[Ppnews] Doctor and lawyer visits to hunger strikers reveal mistreatment by Israeli Prison Service

[Political Prisoner News]

  Doctor and lawyer visits to hunger strikers reveal mistreatment by
  Israeli Prison Service

*Joint Press Release, Addameer Prisoner Support and Human Rights 
Association, Al-Haq and Physicians for Human Rights-Israel
*

*http://www.addameer.org/etemplate.php?id=506
*

/Ramallah-Jaffa/, /7 August 2012 ---/ Four Palestinian political 
prisoners in Israeli detention remain steadfast in their open hunger 
strikes as their health conditions continue to deteriorate. Addameer 
Prisoner Support and Human Rights Association, Al-Haq and Physicians for 
Human Rights-Israel (PHR-IL) are particularly concerned for the lives of 
administrative detainees Samer Al-Barq and Hassan Safadi, who have been 
on protracted hunger strikes and are subject to consistent mistreatment 
at the hands of the Israeli Prison Service (IPS).

Addameer lawyer Fares Ziad visited Mr. Al-Barq and Mr. Safadi in Ramleh 
prison medical center two days ago, 5 August, and a PHR-IL doctor was 
also able to visit them on 2 August.
Mr. Al-Barq is currently on his 78^th day of renewed hunger strike, 
directly following his previous 30-day hunger strike. According to an 
affidavit taken by Mr. Ziad, Mr. Al-Barq was transferred from Ramleh to 
Ofer military court on 31 July by IPS special forces, or /Nahshon/, 
known for their particularly brutal treatment of prisoners during 
transfers. During this transfer, the special forces ordered Mr. Al-Barq 
to walk, and when he told them that he could not, they beat him on his 
legs. They eventually brought him a wheelchair but did not help him, so 
he was forced to crawl to the chair and wheel it himself.
Mr. Safadi, who is now on his 48^th day of renewed hunger strike, 
following his previous 71-day hunger strike, also recounted a disturbing 
incident to Mr. Ziad. On 30 July, five Israeli soldiers raided his room. 
They first tore his pillow before starting to insult him and beat him 
all over his body, leaving his left leg injured. Mr. Safadi noted that 
his room is searched three or four times each day in a violent manner, 
though he is held in a small isolation cell with only his clothes. He 
and Mr. Al-Barq are now held together in this cell, which is only about 
1.5 by 1.8 meters in size, with no windows or ventilation.
Mr. Safadi elaborated to the PHR-IL doctor it was only after he 
complained to guards that it was hard to breathe in his cell that they 
immediately brought Mr. Al-Barq to share the tiny cell with him. 
Furthermore, there is no space in the room for the wheelchair that is 
being used by both hunger strikers for everyday activities, including 
the use of shower and toilet. After he again protested these conditions 
and treatment, he and Mr. Al-Barq were both beaten.
In the PHR-IL doctor's visit on 2 August, the IPS doctor noted that Mr. 
Al-Barq and Mr. Safadi are often refusing any treatments such as 
minerals and vitamins. Both of them told the doctor that they are doing 
so as a last resort to protest against the humiliating and violent 
treatment by IPS staff. Since Ramadan began on 20 July, they drink water 
only at night. The two hunger strikers are also refusing to give blood 
tests during Ramadan due to religious adherence. During the visit, the 
IPS would not allow the independent doctor to examine the hunger 
strikers without the presence of IPS staff, in violation of the Israeli 
Patients' Rights Law. An IPS paramedic was present in the examination 
room and at some point also brought other patients into the room.
The doctor reported that both Mr. Al-Barq and Mr. Safadi were fully 
conscious and aware during the visit. Though during the past days he was 
accepting some minerals and vitamins, Mr. Al-Barq told the doctor that 
he plans to stop all treatment because of the beating. He suffers from 
weakness and general pain in his body with no specific origin. Due to a 
slow pulse he was sent to the emergency room in Assaf Harofeh hospital 
but was released without recommendations for treatment. Mr. Safadi 
currently suffers from vertigo, especially when he attempts to stand, 
and pain on the left side of his rib cage.
The PHR-IL doctor commented following the visit that there is "reason to 
believe that in the future the health of the two strikers will 
deteriorate, and therefore their condition requires special attention 
and close monitoring." He further noted that he believed the hunger 
strikers should be examined by an impartial doctor once a week, without 
any restrictions such as needing court orders for permission.
Notably, two other Palestinian political prisoners are also currently on 
hunger strike: Ayman Sharawna and Samer Al-Issawi, on days 38 and 7 
respectively. Both were released in last October's prisoner exchange 
deal and subsequently re-arrested.

Addameer, Al-Haq and PHR-IL are outraged by the mistreatment and violent 
attacks on Palestinian prisoners in general, and especially in the cases 
of these fragile hunger strikers. Addameer, Al-Haq and PHR-IL urge the 
international community to intervene with Israel on behalf of these 
detainees before their conditions deteriorate even further and demand:

    * that the agreements reached on 14 and 15 May 2012 be respected,
      including the release of administrative detainees who were
      promised release at the end of their current orders;
    * that the terms of the prisoner exchange deal be fully respected
      and that prisoners released in the deal not be rearrested by Israel;
    * that Hassan Safadi, Samer Al-Barq and Omar Abu Shalal,  along with
      all other administrative detainees, be immediately and
      unconditionally released;
    * unrestricted access for independent physicians to all hunger strikers.

-- 
Freedom Archives 522 Valencia Street San Francisco, CA 94110 415 
863-9977 www.freedomarchives.org
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://freedomarchives.org/pipermail/ppnews_freedomarchives.org/attachments/20120807/849bdfb6/attachment.htm>