Israel cancels lawyers’ prison visits on pretext of imposing quarantine on prisoners

The Israeli prison authorities in Raman and Nafha Prisons have told lawyers that scheduled visits to prisoners have been cancelled on the pretext that a quarantine has been imposed due to the spread of scabies among inmates, according to the Palestinian Commission of Prisoners’ Affairs and the Palestinian Prisoners’ Club. No details were provided about how long the visits will be cancelled.

A joint statement from the two organisations said that scabies has spread widely among prisoners in several prisons, specifically in the Negev, Megiddo, Nafha and Ramon Prisons. “This is as a result of the retaliatory measures imposed by the prison authorities on the prisoners and detainees since 7 October, which fall within the systematic torture and abuse of prisoners which are one aspect of the ongoing genocide against our people in Gaza,” they pointed out.

“Based on dozens of testimonies conveyed by lawyers from detainees inside prisons, in addition to testimonies of released prisoners, the prison authorities have turned the disease into a tool of torture and abuse by deliberately committing medical crimes against inmates, depriving them of treatment and not taking any of the measures necessary to prevent the spread of the disease.”

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They confirmed that infected detainees sometimes appeared for visits with their bodies disfigured from scabies.

The Palestinian organisations noted that the procedures imposed by the prison authorities on prisoners, as well as torture, were the main reason for the spread of the disease. “Most notably we see the lack of enough cleaning materials, including those for personal hygiene, and insufficient water, which makes matters worse.” Moreover, there isn’t enough time to shower and clothes are confiscated. “Today, the majority of prisoners rely on one change of clothes, and some of them have been wearing the same clothes for long periods and are forced to wash them and wear them while they are wet.”

Cells are overcrowded and there are daily arrest campaigns. The situation is made worse by poor ventilation and lack of sunlight, which contribute to the spread of infectious diseases.

“The biggest crime committed by the prison authorities against detainees is the deliberate transfer of those infected from one block to another, which increases the number of infections,” the organisations added. “And among those infected are child prisoners, especially in the minors’ section in Megiddo Prison.”

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