Ahmad Sa’adat, the imprisoned General Secretary of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, injured on Tuesday by Israeli guards who attacked Palestinian prisoners in Nafha prison, met with his lawyer from the Addameer Prisoner Support and Human Rights Association on 29 July, who reported that prisoners in Nafha are continuing to protest, closing their prison sections and refusing to meet with prison administration until their demands are implemented.
The prisoners are demanding an end to sanctions and punishments against the prisoners in Nafha, the return of the prisoners from Room #85 in Nafha from isolation or transfer, and an end to the night inspections in which Israeli prison guards regularly violently ransack Palestinian prisoners’ belongings in the middle of the night. Room #85 was the first attacked by Israeli guards on Monday, 27 July.
Sa’adat said that the attack on the prisoners in Nafha is part of a general attack by occupation forces against the Palestinian people. He said that the occupation forces have used the excuse of mobile phones to attempt to justify their attacks, noting that it was not a personal attack but a collective assault on all of the prisoners in Nafha.
Addameer said that the attack on prisoners in Nafha is part of collective punishment against Palestinian prisoners, including sanctions imposed on prisoners during the attack on Gaza and propsals to enact a number of racist laws that violate international law and attempt to undermine the accomplishment of the Palestinian prisoners’ movement. Addameer also noted that there is an ongoing increase in raids and attacks by special units inside Israeli prisons; there were over 180 such raids in 2014.
Issa Qaraqe, director of the Prisoners Affairs Committee, said in a press statement that the situation in the prisons remains very tense as a result of the attacks by Israeli forces against prisoners in Nafha and Ramon prisons, noting that prisoners in Nafha, Ramon, Eshel, Ofer and Negev prisons have decided to escalate their protest against the prison administration and demand they end their policy of attacks. The prisoners will return their dinners on 27 July and refuse to enter the recreation yard or clinic and will not meet with prison officials. Qaraqe noted that these protests are meant to support the prisoners in Nafha prison and not leave them alone subject to violent attacks by the occupation forces.
