The occupation continues the policy of medical negligence against the captive, Azhar Assaf

Written by: Attorney Ali Abu Hilal *
The Israeli occupation authorities and prison administrations continue the policy of medical negligence against male and female prisoners, which portends more risks threatening their health conditions. Last Thursday, 10/27/2022, the Palestinian prisoner Azhar Assaf suffered from a health problem as a result of medical negligence and procrastination practiced by the Israeli prison administration. In order to transfer her to the hospital, and as a result, the female prisoners in Damon Prison carried out a protest step by returning meals and closing the sections.
It is noteworthy that the captive Assaf is from the village of Al-Jib, northwest of Jerusalem, and has been detained since the eleventh of last September. She suffers from many health problems, most notably neurological problems, hearing and vision problems, and is languishing alongside (32) prisoners in the "Damon" detention center.
Female prisoners face tragic conditions on several levels, especially since a group of them suffer from health problems, and they need close health follow-up, including a group of wounded women.
The prisoners’ bodies warned against the policy of medical negligence practiced by the occupation authorities and prison administrations against male and female prisoners, and called on the competent bodies to intervene in order to release the prisoner Assaf, especially since during this year the women prisoners faced the tragedy of the death of their comrade, the captive Saadia Farajallah, as a result of her exposure to the crime of medical negligence (murder). slow).
Prison administrations continue their repressive practices and abuse of female prisoners, as last Saturday, October 29, 2022, they prevented female prisoners from communicating with their families in Damon Prison from communicating with their families via public phones. The families of the female prisoners stated that the occupation prisons administration punished them by cutting off contact with their families in response to the protest steps they took to reject the policy of medical negligence to which they are subjected. She explained that the protests began after the prisoner, Azhar Assaf, suffered complications in her health condition as a result of medical negligence, as the prison administration delayed her transfer to the hospital for several hours, indicating that even when she was transferred to the hospital, she was given the wrong treatment, which exacerbated her health condition even more without knowing her health status until now. The families of the female prisoners confirmed that they are subjected to great neglect, and they are all subjected to medical negligence without regard to their health conditions in light of the poor conditions of detention that they suffer from, and indicated that the prison administration gives the female prisoners only an hour a week to communicate by phone with their families, so they divide it between them on a daily basis so that they can hear their voices. relatives.
It is noteworthy that the policy of arresting Palestinian women is an old policy that began with the beginnings of the occupation of Palestine, as more than (17) thousand Palestinian women have been arrested since 1967. During the current year, the occupation authorities re-arrested 7 released female prisoners, who are the journalist Bushra Al-Taweel from Al-Bireh, and a decision was issued against her. Administrative detention, the freed prisoner Yasmine Shaaban from Jenin, the freed prisoner Lina Abu Ghulamy from Nablus, the freed prisoners Tahrir Abu Sariya and Maryam Arafat, and Palestine Farid Najm from Nablus. The number of female prisoners in the occupation prisons now stands at 32, languishing in Damon Prison, of whom 17 are subject to various sentences, 8 of whom are serving prison sentences of more than 10 years, and two are subject to administrative detention, and the rest are still awaiting trials, while the Occupation Court issued a ruling this year. Harsh against the Jerusalemite prisoner "Nawal Fateha" with an actual prison term of 8 years.
The female prisoners suffer from severe suffering, as the prison administration continued to violate the rights of the female prisoners, depriving them of all the necessities of life, including their right to receive treatment for patients inside the prison, whose suffering multiplies with the exacerbation of diseases in their bodies due to the failure to provide appropriate treatment, which led to the death of the prisoner Saadia Salem Farajallah. (65 years) from Hebron, in July of this year, as a result of a heart attack in Damon Prison due to deliberate medical negligence.
The female prisoners also suffer from the policy of deliberate medical neglect, whether for sick cases or for the wounded who were injured at the time of arrest, led by the Jerusalemite prisoner "Israa al-Jaabis", where the occupation has continued for years to refuse to perform necessary surgical and functional operations for her, and the female prisoners have complained for many years about the lack of a gynecologist. In the prison clinic for the care of female prisoners, and not dispensing appropriate medicines for medical conditions among them.
Today, the prisoner, Azhar Assaf, suffers from a policy of medical negligence, and she needs to be transferred as soon as possible to the hospital to receive appropriate treatment, or to be released immediately so that she can be treated abroad and save her life. The occupation bears responsibility for her life if it continues the policy of neglect against her.
* Lawyer and university lecturer in international law.