RAMALLAH, September 14, 2016 (WAFA) - Prisoners affairs minister Issa Qaraqe Wednesday called on the Human Rights Council, holding its 33rd session in the UN, to interfere and save the lives of hunger striking prisoners who are about to hit their 70 day mark.
Brothers Muhammad and Mahmoud Balboul and Mailk Qadi have been hunger striking for around 70 days in demand of their release from Israeli prison.
According to local media, al-Balboul brothers were detained on June 9 and sentenced to administrative detention shortly before their younger sister Nuran, 16, was released after spending four months in Israeli prison.
Al-Qadi, 20, from Bethlehem was arrested early 2016 for four months before Israel rearrested him on May 22 as an administrative detainee without filing any charges.
Israel’s policy of administrative detention, which allows Israel to detain Palestinians without trial or charge, has been widely criticized by rights groups which accused Israel of using the policy to erode Palestinian political and social life by detaining scores of Palestinians without proof of wrongdoing.
Qaraqi called on the UN to hold full responsibility and end the arbitrary administrative detention policy and the brutal methods used against Palestinian prisoners and detainees in Israeli prisons, which violate UN resolutions and international human law.
He explained that al-Qadi is dying in Wolfson Medical Center and has slipped into coma days ago. He suffers from severe pneumonia, slow heart rate, urinary tract issues, severe eyes inflammation, and loss of hearing.
Al-Qadi is locked in a sterile room in intensive care and his body is not reacting to the treatment provided.
Qaraqi said that the health condition of al-Balboul brothers is not any better. Mohammad who was hospitalized in Wolfson Medical Center and Mahmoud in Assaf Harofeh hospital have both lost eyesight, experience hardship in speech and suffer from severe stomach pain.
They slip in and out of coma and experience painful spasms. Qaraqi said their condition will get worse if they remain incarcerated.
M.H
