Update on the situation of Palestinian women prisoners

lina_jarbouniThe Palestine Information Centre reported that thirteen Palestinian female prisoners are still held in Hasharon Israeli prison suffering very difficult detention conditions amid the deafening silence of human rights institutions and international community.

Lena Jarboni, 34, from Buttof village inside the Green Line, was arrested since 2004 and sentenced to 17 years on charges of helping resistance elements. She spent 11 years behind Israeli bars where she suffers from swelling in her feet and severe and endless headache. Lina has undergone a surgery. The IOA refused to release her in Wafa al-Ahrar prisoners exchange deal.

Inam Hasanat, 30, from Bethlehem, was arrested in 2012 and sentenced to two years imprisonment with a fine of 1,000 shekels for attempting to stab an Israeli settler at a military checkpoint.

Nawal Saadi, 56, from Jenin, a mother of five children, was arrested from her house in 2012 without being sentenced till this moment. Nawal is charged with smuggling money to a“terrorist group”. She suffers high blood pressure and constant fatigue amid a deliberate medical negligence to her health condition.

Mona Ka’adan, 42, from Jenin, was arrested several times by Israeli forces most recently was on November 2012 from her home on charges of smuggling funds to organize a “hostile group”. Her mother died while she is in custody. Her fiancé is also detained in Israeli jails and sentenced to life.

The Jerusalemite prisoner Intisar Sayyad, 38, was arrested on November 2012 and sentenced to 30 months on charges of attempting to kill a settler. She is a mother of four children.

The university student Alaa Abu Zaytun, 22, from Nablus district, was arrested on her way to college on September 2013 at an Israeli military checkpoint. She was sentenced, after weeks of investigation, to two years’ imprisonment.

Nahil Abu Aisha, 23, from al-Khalil, was arrested near the Ibrahimi mosque on March 2013 under the charge of trying to stab an Israeli soldier.

Inam Kanmbo, 44, from the city of Jerusalem, was arrested while participating in a march denouncing the death in an Israeli occupation jail of prisoner Maysara Abu Hamdiya in due to medical negligence.

Tahrir Algueni, 27, from Nablus district, was arrested on May 2013 with her brother Saddam Algueni.

Donya Wakid, 27-year-old from the city of Tulkarem, was arrested from her home in May 2013. Her family did not receive any information about her since her arrest. She suffers from diabetes and high blood pressure.

Linan Abu Ghalam, 32, from Nablus, was arrested during a visit to the Palestinian territories occupied in 1948 on August 2013 with two other Palestinian women, Lina Jawabra, who was released after one month in detention, and Maysar Atyani. Linan was sentenced to two years’ imprisonment.

The activist in prisoners’ issue Myassar Atyani, 49, from Nablus, was arrested in the Palestinian territories occupied in 1948 where she was sentenced to three months.

Ayat Mahfouz, 20, from al-Khalil, was arrested in August 2013 near the Ibrahimi Mosque, on charges of possession of a knife. Her detention was few months after her release where she spent two months in Israeli jails.

For his part, the director of Ahrar center for prisoners’ studies, Fuad al-Khuffash, said that that the Palestinian female prisoners suffer very difficult detention conditions due to the IPS deliberate medical negligence, ill-treatment, humiliating strip search, and being deprived of family visits.

Hasharon Israeli prison was built during the British Mandate years, and is known for its poor ventilation, clamminess and insect infestations. Besides housing the Palestinian female prisoners, the complex contains also juvenile Israeli female prisoners.