RAMALLAH, October 10, 2011 (WAFA) – The health of Ahmad Sa’adat, the imprisoned secretary general of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP), has sharply deteriorated as he went on hunger strike on September 27, Monday said the Palestinian human rights group, Addameer Prisoner Support and Human Rights Association.
It said in a press release that Sa’adat lost five kilograms since he and other PFLP prisoners in Israeli jails have entered an open-ended hunger strike to protest their worsening detention conditions.
The Israeli Prison Service (IPS) responded by confiscating fluids like milk and juice, as well as salt, leaving prisoners with water as their only nourishment, said the release.
Lawyers from Addameer and other organizations were able to visit Sa’adat twice in the southern Israel Nafha prison, where he has been held in isolation since March 11, 2009, and assess his health condition.
The lawyers, according to the release, reported that Sa’adat has already lost five kilograms since the beginning of the hunger strike and shows signs of extreme fatigue and low levels of concentration, with the visits having to be cut short as a result.
During the latest lawyer visit on October 9, which lasted 30 minutes, Sa’adat fainted once and reported that he had been throwing up yellow liquid, which could be symptoms of the fact that the prison authority had confiscated salt from the hunger-striking prisoners.
Doctors confirmed that individuals on hunger strike usually lose between 5-7 kg during the first 10 days of a strike, as Sa’adat has done, followed by an additional weight loss of 7-10 kg in the subsequent 10 days.
“Given his starting weight and general health condition, which has been adversely affected by his long-term isolation, Sa’adat could lose up to 23% of his body weight within 20 days, putting him at serious risk,” said Addameer.
“Addameer is extremely concerned about Sa’adat’s current health condition and believes that he should be hospitalized immediately so that any further worsening in his condition can be monitored closely,” it said.
It called on the prison authority to return salt to all hunger-striking prisoners to prevent any drastic deterioration in their health conditions.
It also urged the international community, including activists and supporters of human rights and justice for the Palestinians, to intervene on behalf of Sa’adat by writing to the IPS to ask to immediately hospitalize Sa’adat and provide him with adequate medical treatment, as well as return salt to all the prisoners taking part in the hunger strike.
Letters should also be written to the International Committee of the Red Cross calling on them to immediately visit Sa’adat and continue to do so on a regular basis to monitor his health condition.
M.S./F.J.
