RAMALLAH, January 17, 2016 (WAFA) – A sick Palestinian prisoner in Israeli jails has been denied urgent and much needed surgeries by the Israeli prison authorities, according to the Palestinian Prisoner’s Society (PPS).

PPS said prisoner Mohammad Abrash has been in dire need of multiple surgeries; he has been suffering from a partial hearing and visual impairment, necessitating an urgent cornea transplant, PPS said.

Abrash also suffers from continuing and unusual pus oozing out of his foot, which was amputated due to an injury he previously sustained at the hands of Israeli soldiers prior to his detention.

PPs maintained that the health status of Abrash has seen a dramatic deterioration due to the prison service’s continued medical negligence, which further aggravated his already poor health condition. Abrash has been detained since 2003 and is sentenced to three lifetimes, followed by 35 years in jail.

Addameer, a prisoner support and human rights group, has accused Israeli Prison Service (IPS) of using medical negligence as a deliberate policy against Palestinian prisoners.

According to the United Nations’ Standard Minimum Rules for the Treatment of Prisoners, “the medical officer shall have the care of the physical and mental health of the prisoners and should daily see all sick prisoners, all who complain of illness, and any prisoner to whom his attention is specially directed.”

There are some 1,500 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.

According to a B’Tselem annual report issued in 2013, “53 prisoners died inside Israeli prisons due to medical negligence. In addition, several cases were documented in which prisoners died after their release, with medical reports indicating that their deaths resulted from medical negligence.”

M.N./T.R.