An Israeli study: 96% of Palestinian detainees remain handcuffed in hospitals

Handcuffing not only affects human dignity, but also makes medical treatment difficult

Ramallah WAFA - A study conducted by the Medical Syndicate in Israel stated that more than 96% of detainees who were brought to hospitals in the last two years were handcuffed and tied to their beds, although they were not, from a health point of view, able to Escape, or perform any violent act.

According to the data provided by the study, and published by the "Arab 48" website, out of the 1,857 detainees who were treated in hospitals, 1,794 were shackled during their treatment, 98.5 percent of those brought by the prison authority, 97% of those brought by the police, and 83% of those brought by the police. The Israeli army brought them, they were handcuffed.

The researchers discovered that the percentage of minor detainees who were brought to hospitals in handcuffs was higher than the adults, and in most cases they were tied to the bed in a cross manner, where they were shackled with the right foot and the left hand or vice versa. In addition to handcuffs, the Israeli army brings detainees to hospitals for treatment, while they are blindfolded, and keeps them in this condition inside the hospital as well.

The study was conducted in 12 hospitals inside Israel, and was based on the records of medical staff and hospital guards.

 And the newspaper "Haaretz" reported in its issue issued today, Wednesday, that the study was signed by 20 doctors, most of whom work in 11 hospitals and four universities.

The study was based on the fact that Israeli law does not clearly address the issue of handcuffing during medical treatment. According to the text of the law, “A detainee shall not be shackled in a public place, unless a policeman believes that there is a reasonable fear that the detainee may escape, cause damage to a body or property or damage evidence.

Deputy Director of Shaare Zedek Hospital in Jerusalem, Professor Dan Turner, one of the participants in the study, said that there is no difference between Palestinian detainees and criminal prisoners when it comes to shackles during medical treatment in hospitals.

He pointed out that among the detainees are Haredi and activists who participated in demonstrations, including the weekly demonstrations in front of the official home of former Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, and were brought to hospitals in handcuffs, as well as adult criminal prisoners, and Palestinian minors detainees.

Turner added that "for 20 years I have not uttered a word about the matter, and this was not out of indifference, but rather out of lack of knowledge and unwillingness to interfere in the matter. But two and a half years ago, a 14-year-old boy arrived from Shuafat after he was shot in the feet by people. "Police on him. Doctors tried to save his leg, but they didn't succeed. When he woke up, his right leg was still, and his left leg was cut above the knee. His parents were not by his side, and instead of them there were three armed guards with his hand tied to the bed. This is the situation that shook me."

Nurse Nurit Wagner, of the Nurses' Syndicate, and head of the Ethics Department at the Physicians Syndicate, Tammy Karni, said that the situation has worsened in recent years. About 15 years ago, we used to see between 30% and 40% handcuffed. There was also someone I could talk to in order to remove the handcuffs. Today, there is no one to talk to. I don't understand the security issues, but they restrict everyone due to lack of professionalism. If they are all equally dangerous, then we don't really know who is dangerous."

Doctors in the study pointed out that this situation often involves an irrational contradiction. In one case, a detainee suffering from high blood sugar and pain was brought in. In another case, a prisoner with cerebral palsy and using artificial legs was brought in. He was handcuffed to his leg, and a detainee suffering from a mental illness underwent surgery on his stomach, and any movement caused him pain.

In another case, a 19-year-old Palestinian detainee was brought in, suffering from the spread of cancer in his body and severe bone pain.

Turner said, "This Palestinian detainee was handcuffed to the right leg and left hand. He was crying and asked to stop treatment and go back to prison, because he was unable to suffer any more. It took me three and a half hours of phone calls until they agreed to remove the handcuffs."

The study confirmed that handcuffing not only affects human dignity, but also makes medical treatment difficult.

Doctors stressed that handcuffs cause health damage and impede recovery. It does not allow movement or even turning over in bed. It also causes pain and wounds due to lying in the same position for a long time and wounds in the place of the handcuffs, in addition to touching the contact between doctors and therapists, and the latter’s request to stop treatment, to avoid continuing to be handcuffed.

UNESCO unanimously adopts two resolutions in favor of Palestine

 

Al-Maliki welcomes the adoption of the two resolutions, calling for the appointment of a permanent representative for UNESCO in the Old City of Jerusalem

 

Paris WAFA - The Executive Council of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization "UNESCO", at its 214th session, currently being held in Paris, unanimously adopted two resolutions on the State of Palestine, namely: occupied Palestine, and cultural and educational institutions.

Minister of Foreign Affairs and Expatriates, Riyad Al-Maliki, welcomed the adoption of the two resolutions, noting that their adoption came as a result of the diplomatic effort and the effort of our UNESCO mission, with our brothers in the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan, the Arab Group, and friendly countries.

Al-Maliki stressed the importance of adopting these resolutions at this particular time, in light of the systematic and widespread violations that Israel, the illegitimate occupying power, is carrying out against the rights of the Palestinian people, especially in the areas of UNESCO, in the occupied city of Jerusalem and on Islamic and Christian occasions, and the restriction on The right to worship, the colonial settlers’ storming of the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound, and other violations of World Heritage sites, including the Ibrahimi Mosque in Hebron, and its siege of Gaza City.

Al-Maliki valued the positions of the countries that stand with the adoption of these resolutions unanimously to preserve the Palestinian historical and cultural heritage from Israeli forgery and deliberate distortion, to impose the narrative of apartheid and racial discrimination, and the theft of Palestinian history and narrative.

He pointed out that Palestine resolutions were developed to monitor crimes committed by Israel, the illegal occupying power, against holy sites, heritage, culture, education and all aspects of UNESCO's work, its areas of competence, and UNESCO's conventions and principles.

He stressed that the two resolutions focused on Palestinian national issues such as the capital, Jerusalem, the issue of the reconstruction of Gaza, and the Ibrahimi Mosque in Hebron, in addition to the importance of sending an expedition to the occupied city of Jerusalem and its walls, considering that protecting Palestinian tangible and intangible heritage sites is an international responsibility to preserve them as well. It is now purely Palestinian and has been preserved from destruction, distortion and forgery, including not giving names to Palestinian sites based on false accounts, which threatens the current legal and historical reality of the city of Jerusalem, and the status and position of the Palestinian land.

Al-Maliki called on the international community and UNESCO to take the necessary steps to stop Israel, the occupying power, with its illegal measures and practices, and attempts to deliberately sabotage the Palestinian, Christian, and Islamic cultural heritage, and to ensure the implementation of UNESCO resolutions, and the lack of double standards and selectivity in the application of UNESCO decisions.

He stressed that the State of Palestine urgently and quickly demands the appointment of a permanent representative of the Director-General of UNESCO in the Old City of Jerusalem, and the dispatch of an interactive monitoring mission to monitor and review all violations there, in order to allow it to develop a vision that contributes to the protection of the holy places there, especially the Holy Mosque of Al-Aqsa Mosque.

Al-Maliki referred to the UNESCO Director-General's pledge to continue working to create conditions for the implementation of her mandate to send experts to assess the situation in World Heritage sites in the Middle East, including the Old City of Jerusalem and its walls.