Calls for Red Cross to stop Israel’s torture of detained journalists

Palestinian journalists stage a protest demanding releasing of the Palestinian journalists in front of the Ofer prison in Ramallah (Issam Rimawi - Anadolu Agency)

Middle East Monitor  /  June 1, 2020

The Palestinian Journalist Support Committee (SJC) appealed to the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) and human rights groups to immediately intervene and stop Israel’s crimes and violations against detained journalists.

The committee said in a statement: “Medical negligence is one of many violations practiced by the Israeli authorities against Palestinian prisoners”, especially those who suffer from chronic diseases including cancer and who need urgent medical care to save their lives.

The committee condemned Israel’s violations of Palestinian prisoner rights’ in general and journalists in particular, which are guaranteed under international law.

This came after detained journalism student Mays Abu Ghosh, a resident of Qalandia refugee camp in the occupied West Bank, revealed in a letter sent to her family the Israeli prison administration’s deliberate negligence of her health condition. Abu Ghosh is in need of medical treatment as a result of the torture she endured during interrogation.

In her letter, Abu Ghosh said she had been admitted to hospital four months ago due to severe pain in her bones, spine, feet, hands and head, adding that the prison administration provided her only with painkillers.

Abu Ghosh added that she had explained her health condition to the ICRC but has received no response.

The SJC also called for the release of journalist Muhammad Amin Abu Daqqa; a cancer patient who had been arrested by Israel upon his return from Jordan where he was undergoing chemotherapy.