[ 21/05/2011 - 04:49 PM ]
OSLO, (PIC)-- The European network to support Palestinian prisoners (Ufree), based in Oslo, has called on the World Health Organization (WHO) to take a step further after it condemned the treatment of Palestinians held in Israeli jails.
The WHO adopted a resolution denouncing Israel's foul effects on the health situation in the Palestinian territories while meeting in Geneva on Wednesday.
Expressing worry over severe cases of medical neglect in those prisons, which have at times led to permanent disabilities, Ufree called on the world community to execute decisions related to prisoners.
The European rights group urged the European parliament to activate previous decisions it made to form a neutral international investigation committee that would study Israel's violations concerning Palestinian war prisoners and their health concerns.
Ufree has confirmed that there are more than a thousand sick Palestinian prisoners held in Israeli jails. Many of them suffer chronic diseases, such as those of the heart, cancer, and diabetes. Others have permanent disabilities, including blindness and paralysis. All prisoners are victims of medical neglect by the Israeli prison system, Ufree said.
The WHO voted in favor of the decision condemning Israel during its 64th assembly held 16-24 May, where the humanitarian issue was given focus.
In the statement, Ufree held the world community responsible for taking further steps to implement the decision.
The group said it hoped that the decision would not turn into a consistent method that lacks an operational mechanism, saying that hundreds of such already issued decisions have only increased the prisoners' suffering.
Hunger strikers form decision-making body
[ 21/05/2011 - 12:14 PM ] GAZA, (PIC)-- Palestinians jailed in Israeli prisons have formed a joint committee to manage a wide-ranging hunger strike, the Gaza prisoner affairs ministry reports.
The move was made so that decisions are strong and unified, and so the prison administration would not be able to influence decisions and divide the participants.
The committee specifies the days when the prisoners would fast and the time the fast would turn into an open-ended strike, said Riyadh al-Ashkar, the ministry's media director, on Friday.
Palestinians held in six Israeli prisons have gone on hunger strike for the sixth straight day after they were joined by prisoners at the Hadarim and Jilboa facilities earlier in the week.
The prisoners have pledged not to break the strike until they receive their rights as the prison authority has taken heavy sanctions against them.
Prisoners in Hadarim have been placed in isolation and denied use of the laundry room and undergone restrictions in recreation time and movement after the strike began.
Also as a penalty, the Ramon prison has banned family visits and purchasing canteen products. All prisoners receive their needs from canteen as the prison does not give them supplies.
The ministry called for the public's participation with the prisoners in order to manifest their suffering and ensure pressure on Israel.
River to Sea
Uprooted Palestinian
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