Prisoners at Nafha prison confirmed that they will go on a hunger strike next Tuesday 8/5/2007 in protest against the warden’s practice of preventing their families from visiting them despite the previous coordination with the warden. The lawyer of Mandela Institute, Buthayna Duqmaq visited the following prisoners today Sunday 6/5/2007 at Nafha prison: Hisham Hijaz Naser Al-Haj, Muhammad Ibrahim Nayfeh, Ala’ Abu Jazara, Muhammad Hashem Khalaf, Issa Abed Rabbo, and Sitan Al-Wali from the Syrian occupied Golan. The Prisoners stressed on the importance of paying their cantina allowances indicating that they have received only one payment since October 2006 that arrived on January 2007. They also stated that they suffer from severe shortages in necessary materials like salt in addition to the bad food the warden offers which oblige them to buy their foods from the cantina.
It is worth mentioning that the warden at Nafha prison separates 530 prisoners from the Gaza Strip away from the 220 prisoners from the West Bank. The prisoners’ representative Ala’ Abu Jazara from Gaza city stated that the cells are overcrowded and the warden always intends to create a state of instability among prisoners by transfers from prisons; i.e. transferring the Jerusalemite prisoner Husam Shahin to Nafha prison few days ago.
Prisoner Sitan Al-Wali from the Syrian occupied Golan stated the individual and group punishments practiced against prisoners for the most ridiculous reasons clarifying that he personally was punished in solitary confinement for one week and a fine of 220 NIS in addition of being deprived of his family visit for one month, and transferring him to Nafha prison on 29/1/2007. He described the transfer policy as violent procedure which forms another punishment for the prisoners’ families.
At Talmond prison for females, lawyer Hilal Jaber visited the following prisoners: Nivine Duqqa, Huda Al-Areda, Ibtisam Issawi, Shireen Muhammad Khalil, Aisha Ibayyat, and prisoner Fadi Turkman from Ya’bad village in Jenin. The female prisoners complained about the severe shortage in the cantina as they haven’t received their financial allowances. They also stated their bad health conditions and the lack of proper medications in addition to the maltreatment practiced against them by the warden.