Palestinian rights organisation warns of detainee’s serious health condition in Israel

A Palestinian human rights organisation said yesterday that it holds Israel responsible for the life of a prisoner suffering from “dangerous” health conditions, and warned the occupation state not to commit a “medical crime” against him. The Palestinian Prisoners’ Club made its comment about seriously ill prisoner Moatasem Raddad, 42, from Saida, near Tulkarm in the north of the occupied West Bank.

“Raddad is being subjected to a systematic and ongoing medical crime,” said the NGO. “He has been detained since 2006 and was sentenced to 20 years in prison. During his arrest, he was injured by shrapnel, and later faced harsh detention conditions that contributed to the worsening of his health condition and his contracting of serious chronic diseases.”

The organisation noted that Raddad is being held in Ofer Prison, west of Ramallah. It described his cell as “not fit for human life.”

Based on previous visits to him and testimonies of released prisoners, the organisation described the prisoner’s health conditions as “one of the most severe medical conditions in the Israeli occupation prisons.”

The organisation conveyed a message from Raddad in which he said: “I feel that I will be the next martyr inside the occupation prisons. My condition is deteriorating daily, and during the past months I have suffered from constant fainting, and my intestines are bleeding daily.”

He added the suffering of ill Palestinians in Israeli prisons is unimaginable. “We die daily. We are detained in cells, besieged by hunger, thirst, oppression, abuse and torture, and deprived of the most basic health care.”

Raddad continued: “My final words, if God decrees that I will die a martyr in prison, is that I do not want anyone to claim my body. Whoever left me to die inside prisons does not have the right to claim my body.”

On a related issue, the Prisoners’ and Ex-Detainees’ Affairs Authority reported that the commander of the Israeli army in the West Bank — which it did not name — decided, “To renew the military order requiring military court sessions to take place via video conferencing technology without bringing prisoners from various prisons to the courtrooms” until 1 July.

The total number of Palestinians arrested by Israel in the occupied West Bank since 7 October now stands at 8,725, according to organisations specialising in prisoner affairs.

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