32 Palestinian prisoners suffering from different disabilities are being held in Israeli detention centers without receiving suitable medical care, according to a report released by the Palestinian Prisoners’ Center for Studies (PPCS) on Sunday.
Center spokesperson Riyad al-Ashqar said in the statement that Israeli use of torture against Palestinian prisoners had dramatically increased the number of disabled prisoners, with many suffering from permanent disabilities due to injuries sustained during violent interrogations.
The statement noted that Israel Prison Service (IPS) authorities routinely did not provide disabled and injured prisoners with necessary equipment such as wheelchairs for those.
Palestinian prisoner boycotts Israeli military courts via @MiddleEastMnt #StopAD https://t.co/APBvskSmQ3
— PSC (@PSCupdates) December 3, 2016
Al-Ashqar said that Israeli forces “don’t hesitate to detain disabled Palestinian and torture them,” highlighting that more often than not, Israeli officials refuse to provide injured and disabled Palestinian prisoners with medications or wheelchairs during detention.
The statement concluded by highlighting that many Palestinian prisoners suffer from disabilities and injuries, and whose situations are made worse by medical neglect inside Israeli prisons.
Al-Ashqar called upon international human rights organizations to intervene and pressure Israel to release Palestinian prisoners suffering from physical and psychological disabilities.
According to Palestinian Prisoner Center for Studies report:
110 children and 14 girls were kidnapped by israeli forces during last November pic.twitter.com/g6iYwaewif— Mohammed Kareem (@vic2pal) December 1, 2016
Palestinian officials and rights groups have long accused the IPS of medical negligence towards injured Palestinian prisoners.
Last month, Palestinian Committee of Prisoners’ Affairs director Issa Qaraqe said that IPS did not properly treat injured Palestinians when they were in Israeli custody, and that “there is a deliberate policy of medical negligence against injured and sick Palestinian prisoners.”
Prisoners rights group Addameer said in a January report that the policy of medical neglect in Israeli manifested in IPS “denying their responsibility in providing appropriate health care, and periodic medical checkups for prisoners and detainees.”
Palestinian prisoner’s health condition seriously deteriorates Via PIC @PalinfoEn https://t.co/OXn7bKN4j3
— Ramy Jabbar (@Ramdog1980) November 30, 2016
According to the group, since the beginning of the Second Intifada in 2000 until 2008, 17 Palestinian prisoners died in Israeli prisons and detention centers as a result of medical negligence.
During 2014, the number of ill persons among the prisoners and detainees increased to over 1,000, an increase compared with 800 sick cases in 2013.
(Ma’an, PC, Social Media)
