Lawyer Khaled Zabarqa who recently managed to visit the Palestinian prisoner Ahmad Manasra in the Ramleh prison hospital said that Ahmad couldn’t speak or make eye contact with him during the visit.
“Traces of wounds appeared along the left arm of the young prisoner up to the wrist as well as traces of wounds on his right arm” Zabarqa underlined on Thursday adding that Ahmad should have been released a long time ago.
The Palestine-Global Mental Health Network launched a campaign last March calling for Ahmad’s immediate release which trended on social media under the hashtag #FreeAhmadManasra.
According to Bilal Odeh one of the campaign’s organizers and a social and psychological expert there is a serious need to release Ahmad immediately in order to get the psychological support he needs and to lessen his mental suffering.
Prisoner Ahmad from Beit Hanina in Occupied Jerusalem was only a 13 years old child when he was arrested and interrogated under horrific circumstances.
The now 21-year-old Ahmad Manasra has exceeded the age of childhood after he spent seven years out of his 9-year prison term. During his years of arrest his mental health has severely deteriorated. He has been transferred to the Ramleh prison hospital since the 13th of June 2022.
The defense team for the child prisoner and the mental health staff have warned that the solitary confinement of Ahmad would exacerbate his already severe mental health condition.
Ahmad was initially sentenced to 12 years in prison that was later reduced to nine years for being with his cousin Hassan Manasra who allegedly stabbed two Israeli settlers near the illegal settlement of Pisgat Ze’ev in occupied East Jerusalem in 2015.
He was seriously injured by an Israeli mob and run over by an Israeli driver which resulted in a fracture of his skull and internal bleeding. Meanwhile Israeli settlers swore at him and shouted at him to “die”.
During his detention Ahmad was frequently denied family visits. He has been subjected to continuous social torture including deprivation from family connectivity. Even when he is allowed to meet them the meeting takes place behind the glass and for a short time.
“My son needs me and I know that not being able to meet him face to face is hurting him badly” Ahmad’s mother Maysoon said in an interview with the Middle East Monitor.
According to the Palestinian Prisoner Society (PPS) 170 Palestinian children are still held in Israeli prisons and detention centers including ten children who exceeded their childhood during their arrest.
