The Asra Media Office (AMO) said Saturday that Israeli administration of the Ofer prison has imposed new punitive measures on Palestinian detainees, describing them as part of a systematic escalation that violates international legal and human rights standards.
In a statement, the AMO said prisoners are now being transferred between sections with their hands cuffed behind their backs and under the supervision of masked guards, in degrading treatment and an unprecedented tightening of restrictions on their movement inside the prison.
The new measures also include installing surveillance cameras in rooms used for legal consultations with lawyers and reducing the duration of legal visits, limiting detainees’ ability to communicate with the outside world and report on conditions inside the prison.
The AMO warned of a serious deterioration in prisoners’ health, saying signs of severe weight loss and physical weakness have appeared among several detainees.
It also reported a renewed outbreak of scabies in prison sections, blaming medical neglect and the absence of basic hygiene conditions.
The AMO called on international and human rights organizations to intervene urgently, monitor detention conditions and work to end a system of humiliation, surveillance and spying inside Israeli prisons.
The warning comes amid repeated Palestinian rights reports of worsening conditions in Israeli prisons, including growing administrative restrictions, inadequate medical care and food, and rising numbers of detainees, among them thousands held under administrative detention or classified as “unlawful combatants.”
Source:Websites
