The Palestinian Center for Prisoners’ Advocacy stated that the suffering of Palestinian female prisoners in Israeli occupation prisons has noticeably increased in recent days due to a series of laws and punitive measures implemented against them by the Israeli Prison Service.
The center added that the humanitarian and health conditions of the female prisoners are at their worst in decades, with inmates contracting serious and contagious diseases without access to treatment or medical examination. The suffering is further aggravated under extremely harsh humanitarian conditions, including the lack of ventilation in cells with high humidity levels. Prisoners are only allowed outside for half an hour at best, and there is an infestation of rodents and poisonous insects, along with the spread of foul and harmful odors, as the authorities deliberately confiscate all cleaning tools and supplies.
The center stressed the urgent need for international intervention, particularly from the International Committee of the Red Cross, to monitor the conditions of the female prisoners and pressure the occupation authorities to improve the dire humanitarian situation, and to compel the Israeli Prison Service to abide by international humanitarian law, which guarantees prisoners the right to medical treatment and stipulates that detention conditions must preserve the human dignity of detainees or prisoners.
It is noted that, as of this August, the number of Palestinian female prisoners in occupation prisons has reached 49, including two from the Gaza Strip, with the vast majority held in Damon Prison.
