RAMALLAH, October 30, 2017 (WAFA) – Palestinian prisoner Bilal Diab’s health could deteriorate as a result of being on an open hunger strike for the 14th day in a row to protest his administrative detention, warned Karim Ajwa, an attorney with the Prisoners Affairs Commission.
He said on Monday that 32-year-old Diab, currently held in Asqalan prison, is suffering from a migraine, abdominal and joint pain and pain in his left ear. He said that Diab still insists on not going to the prison’s clinic to undergo tests.
Diab told the advocate that he was moved to another cell in worse conditions. He said that the mattress is wet and that he has one blanket only. The fan is turned on all the time despite the cold weather, and the cell is filled with dirt and insects.
He pointed out that a daily inspection in his cell is conducted late at night once to twice. He also said that next to his cell there are criminal prisoners who disturb him by knocking on the walls and making noises.
Diab added that the Israeli Prisons Service is pressuring him to force him break his strike, which he insists on continuing in order to protest against his administrative detention.
According to a report by Prisoners Support and Human Rights Association, the total number of Palestinian political prisoners in Israeli jails exceeds 6,000, with 465 of them being held in administrative detention for various periods of time without charge or trial.
K.T./M.K.
