In a letter to the Secretary-General of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO)’s Executive Committee, Saeb Erekat, UN chief Antonio Guterres pointed out to ways of protecting Palestinian detainees, including reducing the number of prisoners in order to improve public health conditions, reducing overcrowding and maintaining restrictions on family visitation and healthcare visits.
Guterres also said that he asked the UN Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process, Nikolay Mladenov, to remain in contact with Israeli officials to ensure the protection of the Palestinian detainees in Israeli prisons during the ongoing coronavirus outbreak.
On #PalestinianPrisonersDay, Ramzy #Baroud Discusses His New Book on #Prisoners https://t.co/L3ma5hPBee via @PalestineChron pic.twitter.com/R1QyUBafmM
— @palestinechron (@PalestineChron) April 17, 2020
The UN Chief stressed the need to conduct more tests, and to isolate prisoners showing symptoms of the infection.
Guterres’s letter came in response to a letter sent by Erekat on March 30, that urged world leaders to pressure Israel, the occupying power, to protect Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails and to release those who are highly vulnerable to the novel virus, including old people, women, and prisoners with underlying conditions.
In the prisoners day, there are more than 5000 Palestinian prisoners inside Israeli jails suffer from unbearable conditions, especially in light of Coronavirus pandemic.#PalestinePrisonersDay #WeAreWithYou #Palestinian pic.twitter.com/3rq7tBveR3
— Palestinian Eve (@Palestinian_Eve) April 17, 2020
The Palestinian Commission for Detainees and Ex-Detainees Affairs reported on April 1 that Palestinian prisoner Nour Eddin Sarsour, released the day before from Israel’s Ofer prison, has tested positive for coronavirus.
The report from the Palestinian detainees’ commission is extremely worrisome and indicates the need for immediate measures to detect and isolate prisoners who had been in contact with the released individual who tested positive for coronavirus, the rights organization said in a press statement.
On Palestinian Prisoner's Day, 5000 Palestinian prisoners are held in Israeli occupation prisons. One-third of them are yet to be charged or are held under administrative detention without a charge or a trail.#FreeOurPrisoners #PalestinianPrisonersDay
Artist: Muhammad Sabaa'neh pic.twitter.com/lVDbhXXHmA— Addameer –الضمير (@Addameer) April 17, 2020
On April 3, ten Palestinian political prisoners at Ofer Detention Centre, near Ramallah, launched an open-ended hunger strike to protest against the ongoing solitary confinement of two detainees, as well as against Israel’s failure to protect them against the coronavirus.
The Prisoners Commission lambasted the Israel Prison Services for not conducting tests on the prisoners before their release, holding it responsible for the life and health of the prisoners who were in contact with Sarsour before his release.
Over 5,000 Palestinians, including numerous women and children, are currently detained in Israeli prisons.
(Palestine Chronicle, WAFA, Social Media)
