Ramallah - Addameer’s lawyer Adv. Samer Samaan visited yesterday three Palestinian underage girls detained by Israeli occupation in Al-Ramleh prison. The three girls Marah Bakir (16 years old), Estabraq Nour (14 years old) and Jihan Ereqat (17 years old) reported to adv. Samaan that they are suffering from inhumane detention conditions and that the Israeli Prison Service (IPS) has confiscated all their belongings including their Hijab headscarves.

The three underage girls are being held at Al-Ramleh prison along with Israeli female prisoners held for criminal offences. Detaining the girls with criminal prisoners is causing them constant fear and lack of sleep thus endangering their mental and psychological well being.

The girls informed adv. Samaan that they are detained in a cell that has two bunk beds, a blanket and a mattress. The IPS has confiscated all their belongings including all their warm clothes and hijabs. The cell only has one small window inside the bathroom. This window is the cell’s sole source of fresh air and sunlight. The girls reported that the room is very filthy and is infected with insects.
 
The girls further told Addameer’s lawyer that they IPS guards are treating them in an inhumane manner. They are being shackled during their recreation time in the prison yard, and are refusing to go outdoors to the yard because of it. The girls have reported having trouble sleeping from the crying and shouting by the criminal inmates in the surrounding cells. Since their arrest, the families were not able visit the girls. Furthemore, both Marah and Estabraq are suffering from bullet injuries as they were both shot by IOF during their arrest. Both girls are not receiving the necessary medical treatment or follow up.

Addameer demands the immediate transfer of the three underage girls to Hasharon prison where all female Palestinian political prisoners are held. Detaining the girls at Al-Ramleh prison is de-facto isolating them and constitutes a violation that amounts to psychological torture. Addameer emphasizes the necessity of providing the detainees with their fundamental rights in accordance  with the Standard Minimum Rules for the Treatment of Prisoners, especially the right of receiving medical care, the right to practicing religion and the right to receive family visits.

According to Addameer’s statistics, there are currently 45 female prisoners and detainees including 6 underage girls are held in Israeli occupation’s prisons and 2 female prisoners that are being held under administrative detention. Most of the female political prisoners were arrested in the recent events and were subjected to torture and ill-treatment during the arrest process and interrogation. Female prisoners are continuously subjected to degrading and inhumane treatment during the transfers from one prison to another or from prisons to courts.