RAMALLAH, September 19, 2024 (WAFA) – The Detainees and Ex-Detainees Affairs Commission warned of the danger of the spread of skin diseases in general, particularly scabies, among detainees, which has become a real threat to their lives, which prompted the Israeli Prison Services (IPS) to close a number of prisons to lawyers' visits due to this disease.

The Commission expressed in a statement today its concern about the spread of this disease to the rooms of minor detainees in Ofer Prison, which has spread among them greatly and quickly, noting that its symptoms have begun to appear on their bodies in an annoying way, such as pimples, boils and redness of the skin that prevents them from sleeping due to itching and pain.

It called on the World Health Organization (WHO) to assume its responsibilities towards all detainees, especially minors, as the lack of cleanliness and deprivation of having detergents and sterilizers and washing within a very short time and the lack of clothing and blankets make their bodies a fertile environment for the spread of such diseases.

The Commission pointed out that Ofer prison includes the majority of minor prisoners, as their number is 150 detainees out of 260 others, adding that they are not treated with any privacy due to their young age and thin bodies, but on the contrary, this is exploited to take revenge on them and increase their suffering.

It stressed that the living and health conditions in Ofer prison remain complicated, and that punishments are still happening and the attack is escalating, as the policies of beating, starvation and deprivation are destroying the prisoners' bodies.

K.T