RAMALLAH, August 9, 2015 (WAFA)
– The health condition of two Palestinian prisoners in the Israeli Eshel prison
have deteriorated due to the ongoing medical negligence by the Israeli prison
authorities, according to the Commission of Prisoners’ Affairs (CPA).
CPA said prisoner Ibrahim Abu
Mustafa, 32, from the Gaza Strip recently had a minor heart attack, and
developed a condition of arteriosclerosis (stiffness of the arteries), kidney
stones, and blood pressure. Despite of this, the only medical treatment he
received so far was OTC painkillers; he told a CPA attorney who was allowed to
visit him.
Abu Mustafa has been in prison
since 2003 and is sentenced to serve 13 years in jail.
Another prisoner, Hamdallah
Sarma, 40, from Ramallah has been suffering from an increasingly worsening health.
He has been experiencing recurrent headache, for which he only receives
painkillers. A few days ago, Sarma was shot an injection in his thigh with an
unknown content.
Meanwhile, CPA said the recent
heat wave badly affected Palestinian prisoners in Nafha, Rimon, Naqab, and
Eshel prisons in Israel. It said since these prisons are located in Naqab
desert, the atmosphere there was extraordinarily hot with temperatures reaching
some 48 degrees Celsius.
It said the severity of the
weather condition in Israeli prisons tightens as the Israeli prison authorities
deny the prisoners access to air conditioners and suitable health care for urgent
cases, such as sun strokes.
According to human rights
groups, medical negligence has been a systematic policy in Israeli jails.
There are some 1500 sick
prisoners in Israeli jails, of whom 80 prisoners are suffering from serious
health problems and do not receive the necessary treatment; they suffer from
malignant diseases, paralysis, and disabilities, in addition to cases of mental
illness and neurological disorder.
The prisoner rights group
Addameer asserts that the Israeli Prison Service maintains a systematic policy
of medical negligence toward Palestinian detainees.
The group reports that the “lack
of natural sunlight and moisture in the prisons, along with a poor, imbalanced
diet and restrictions on use of the prison yard for exercise, can lead to
health problems such as skin diseases, extreme fatigue, anemia and weakness,
kidney problems, rheumatism, dental problems and ulcers.”
The only prison hospital
available for Palestinian prisoners is Ramle hospital, and only in certain
circumstances Israel allows prisoners there for medical care. The prison
hospital does not provide a good standard of healthcare.
M.N/M.H
