of Israel’s medical negligence policy and died without receiving the essential medical treatment, he said.
Some 7,000 Palestinians are behind bars in 17 Israeli prisons and detention centers, denied all rights including the vitally needed healthcare except for ineffective pain killers when falling ill.
Qaraqa’s statements came shortly after Israeli authorities handed over the body of the prisoner Fadi al-Darbi who died two days ago in Soroka Hospital after suffering from a stroke earlier in the day.
The PA is working on the formation of an international investigation committee over the Israeli deliberate medical negligence to al-Darbi’s health condition.
Many Palestinian sick prisoners were victim of Israel’s medical negligence policy and died without receiving the essential medical treatment, he said.
Some 7,000 Palestinians are behind bars in 17 Israeli prisons and detention centers, denied all rights including the vitally needed healthcare except for ineffective pain killers when falling ill.
14 oct 2015
Fadi al-Darbi 30
Palestinian detainee Fadi al-Darbi, 30, from Jenin on Wednesday died in an Israeli hospital after reportedly suffering a stroke days earlier, a Palestinian Authority official said.
Al-Darbi was declared "brain dead" in Soroka hospital on Sunday evening after the stroke, the head of the Palestinian Authority Committee for Prisoners' Affairs, Issa Qaraqe, said.
He was in critical condition at the time after suffering from acute bleeding earlier in the day. Doctors at the hospital pronounced him dead on Wednesday, Qaraqe said.
The Palestinian Prisoner's Society told Ma'an that Israeli authorities allowed his parents and siblings to visit him after his health deteriorated.
The society said in a statement that al-Darabi had suffered medical negligence by the Israeli Prison Service.
It said that he suffered bleeding in his abdomen two years ago, but was left in solitary confinement, without medical treatment.
Al-Darbi was detained by Israeli forces on March 16, 2006, and sentenced to 16 years in jail, and was last being held in the Ramon jail.
Shadi, Fadi’s brother, is currently in jail for a three-and-a-half year sentence.
Nearly 6,000 Palestinian prisoners are currently held in Israeli jails, according to prisoners' rights group Addameer.
Palestinian detainee Fadi al-Darbi, 30, from Jenin on Wednesday died in an Israeli hospital after reportedly suffering a stroke days earlier, a Palestinian Authority official said.
Al-Darbi was declared "brain dead" in Soroka hospital on Sunday evening after the stroke, the head of the Palestinian Authority Committee for Prisoners' Affairs, Issa Qaraqe, said.
He was in critical condition at the time after suffering from acute bleeding earlier in the day. Doctors at the hospital pronounced him dead on Wednesday, Qaraqe said.
The Palestinian Prisoner's Society told Ma'an that Israeli authorities allowed his parents and siblings to visit him after his health deteriorated.
The society said in a statement that al-Darabi had suffered medical negligence by the Israeli Prison Service.
It said that he suffered bleeding in his abdomen two years ago, but was left in solitary confinement, without medical treatment.
Al-Darbi was detained by Israeli forces on March 16, 2006, and sentenced to 16 years in jail, and was last being held in the Ramon jail.
Shadi, Fadi’s brother, is currently in jail for a three-and-a-half year sentence.
Nearly 6,000 Palestinian prisoners are currently held in Israeli jails, according to prisoners' rights group Addameer.
21 sept 2015
Ahmad Shihda Shatat, 32
A Palestinian prisoner, held by Israel on criminal charges, in the Nativot prison, died due to circumstances and conditions that remain unknown. Israel said it would be conducting an autopsy to determine the causes of death. Palestinian official demands thorough investigation.
The prisoner, Ahmad Shihda Shatat, 32, is from the Thaheriyya town, in the southern West Bank district of Hebron.
The Israeli Police said it would be conducting an autopsy to determine the cause of death, and the circumstances that led to this outcome.
Abdul-Nasser Ferwana, a former political prisoner and the head of the Census Department of the Palestinian Detainees and Ex-Detainees Commission, said that “regardless of why the prisoner was held by Israel, and even if he was held on criminal charges, the incident should not be ignored.”
Ferwana added that a thorough, and credible, investigation must be conducted, to determine the circumstances that led to his death in Israeli prison, “it is unethical, and illogical, to ignore this case,” he said.
“It is our moral and legal responsibility to follow-up on the issue,” Ferwana stated, “He is a prisoner who died in prison. Even if he was being held on criminal charges, the fact remains he died in prison.”
Some Israel sources claimed the prisoner “committed suicide,” but failed to provide further details on issue, including on how, or what did he use to commit the alleged suicide.
Palestinian detainee dies in Israeli police station
A Palestinian detainee was found dead in an Israeli police station in the Negev in southern 1948 occupied territories, Israeli sources said.
The unidentified Palestinian detainee died due to circumstances and conditions that still remain unknown, Israeli police said.
An investigation would be opened into the circumstances that led to his death, the sources added.
Palestinian prisoners, held in Israeli jails and detention centers, are subjected to systematic torture to extract information and confessions from them.
A Palestinian prisoner, held by Israel on criminal charges, in the Nativot prison, died due to circumstances and conditions that remain unknown. Israel said it would be conducting an autopsy to determine the causes of death. Palestinian official demands thorough investigation.
The prisoner, Ahmad Shihda Shatat, 32, is from the Thaheriyya town, in the southern West Bank district of Hebron.
The Israeli Police said it would be conducting an autopsy to determine the cause of death, and the circumstances that led to this outcome.
Abdul-Nasser Ferwana, a former political prisoner and the head of the Census Department of the Palestinian Detainees and Ex-Detainees Commission, said that “regardless of why the prisoner was held by Israel, and even if he was held on criminal charges, the incident should not be ignored.”
Ferwana added that a thorough, and credible, investigation must be conducted, to determine the circumstances that led to his death in Israeli prison, “it is unethical, and illogical, to ignore this case,” he said.
“It is our moral and legal responsibility to follow-up on the issue,” Ferwana stated, “He is a prisoner who died in prison. Even if he was being held on criminal charges, the fact remains he died in prison.”
Some Israel sources claimed the prisoner “committed suicide,” but failed to provide further details on issue, including on how, or what did he use to commit the alleged suicide.
Palestinian detainee dies in Israeli police station
A Palestinian detainee was found dead in an Israeli police station in the Negev in southern 1948 occupied territories, Israeli sources said.
The unidentified Palestinian detainee died due to circumstances and conditions that still remain unknown, Israeli police said.
An investigation would be opened into the circumstances that led to his death, the sources added.
Palestinian prisoners, held in Israeli jails and detention centers, are subjected to systematic torture to extract information and confessions from them.
