By Yasmine S. Hakimian
Impunity Watch Reporter, Middle East
RAMALLAH, West Bank – On December 20, dozens of Israeli Occupation Forces (IOF) prison guards entered the Oufar detention facility to conduct a security search during which many detainees were abused. The prison guards broke into rooms of detainees. IOF guards were accompanied by administrators of the Oufar detention facility. Nearly 400 prisoners were targeted in the operation.
The IOF searched Department B of the prison and violently beat a number of detainees. The detainees refused to be searched and clashes erupted in the prison compound. Administrators at the facility used open hot water cannons, sound bombs and tear gas against the detainees. The prisoners tried to defend themselves and threw anything in their possession at the soldiers. Prison guards fired at the detainees as they attempted to confront the raid using soap pieces and shoes. A fire commenced in nine tents during the attacks.
To punish the detainees, the IOF prison guards confiscated many of their belongings. In addition, the prison guards removed groceries and television sets.
Eight detainees were injured. Some of the injuries included very serious trauma to the head. According to Oufar detainees, several of the injured prisoners were suffering from chronic diseases such as diabetes, asthma and heart ailment.
Oufar detainees declared a hunger strike and refused to have lunch and dinner after the security search. The detainees are demanding better food, treatment for the sick and to allow detained brothers to be in the same room. They are also seeking the right to hot water for showers, sanitary toilets and installing umbrellas for visitors.
Since the clash, prison administration has revoked all visitations. Many family members believe the ban on visitation is an attempt to prevent visitors from witnessing the injuries incurred by the prisoners during the clashes.
Lawyers and physicians have traveled to the facility to provide medical treatment and legal consultation, but the administration has not allowed them to enter the prison compound. The administration has declared the prison as a closed military zone and cannot be visited.
Approximately 1,200 Palestinians are currently detained in Oufar. Most of the detainees involved in the clash were Fatah members, the movement associated with Abbas and the ruling Palestinian Authority (PA) in the Occupied West Bank. Some belonged to smaller Palestinian resistance groups such as the Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine.
Fawzi Barhoum, a Hamas spokesman in Gaza, stated the Israeli attack on the unarmed Palestinian prisoners reflected “Zionist terrorism and fanaticism.”
Raids in detention facilities by “Matsada” and “Nahshon” military units of the Israeli prison authority have escalated in the past year, especially since Bini Kaniac became director of the authority.
For more information, please see:
Sumoud – Israel Revokes Visitation Rights to Palestinian Detainees in Ofer Prison – 25 December 2008
Palestinian Centre for Human Rights – PCHR Strongly Condemns Assault Against Palestinian Detainees in Oufar Detention Center – 21 December 2008
Palestinian Information Center – Ofer Prison Guards Assault Palestinian Prisoners, Many Injured – 20 December 2008
Daily Star – Israel Still Abusing Palestinian Prisoners, Say Recently Released Detainees – 19 December 2008
