August 31, 2010

GAZA, (PIC)-- Dr. Mohammed Faraj al-Ghoul, the prisoners and ex-prisoners' minister in the Palestinian government, has described the Israeli decision of sending sick Palestinian prisoners back to detention cells as tantamount to death sentence.

He added that the Israeli step reveals the fact that Israeli occupation gives no consideration to health of the Palestinian captives, underlining that health of the ill captives couldn’t stand the bad condition in the Israeli prisons.

"This decision is indeed considered as a death sentence on those captives because bad conditions in the Israeli jails would certainly cause the health of those captives to deteriorate further and could lead to their death", underlined Ghoul in front of hundreds of captives' families in a press conference organized by the supreme national committee for the support of the prisoners.

He also accused the Israeli occupation of giving no attention to the sick Palestinian captives, and that they deliberately neglect them to worsen their health condition.

Hundreds of Palestinian captives perished in Israeli jails as a result of the Israeli policy of deliberate medical neglect.

For his part, Khalil Abu Shammalah of the Dhameer center for human rights pointed out that the Israeli occupation goes against the international laws and conventions in dealing with the Palestinian captives, underscoring that international laws compel all authorities to give complete medical care to prisoners and to examine their health conditions at least once every month.

He also charged that the Israeli Ramle prison lack the minimum means of health conditions and has no medical facilities badly needed by the Palestinian patients inside the detention cells.

In this regard, Abu Shammalah held the IOA fully responsible for the health of the Palestinian captives who are under international laws considered as POWs as they were captured for resisting the Israeli occupation of their country.

In Nablus city, north of the West Bank, the Tadamun foundation for human rights enumerated a number of cases of Palestinian patients suffering inside Israeli jails, adding that at least 1,500 Palestinian captives suffer chronic diseases due to deliberate medical neglect.

It also charged the Israeli occupation of wittingly delaying necessary surgical operations to the Palestinian captives, thus putting their lives at extreme risk.

The foundation also confirmed that a number of Palestinian captives need immediate surgical operations but the Israeli prisons authority refuses to carry out those operations, urging the international community to pressure the Israeli occupation to release those captives so as to give them the proper medical treatment they deserve.