Mandela foundation calls for international inquiry into Israeli prisons

Ma’an reported that The Nelson Mandela Foundation for Political Prisoners called on Saturday for an international inquiry into the situation in Israeli prisons and for an international conference about prisoners.

Speaking in Amman, Jordan in testimony to a UN committee to investigate Israeli violations of human rights in the prisons, head of the Ramallah-based foundation Buthaina Duqmaq said Israel wanted to “isolate” detainees from the rest of the world.

Duqmaq called on the international community to intervene, saying there had been no mentionable improvement to the situation, according to a press statement from the foundation.

She said Israeli authorities were still committing violations against prisoners even after their hunger strikes, and presented testimony and letters from prisoners as evidence.

Duqmaq said there are more than 1,200 families unable to visit their loved ones, while prisoners from Gaza are the more isolated due to sanctions placed on them in a bid to speed up the release of an Israeli soldier.

She called on the secretary-general of the UN to hold an urgent conference on the matter.