Israeli prison services used COVID-19 restrictions as a tool against its Palestinian detainees, with many report deliberate medical negligence and no serious measures to stem the spread of the pandemic in prisons, according to a recently published report compiled by the Palestinian Prisoners Society (PPS).
“The most dangerous challenge is that the Israeli authorities are trying to convert these actions from temporary to permanent. All of these measures are violations of rights of prisoners,” said Amani Sarahneh, spokesperson of the SPP.
While in November 2020, more more than 100 cases of COVID-19 have been reported among prisoners, the SPP report quoting former prisoners claimed that Israel prison the guards spat on roofs and common areas.
“The Israeli authorities hold more than six inmates in each cell in the jails that lead for more risk of spread of COVID-19 among them, especially since they are in contact with The jailers who are in contact with the outside“, says the report.
Sarahneh pointed out that the vaccination process also faced numerous challenges at cause Israeli officials who publicly refused to provide the vaccine to prisoners.
“These measures imposed double isolation against detainees, which affected all aspects of their lives, in Communication with each other and with their relatives, has hindered any collective action struggle it can be done,” she added.
The PPS report in addition added only dozens of Palestinians were arrested in centers that do not meet the minimum requirements of human life.
“The forces have also continued to torture detainees in jail, using their psychological and physical methods. In some cases, the epidemic has been used to pressure and terrorize detainees, in addition to the tragic conditions in the detention centers,” Sarahneh said.
The report indicates that the detainees were kept in those damp cells, where there is no possibility of getting sunlight or air, creating fertile land for the propagation of diseases. The cells were also lacking of cleaning materials and detainees were denied the opportunity to bathe or obtain clean clothing.
The report indicates that the Palestinians in the occupied territories have suffered greatly during the pandemic car more more than 66,000 workers have stopped working in 2020 and the number of the main-work dropped from 951,000 to just 884.
The Palestinian territories have reported 579,744 cases of COVID-19 with 5,316 deaths so far, according to worldmeters.info.
