Palestinian prisoners in Israel jail tortured, starved

Palestinian prisoners in the notorious Israeli Megiddo Prison have been subjected to servere physical and verbal torture and deprivation of the necessities of life, the Palestinian Prisoners’ Club has said.

A prisoner who has recently been released from Megiddo Prison gave a heart wrenching testimony to the rights group which was reported yesterday and said he was arbitrarily arrested from Qabatiya village in the northern occupied West Bank to force his nephew to surrender to Israeli occupation forces.

In his testimony, the man said the Israeli soldiers drag detainees often after beating them and ask them to kiss the Israeli flag. If they refuse, the guards beat them severely.

“When I arrived at Megiddo Prison, I thought I was in Abu Ghraib prison. If it were not for my faith, I would have lost my mind,” he said, in reference to the prison in Iraq where US forces were found to have tortured prisoners. Adding that the prisoners “are subjected to severe beatings often to their private parts, abuse and insults, and are denied medical treatment for their injuries.”

“The cells are overcrowded with detainees, where 11 to 18 prisoners are held in one cell, and most of them sleep on the floor without blankets,” he said.

He explained: “The food provided to the prisoners is only two meals a day per room, which is a boiled egg and boiled potatoes which is not sufficient. We had to fast, to save food for the children and young prisoners.”

He pointed out that all the prisoners’ possessions, including clothes and shoes they had purchased with their own money from the prison canteen was confiscated, and the prisoners are left with nothing but the clothes they are wearing.

According to data from the Prisoners’ Club, since 7 October, Israel has arrested 2,300 Palestinians from the occupied West Bank.

Read: Israel’s war on truth in occupied Palestine