The Palestinian Prisoners Club said that 13 new cases of the coronavirus were recorded among the prisoners in Section 3 of the Israeli Negev desert prison. This brings the total number of cases in this section since the end of last week to 44.
The club stated on Tuesday that the continued recording of infections among the prisoners warns of a more dangerous situation especially with the Israeli Prison Service (IPS) continuing to manipulate the results of the pandemic as well as the health conditions of the infected prisoners.
There are continuous demands to release sick prisoners and the elderly in particular with the increasing threats from the spread of the coronavirus. However the Israeli occupation authority (IOA) continues to carry out more daily arrests and order dozens of administrative detentions. In December 2020 the percentage of administrative detention orders issued against prisoners increased according to the club.
The Palestine Center for Prisoners Studies confirmed that the number of prisoners infected with the coronavirus in the occupation prisons reached on Tuesday morning 184 prisoners.
Riad Al-Ashqar the researcher at the center indicated that all the 73 prisoners in Section 3 might be infected with coronavirus because the infected prisoners were in contact with other prisoners for more than a week and this happened previously in Gilboa Prison.
He warned of a real danger to the prisoners’ lives in the Negev prison. Many prisoners complained of symptoms similar to the coronavirus symptoms and they were not tested he explained.
Furthermore the prison suffers from overcrowding as there are more than a thousand prisoners in it. The prison is located in a desert area characterized by extreme cold in the winter season which is an atmosphere that helps the spread of the coronavirus.
He questioned the promises of the Negev prison administration to the prisoners such as increasing the number of examinations for prisoners increasing cleaning materials and adopting preventive measures when the guards enter the prisoners’ sections. Nevertheless it has not yet fulfilled any of these promises which pose a threat to the lives of the prisoners he added.
Ashqar held the IOA and the IPS fully responsible for the prisoners’ lives in the Negev and called on the World Health Organization to urgently intervene and put pressure on the occupation to ensure that the coronavirus vaccine is provided to the prisoners.
