Lawyers: Israeli prison authorities neglecting Palestinian prisoners

The statement by the department, which recently replaced the Ministry of Prisoner's Affairs, focused on a number of cases of sick detainees who had been denied proper treatment.
 
Lawyer Hanan al-Khatib was quoted in the statement as saying that 18 Palestinian prisoners currently being held in Ramla prison are seriously ill and their conditions are worsening from day to day.
 
Adnan Abdullah Muhsin from Bethlehem area, she said, is an example of negligence by the Israeli prison services.
 
Detained since Jun. 18, Muhsin uses a wheelchair as a result of a previous work accident. He has serious back pains and recently has been able to feel his right leg. Despite this, Israeli prison authorities only give him pain killers.
 
Another case she highlighted was Rabee Rizq Sbeih, also from Bethlehem, who is serving 22 months. The lawyer said he has been suffering severe pains as a result of inflammation of the heart muscle, and has lost 13 kilograms recently.
 
Another serious case, she added, is Ashraf Muhib Abu al-Huda from the Nablus area. He has back, spine, and pelvis pains because he was shot several times during detention on April 6. He is also in a wheelchair.
 
Spokesman for Palestinian prisoners in Ashkelon prison Nasser Abu Hmeid was quoted in the statement as saying that Israeli prison services had also neglected the case of a prisoner named Muhammad Khamis Barash from al-Amari refugee camp for years, and a result his condition had seriously deteriorated recently.
 
Lawyer Karim Ajwah was quoted as saying that Barash suffers from heart and respiratory problems, and his left leg has been amputated and he needed an artificial limb.
 
He added that Barash also suffered from hearing and sight problems and he needa cornea transplant for his left eye.
 
Israeli prison services recently took Barash to Barzilai Medical Center in Ashkelon urgently in an ambulance due to his very serious deterioration, the statement said.
 
Barash is serving seven life sentences in Israel's Ashkelon prison.
 
More than 7,000 Palestinian prisoners are currently being held in Israeli jails.
 
Over 800,000 Palestinians have been detained since 1967, according to the PLO.
 
Under international law, it is illegal to transfer prisoners outside of the occupied territory in which they are detained, and the families of Palestinian prisoners' face many obstacles in obtaining permits to see their imprisoned relatives.