The death, last Tuesday, of a Palestinian prisoner due to medical negligence has brought outcry from Palestinian politicians, prisoners' families and local human rights organisations.
Jamal Hassan Al-Sarahin, from the village of Beit Ula west of Hebron, died in an Israeli hospital on Tuesday evening after a severe deterioration in his health. He had been held in administrative detention, meaning imprisonment without charge, in the Negev prison (Ansar 3) in the south of Israel since his arrest on 18 May 2006.
A prisoner in the Negev prison said that Al-Sarahin, 38, had been suffering from a severe chest infection. The Mandela Institute for Human Rights in Gaza City added that, according to their information, there were some critical changes to Al-Sarahin's health condition a week ago. The other prisoners had requested from the prison administration several times that he be examined by a doctor or transferred to a hospital. However, the Mandela Institute says that the administration showed scant concern.
After a severe deterioration in his condition on Tuesday morning, the prisoners protested and called for the prison administration to transfer to a clinic. The Mandela Institute reports that Al-Sarahin was taken out of his section around 10am but only after a severe delay of five hours was he transferred to hospital. Another prisoner confirmed that Al-Sarahin was taken to Soroka hospital in Beer Sheva where he died, approximately four hours after his arrival in the hospital.
On Tuesday evening, Issa Qaraqi', a Fatah parliamentary member for the Bethlehem area, reported that when the news spread about Al-Sarahin's death, the grief and tension spilled over into confrontations in the Negev prison between the prisoners and the administration.
He also revealed that, according to the prisoners' committee in the Palestinian Legislative Council (PLC), the Palestinian prisoners in Israeli prisons are holding a one-day hunger strike on Wednesday in condemnation against the medical negligence that killed Jamal Al-Sarahin.
The prisoners in the Negev prison have blamed the prison administration for the death of Al-Sarahin due to medical negligence.
According to the Palestinian Centre for Human Rights in Gaza (PCHR), the Negev prison is one of the worst Israeli prisons. PCHR reports that "it is located in a military zone in the south of the Negev Desert near the Egyptian border. It was originally an Israeli military camp, in which the prison was established. It was opened on 17 March 1988 during the first Palestinian Intifada and was administered by the Israeli military. It was closed in the mid 1990s. The prison was reopened in April 2002, and its administration was assigned to the Israeli Prison Authority. At least 2300 Palestinian prisoners are currently detained in it."
The undersecretary in the ministry of prisoners' affairs, Ziad Abu Ain, also placed full responsibility on the Israeli authorities for the death of Al-Sarahin. He added in a phone call that the Israeli authorities knew about Al-Sarahin's illness but in spite of this, they refused to provide him with the necessary medical treatment.
The ministry said that the deliberate medical negligence, which the Israeli prison administration carries out against all prisoners especially the sick, killed Al-Sarahin.
The ministry said that some rapid investigations had revealed that: "the prisoner died from several sicknesses in the blood and a lung infection and the prison administration refused to transfer him to hospital for treatment; instead they just increased his dose of medication. He was not given suitable medication since his arrest on 18 May 2006."
The ministry appealed to international institutions and human rights organizations and the International Committee of the Red Cross to intervene quickly to rescue the lives of 28 other prisoners who are reportedly on their death beds in the prison hospital of Al-Ramle in Israel where they are not receiving the suitable medical treatment .
The ministry placed full responsibly on the prison's administration for the lives of the 8,000 Palestinian prisoners in all the Israeli prisons and detention centres. The ministry added that a large number of them suffer from chronic illnesses and that 200 are in immediate need of surgical operations.
The undersecretary Abu Ain demanded an immediate inquiry into the incident.
Families of other Palestinian prisoners in Israeli detention have also demanded an immediate inquiry, calling on the media to expose the Israeli violations against the prisoners and to ensure these issues are taken to the international courts.
While offering their condolences for the death of Al-Sarahin, the Mandela Institute also blamed the Israeli prison administration for his death and called on the international community and the human rights organisations to bear their responsibility towards the conditions in Israeli prisons in terms of human rights violations, especially in relation to sick and injured prisoners' rights.
The Mandela Institute also assured that they have raised the subject of deliberate medical negligence in Israel's prisons on more than one occasion.
The Palestinian prisoners' club in Bethlehem also called for an immediate investigation into the circumstances for Al-Sarahin's death and placed the blame on Israel.
The Palestinian prisoners' club in Bethlehem said that Israel "ridicules" international humanitarian law by failing to provide the appropriate medical treatment to Palestinians detained in their prisons.
The club called on international human rights organisations and the World Health Organisation to put pressure on Israel in regards to this issue, in order that other Palestinian prisoners suffering from cancer, disabilities, kidney problems, paralysis, bullet wounds, and other medical ailments, can be saved from a similar tragic end.
The club added that some sick prisoners suffer from malnourishment and are not transferred to hospital for the necessary treatment or surgery. He added that the prisoners only receive acamol (paracetemol) to treat their medical problems.
The club added that since the start of the Al-Aqsa Intifada in September 2000, 14 Palestinian prisoners have died while serving prison sentences. Before Al-Sarahin, the most recent was Murad Abu Sakout, a resident of Hebron, who died on 13 January 2007 in a hospital in Amman, Jordan after a long sickness.
Also following this news, the head of the prisoners' club in the West Bank city of Hebron, Amjad Al-Najjar, said that the administration of the Negev prison had cancelled the visit of other prisoners' families that was scheduled for Wednesday until further notice.
Al-Najjar also clarified that Al-Sarahin was arrested on 18 May 2006. He was then sentenced to six months' administrative detention which was extended for another three months. No charge had ever been placed against him.
Al-Sarahin had also previously been detained in Israel from 1998 to 2004. Al-Sarahin leaves a wife and one child.
Yousef Alhelou
Yousef Alhelou is a freelance Palestinian journalist based in Gaza. He can be contacted on ydamadan@hotmail.com
Jamal Hassan Al-Sarahin, from the village of Beit Ula west of Hebron, died in an Israeli hospital on Tuesday evening after a severe deterioration in his health. He had been held in administrative detention, meaning imprisonment without charge, in the Negev prison (Ansar 3) in the south of Israel since his arrest on 18 May 2006.
A prisoner in the Negev prison said that Al-Sarahin, 38, had been suffering from a severe chest infection. The Mandela Institute for Human Rights in Gaza City added that, according to their information, there were some critical changes to Al-Sarahin's health condition a week ago. The other prisoners had requested from the prison administration several times that he be examined by a doctor or transferred to a hospital. However, the Mandela Institute says that the administration showed scant concern.
After a severe deterioration in his condition on Tuesday morning, the prisoners protested and called for the prison administration to transfer to a clinic. The Mandela Institute reports that Al-Sarahin was taken out of his section around 10am but only after a severe delay of five hours was he transferred to hospital. Another prisoner confirmed that Al-Sarahin was taken to Soroka hospital in Beer Sheva where he died, approximately four hours after his arrival in the hospital.
On Tuesday evening, Issa Qaraqi', a Fatah parliamentary member for the Bethlehem area, reported that when the news spread about Al-Sarahin's death, the grief and tension spilled over into confrontations in the Negev prison between the prisoners and the administration.
He also revealed that, according to the prisoners' committee in the Palestinian Legislative Council (PLC), the Palestinian prisoners in Israeli prisons are holding a one-day hunger strike on Wednesday in condemnation against the medical negligence that killed Jamal Al-Sarahin.
The prisoners in the Negev prison have blamed the prison administration for the death of Al-Sarahin due to medical negligence.
According to the Palestinian Centre for Human Rights in Gaza (PCHR), the Negev prison is one of the worst Israeli prisons. PCHR reports that "it is located in a military zone in the south of the Negev Desert near the Egyptian border. It was originally an Israeli military camp, in which the prison was established. It was opened on 17 March 1988 during the first Palestinian Intifada and was administered by the Israeli military. It was closed in the mid 1990s. The prison was reopened in April 2002, and its administration was assigned to the Israeli Prison Authority. At least 2300 Palestinian prisoners are currently detained in it."
The undersecretary in the ministry of prisoners' affairs, Ziad Abu Ain, also placed full responsibility on the Israeli authorities for the death of Al-Sarahin. He added in a phone call that the Israeli authorities knew about Al-Sarahin's illness but in spite of this, they refused to provide him with the necessary medical treatment.
The ministry said that the deliberate medical negligence, which the Israeli prison administration carries out against all prisoners especially the sick, killed Al-Sarahin.
The ministry said that some rapid investigations had revealed that: "the prisoner died from several sicknesses in the blood and a lung infection and the prison administration refused to transfer him to hospital for treatment; instead they just increased his dose of medication. He was not given suitable medication since his arrest on 18 May 2006."
The ministry appealed to international institutions and human rights organizations and the International Committee of the Red Cross to intervene quickly to rescue the lives of 28 other prisoners who are reportedly on their death beds in the prison hospital of Al-Ramle in Israel where they are not receiving the suitable medical treatment .
The ministry placed full responsibly on the prison's administration for the lives of the 8,000 Palestinian prisoners in all the Israeli prisons and detention centres. The ministry added that a large number of them suffer from chronic illnesses and that 200 are in immediate need of surgical operations.
The undersecretary Abu Ain demanded an immediate inquiry into the incident.
Families of other Palestinian prisoners in Israeli detention have also demanded an immediate inquiry, calling on the media to expose the Israeli violations against the prisoners and to ensure these issues are taken to the international courts.
While offering their condolences for the death of Al-Sarahin, the Mandela Institute also blamed the Israeli prison administration for his death and called on the international community and the human rights organisations to bear their responsibility towards the conditions in Israeli prisons in terms of human rights violations, especially in relation to sick and injured prisoners' rights.
The Mandela Institute also assured that they have raised the subject of deliberate medical negligence in Israel's prisons on more than one occasion.
The Palestinian prisoners' club in Bethlehem also called for an immediate investigation into the circumstances for Al-Sarahin's death and placed the blame on Israel.
The Palestinian prisoners' club in Bethlehem said that Israel "ridicules" international humanitarian law by failing to provide the appropriate medical treatment to Palestinians detained in their prisons.
The club called on international human rights organisations and the World Health Organisation to put pressure on Israel in regards to this issue, in order that other Palestinian prisoners suffering from cancer, disabilities, kidney problems, paralysis, bullet wounds, and other medical ailments, can be saved from a similar tragic end.
The club added that some sick prisoners suffer from malnourishment and are not transferred to hospital for the necessary treatment or surgery. He added that the prisoners only receive acamol (paracetemol) to treat their medical problems.
The club added that since the start of the Al-Aqsa Intifada in September 2000, 14 Palestinian prisoners have died while serving prison sentences. Before Al-Sarahin, the most recent was Murad Abu Sakout, a resident of Hebron, who died on 13 January 2007 in a hospital in Amman, Jordan after a long sickness.
Also following this news, the head of the prisoners' club in the West Bank city of Hebron, Amjad Al-Najjar, said that the administration of the Negev prison had cancelled the visit of other prisoners' families that was scheduled for Wednesday until further notice.
Al-Najjar also clarified that Al-Sarahin was arrested on 18 May 2006. He was then sentenced to six months' administrative detention which was extended for another three months. No charge had ever been placed against him.
Al-Sarahin had also previously been detained in Israel from 1998 to 2004. Al-Sarahin leaves a wife and one child.
Yousef Alhelou
Yousef Alhelou is a freelance Palestinian journalist based in Gaza. He can be contacted on ydamadan@hotmail.com