Palestinian female prisoners inside occupation jail, the endless suffering

Palestinian female prisoners inside occupation jail, the endless suffering

Nine International Women’s Days have passed while Palestinian female prisoners “Amna Muna” and  “Eman Ghazawi” are still behind bars among  others  who have spent seven or eight  women’s day anniversaries. Have the international organizations, which commemorate the International Women’s Day on the 8th of March every year, no knowledge that there are 37 Palestinian female prisoners deprived of their freedom by the occupational authorities?

Ryad Al-Ashqar, Information Director of Detainees’ Support Committee explained in a report marking International Women’s Day that more than ten thousand Palestinian women have experienced incarceration since 1967. During Al-Aqsa Intifada, IOF has abducted over 900 Palestinian women where there are 37 women still in prisons so far”.  Al-Ashqar referred that “The occupation authority has not ended  the policy of women detention in the Palestinian territories arresting 3 women since the beginning of the current year.”

Al-Ashqar also stressed that the female prisoners’ are suffering under very harsh detention conditions which violates the  international conventions as they are deprived of  the most minimum rights. “The occupation’s prison adminstration uses the harshest measures of torture, cruelty and deprivation from rights to increase their suffering and destroy their physiological wellbeing. The prison administration has escalated its violations against the female detainees in the last months, including intentional medical neglect and education denial”.  

He revealed that since the beginning of this year, the prison administration “has transferred the female prisoners from Damon prison to a different  section which lacks the barest  level of protection and basic living conditions, especially in winter when rainwater leaks into their cells and chambers through windows and doors. Rainwater wets their mattresses and clothing. More dangerously, the water reaches the electric cables, jeopardizing the  prisoners’ lives”.

The report went on to talk about prisoners’ suffering due to intentional medical negligence saying: “One third of the prisoners suffer from diseases, and critical illnesses. The prisoners complain that they have no access to a specialist doctor or gynecologist in the prison clinic to take care of the sick female prisoners. The prison administration provides only a nurse that allows them only painkillers”.

The report added “Female prisoners have to use herbs and whatever prescriptions that are available inside the prison as substitutes for medicines. Prisoner, (Amal Juma’) is still suffering from cancer of the uterus and prisoner (Rajaa’ Al Goul) suffers from serious diseases mainly heart disease and hypertension and her medical condition is very difficult. Moreover, many prisoners frequently suffer from dermatological infections resulting from insects and lack of cleaning substances. The prisoners also suffer from bone and teeth diseases”.
 
The Information committee of the Detainees’ Support Committee appealed to the Palestinian factions holding IOF soldier Shalit to “stick to their demands till releasing all female prisoners in the anticipated prisoners swap and not to exclude any female prisoner as the occupation desires”.  The committee also called on the mass media to “shed more light on the female prisoners’ suffering and to expose the occupation violations inside prisons”, calling upon the international community and women affairs organizations for “an immediate intervention to end the exacerbated suffering of the female prisoners”.