[Pnews] Rapidly Deteriorating Conditions of Palestinian Prisoners in Light of the Continuing Spread of COVID-19
Prisoner News
ppnews at freedomarchives.org
Mon Mar 23 12:17:46 EDT 2020
http://www.addameer.org/news/updates-regard-rapidly-deteriorating-conditions-palestinian-prisoners-and-detainees-light
Updates with Regard to the Rapidly Deteriorating Conditions of
Palestinian Prisoners and Detainees in Light of the Continuing Spread
of the Disease (COVID-19)
March 23, 2020
According to information received by Addameer from the Israeli Prison
Services (IPS), three detainees under interrogations and Addameer
legally represents were transferred to al-Ramleh Prison Clinic. Those
prisoners are Ahmad Nassar, Qais Daraghmeh, and Ibrahim Awad. Also, the
information received did not contain but the detainees whereabout, with
any details about their detention conditions or wellbeing.
On 18 March 2020, Addameer was informed that a Palestinian detainee
under interrogation may have been exposed to COVID-19 transmitted by
contact with an Israeli Security Agency interrogator who tested positive
for the coronavirus at Petah Tikva. Addameer was then informed that the
three mentioned detainees were transferred to Asqalan interrogation
center, then to al-Jalameh interrogation center and then finally, to
al-Ramleh Prison Clinic. The detainee and several others have now been
placed in quarantine. Addameer was informed that the three mentioned
detainees were transferred to Asqalan interrogation center, then to
al-Jalameh interrogation center and then finally, to al-Ramleh Prison
Clinic; yet their conditions are unknown to us. The IPS has not informed
the detainees or their legal representatives if the detainees will be
tested for COVID-19, or what precautions will be taken to ensure their
safety and health. Addameer has send several letters to the IPS to seek
information without answer.
Early March 2020, the IPS halted all family and lawyers’ visits for
Palestinian prisoners, citing this measure as a COVID-19 precaution.
Furthermore, detainees are not brought to court for their hearings,
meaning that their legal representatives are barred from direct
communication, and only allowed phone calls with them. There are
currently a number of Palestinian detainees placed under interrogation,
prohibited from lawyers’ and family visits, and only allowed phone or
video calls during their court sessions. This comes also in light of the
IPS’s continuous refusal to install landline phones inside prisons,
preventing the prisoners from contacting their families. In this
situation, the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) is the
only entity permitted direct communication and visits to Palestinian
prisoners.
Current detention conditions at Israeli occupation prisons:
Despite the lack of access to information about the detention conditions
in all Israeli occupation prisons, though what organizations are
receiving is showing the lack of care to Palestinian prisoners.
Prisoners not yet given the minimum hygiene needs in such sensitive
context. Furthermore, only until recently prisoners in some of the
prisons such as, Rimon, Ofer and al-Naqab, were given only a few of
cleaning materials and sanitizers which are not enough for the crowded
numbers of prisoners in those prisons. Furthermore, those prisons are
not being sterilized in a consistent manner, in fact, they were only
cleaned and sterilized once or twice. Finally, prisoners and their
families expressed their inability to deposit in the prisoners’
cantina’s account. The IPS did give any alternatives to the prisoners
despite the fact that prisoners depend on the cantina in terms of buying
all their daily needs and necessities including food. Finally, the IPS
officers are not taking any precautions, as they still conduct the
dailies searches and daily count of prisoners, which are in total five a
day conducted by officers who are not wearing hazmat suit, protective
cloves, or medical face masks. Leaving Palestinian prisoners in danger
and exposure to the virus, especially that so far, none of the
Palestinian prisoners were tested, not even their temperature was taken.
--
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