Al-Naqab Prison: Israeli “Revenge” Center

Al Mezan Center for Human Rights has held the Israeli occupation authorities fully responsible for the lives of Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails, stating that the prisons have become “arenas of vengeance and brutality” against Palestinian prisoners.

The center pointed out in a statement that the occupying power had taken inhumane measures that constituted serious and systematic violations of the legal and ethical norms and rules established by the civilized world to regulate the conditions of persons deprived of their liberty in detention centers and which guarantee their dignity and rights.

After visiting al'Naqab Prison, considered the most dangerous prison in Israel, the center's lawyer observed rashes on the bodies of the prisoners he spoke to and was informed of the spread of skin diseases that had been reported to about 150 prisoners.

The prison administration refuses to treat them and claims that their illnesses are incurable.

In addition, vermin have proliferated in bathrooms and sewage is seeping into the tents where prisoners are housed. The lack of hygiene products and hot water has created an environment conducive to disease and epidemics.

It is estimated that the prison houses 600 inmates, but the actual number could be as high as 900.

During his prison visit, al-Mezan's lawyer found that the prisoners were suffering from severe weakness, emaciation and weight loss due to inadequate nutrition.

They are fed low-quality meals that do not satisfy their hunger and do not contain the necessary proteins and vitamins that the body needs. This weakens their immune system and causes them to get sick more easily.

Prisoners also told the lawyer of severe overcrowding, with each tent housing 30 prisoners and only 11 beds, forcing many to sleep on the floor. The tents are torn and worn and offer no protection from heat or cold.

Access to showers is limited to three minutes of cold water once a week, there are no hygiene products, the mattresses are dirty and the place is swarming with cats that aggravate illnesses.

In addition, the prison administration removes mattresses every morning and returns them in the evening. Plastic water bottles have not been replaced for about four months. Prisoners are also denied visits from family members and lawyers and are detained under the Unlawful Combatants Act, which deprives them of basic rights such as information about the charges against them and the opportunity to defend themselves, thereby undermining their right to a fair trial and the presumption of innocence.

All prisoners received orders prohibiting them from seeing a lawyer during the first months of their detention, and 70 prisoners are still prohibited from seeing their lawyers. Palestinian prisoners from Gaza are held in the following Israeli prisons and detention centers: Negev Prison, Ashkelon Prison, Ofer Prison, Ofer Camp, Nafha Prison, Sde Teiman Camp, Jalameh Prison, Al-Maskobiyeh Prison, and Petah Tikva Interrogation Center.

Al Mezan warns of a threat to their lives and their continued suffering, which constitutes a serious violation of international law and the rules of the Fourth Geneva Convention on the treatment of prisoners.

The Centre calls on the international community to fulfil its legal and moral responsibilities towards the residents of the occupied Palestinian territories and demands that the International Criminal Court immediately issue arrest warrants against those who ordered and carried out the serious crimes against the Palestinian people, especially against prisoners.

The international community must end its silence, fulfil its legal and moral obligations and implement the recommendations made by the International Court of Justice in its advisory opinion of 19 July this year.

“Israel” kills two Gaza prisoners under torture

The Palestinian Authority for Prisoners and Former Prisoners Affairs has announced that Israeli forces have arrested more than 10,100 Palestinians from the occupied West Bank and occupied Al-Quds since October 7, 2023.

In a detailed report, the agency described the appalling conditions faced by Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails. The report, based on visits by Palestinian lawyers to several inmates in Israel's Ofer prison in the occupied West Bank, revealed that an entire block of the prison had been evacuated and prisoners transferred to other facilities.

The detainees told their lawyers that they were subjected to severe beatings and ill-treatment on several occasions. Some even reported that they were attacked during transport to their lawyers.

The prisoners also pointed to the terrible conditions they were subjected to, including significant weight loss due to what they described as a “starvation policy” by prison authorities.

Earlier this month, the Palestinian Authority for Prisoners and Former Prisoners Affairs and the Palestinian Prisoners Club confirmed the death of 42-year-old Gaza prisoner Islam Sarsawi in the Shujaiyya neighborhood.

Sarsawi, who was arrested during an Israeli raid on al-Shifa Hospital, died as a result of torture in the Sadiyah Taiman military camp.

In another tragic incident, the Ministry of Prisoners and Former Prisoners in the Gaza Strip reported the death of 26-year-old Omar Abdul Aziz Junaid from Jabalia. Junaid succumbed to severe torture during interrogation in an Israeli prison.