Samar Sobeh Denied Release from an Israeli Occupation Prison, Maher Ata Dandan Dies Out of Denying Health Care

Israeli Authorities refuse to release female Palestinian prisoner

Monday June 11, 2007 15:17 by Ghassan Bannoura - IMEMC

The Israeli prison authorities, on Monday, refused an appeal made by Mandila Association for prisoners' affairs to release a Palestinian prisoner and her infant from an Israeli detention camp.

In a press release issued by the association, Mandila stated that the association filed an appeal for the release of Samar Sobeh and her infant from the Hasharon Israeli detention camp. Sobeh has server one third of her sentence.

Sobeh was kidnapped from her home in the West Bank during a military operation in September 2005. At the time of her kidnapping, she was two months pregnant and delivered her baby in an Israeli prison hospital in April 2006.

An Israeli court sentenced the woman to 28 months in prison and issued her with a 2000 NIS fine.

Her husband was also kidnapped by the army in September 2005. After serving several administrative detentions, he was deported to the Gaza Strip in July 2006 and is barred from re-entering the West Bank.

There are currently more than 12,000 Palestinian prisoners being held in detention camps across Israeli. The majority of these prisoners are held under administrative detention, a policy outlawed by the Geneva Convention and illegal under international law.

Palestinian detainee dies of heart failure after being denied medical treatment in an Israeli occupation prison

Monday June 11, 2007 11:04 by Saed Bannoura - 1 of International Middle East Media Center - IMEMC Editorial Group saed at imemc dot org

Maher Ata Dandan, 38, a detainee in Israel's Jelbou'a prison, died early Sunday morning of heart failure, after having been repeatedly denied treatment for anemia.

The Hamas party in Palestine immediately issued a statement calling Dandan's death a type of 'extrajudicial execution' by Israeli authorities. The statement also called the death a 'crime against humanity' carried out by the State of Israel.

The statement claimed that Israel deliberately neglects the health needs of the Palestinians being held in its detention facilities, many of whom are being held without charge. That claim has been reiterated by a number of human rights groups, including the International Committee of the Red Cross, who have expressed grave concern at the lack of medical treatment for Palestinian detainees.

Maher Dandan, from Balata refugee camp in the northern part of the West Bank, had served eight years of a 21-year sentence when he died Sunday morning. He had been diagnosed with anemia, which developed into angina. Left untreated, despite repeated pleas by both the detainee and his family, it eventually resulted in the heart failure that killed the 38-year old man.

Over 10,000 Palestinians are currently being held in Israeli detention facilities -- many of them are in dire need of medical care. Last week, one prisoner lost an eye in Israeli interrogation, and another lost several fingers from a gas bomb fired by prison guards.

The Palestinian Prisoners Society condemned the death of Dandan, and called for the release of Abdulrahim Jallad, a detainee suffering from cardiac disease and kidney stones, for which he has been denied treatment. The Prisoners Society stated that Jallad's condition is deteriorating, and added that he has not been charged with any crime.

 

 

---

Fair Use Notice

This site contains copyrighted material the use of which has not always been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. We are making such material available in our efforts to advance understanding of environmental, political, human rights, economic, democracy, scientific, and social justice issues, etc. We believe this constitutes a 'fair use' of any such copyrighted material as provided for in section 107 of the US Copyright Law. In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, the material on this site is distributed without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information for research and educational purposes. For more information go to: http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.shtml. If you wish to use copyrighted material from this site for purposes of your own that go beyond 'fair use', you must obtain permission from the copyright owner.