Palestinian Authority Ministry of Prisoners’ Affairs Fadi Ubeidat said that the health of a number of prisoners held in Negev and Megiddo “continue to deteriorate due to deliberate medical neglect”.
In a press statement published today, the commission said that administrative prisoner Thaer Halaleh is being held in Negev Prison has hepatitis C and a weakened immune system.
Halaleh has been arrested three times over the past three years, the statement said. During this time he went on hunger strike for prolonged periods and this is how he was infected with hepatitis C, doctors working in Israeli hospitals confirmed that he tested positive for the disease.
He was rearrested on August 9 without completing treatment for his ailment however he had had an operation to remove a pilonidal cyst and the wound was still open, causing him severe pain.
Halaleh said he only has sedatives and the prison administration refuses to give provide him with the special diet he needs. No winter clothes or blankets have been provided for him in spite of the fact that prisoners in the Negev have been subjected to the cold desert air, he explained.
Prisoner Hussein Alian Al-Suwaidi, sentenced to 14 years, is also being held at the Negev prison. Ubeidat said his health condition has become worse and he is now suffering from swollen glands in his neck. During the five years of his imprisonment, he has not been given a cure.
Al-Suwaidi has had a number of tests at the Soroka Medical Center where tissue from the glands has been removed for testing. Doctors have since recommended he undergo surgery to remove the tumor in the glands but no date has been set. There are fears that the tumor is malignant.
He said that he was unable to sleep because of the size of the glands, as they cause him discomfort while he is sleeping, however he does not receive any medication.
Palestinian Prisoner Society lawyer Sherine Iraqi reported that the captive Amjad Hsees, who is being detained in Megiddo Prison, suffers from a fracture in his right hand and pain in the joints in his left leg. He requested an orthopedic doctor be brought in to tend to his ailments, however the prison administration refused.
He suffers from severe pain and needs to complete his treatment. He has been arrested on numerous occasions, amounting to a total of five years in jail, mostly under administrative detention.