There are currently 17 women political prisoners in Hasharon Prison of whom 10 are detainees pending trial, while seven others have already been sentenced. In addition, there are three detainees under house arrest.
Health care
In the prison there are no specialized physicians for women political prisoners (apart from dentists that make only basic treatments). The process of getting a medical specialist is long and complicated and often completely impossible.
In cooperation with the NGO Yussef Al-Sadek, permission has been granted for a dermatologist to visit three of the prisoners. The permit was first given to only one woman, but following correspondence with the prison authorities, permission to receive this specialized medical care was granted to two additional prisoners.
Currently efforts are being made to enable a dentist to visit the prison for more complicated treatments that the prison medical service does not provide.
Sports Equipment
The prisoners are interested in introducing sports equipment such as an exercise walker (treadmill), bicycle etc. According to the Israel Prison Service (IPS) regulations the International Red Cross (IRC) is entitled to bring this equipment into the prison but the IRC has declared that it has no funding for this and, at the same time, is not willing to bring in equipment donated by other organizations.
WOFPP's legal adviser, attorney Taghrid Jahshan, approached the prison authorities in order to find an alternative way of acquiring this equipment and the question is discussed by the IPS central command. WOFPP is also exploring the possibility of asking the prison authorities to provide this equipment is the case at the Neve Tirzah facility for criminal women prisoners.
Heating equipment for the winter
This winter for no legitimate reason the prisoners were forbidden to buy space heaters from the prison canteen-shop for their cells, although this was permitted last year.
An additional aid to the prisoners in the extreme cold of this winter was to provide the prisoners with blankets. This was once again the result of cooperation between WOFPP and the Yussuf Al-Sadek organization which donated a sum enabling each woman to purchase a blanket from the canteen - shop since this year the provision of blankets by the prisoners' families was forbidden as well.
WOFPP will work towards enabling the families to bring in blankets, since the price of blankets in the prison canteen-shop is more than double the market price and some of the prisoners cannot afford these basic items.
Receiving and Sending Letters
The prisoners have recently complained that for several months they receive almost no letters from their families or others. For example, many prisoners correspond with people abroad with the encouragement and support of WOFPP. Thus a French citizen complained that his letters have not reached the prisoner Lina Jarbuni for several months, nor were they returned to him.
WOFPP's legal adviser approached the prison authorities who, together with her and the prisoners, investigated the receipt of mail and this month Lina Jarbuni received a letter from France. Two other prisoners also reported receiving mail this month.
On the other hand, we are still following up on letters sent by the prisoners and their receipt by the addressees and the matter is still being dealt with.
Shoes for the Prisoners
For several years the IPS has prevented families from bringing shoes to prisoners (men as well as women). The situation for women prisoners is harder than for the men since the shoes in the canteen-shop are men's shoes and they are also expensive so that the prisoners cannot buy them there. The situation was recently particularly serious since the prisoners have no suitable winter shoes that they can wear in the prison and thus they walk around in rubber slip-ons even in the winter cold since this is all they can afford at the canteen-shop.
Transport to the Courts
The detainees who have to attend court session at the Ofer and Salem Military Courts complain of the harsh attitude of the wardens/guards, male and female, from the Nachshon Unit of the IPS. They also complain of the conditions in the 'paddy wagon' (the IPS transport vehicle) especially the cold air conditioning and also the freezing cold in the holding cells of the court in which they are kept during the day.
WOFPP maintains contact with other organizations, including the Clinic for the Rights and Rehabilitation of Prisoners at the Faculty of Law at Haifa University, in order to investigate the possibility of a joint action to change these conditions.
New Prisoners
Fadwa Ghanem,
mother of four from Shweike, TulKarem area, arrested on 29.9.13, released to house arrest in Taibe on 13.11.13
Lama Hadadia,
from the TulKarem refugee camp, arrested on 14.10.13 and taken for interrogation to the Jalameh Detention Centre, she was prevented from meeting with a lawyer until 23.10.13 and later she was transferred to Hasharon prison.
Muntaha AlHih
from Beth Zurif, Hebron Area, arrested on 22.10.13 and taken to Neve Tirzah women's prison, released to house arrest on 6.11.13
Rana Abu Quik
mother of four from Ramallah, arrested on 26.10.13 taken for interrogation to the Ashkelon detention center and later she was transferred to Hasharon prison.
Wiam Jaber
from Nablus, student of business administration, arrested on 11.11.13
Maram Hasona
from Rafidia, (Nablus) student of English at the A-Najah University, Nablus, arrested on 13.11.13
Falestin Najem
from Nablus, arrested on 20.11.13 was imprisoned from 2006-2009
Zienab Mustafa
from the Balata refugee camp (Nablus) arrested on 8.12.13
A minor
from Jerusalem was arrested on 3.01.14
Reghda Kawasmeh
from Hebron, mother of two small children, arrested on 7.01.14 was detained at the Ohalei Kedar prison near Beer Sheva, released to home arrest at her grandfather's house in Hebron on 28.1.14
Released prisoners
Linan Abu Ghulmah
from Beit Furiq (Nablus) arrested on 15.08.13, released on 10.01.14
Miasar Al'Atiani
from Nablus arrested on 15.08.13 released on 14.11.13
Inaam Kanambo
from Jerusalem arrested on 02.04.13 released on 03.11.13
Sentences
Nual Al-Sa'adi
from Jenin refugee camp arrested on 04.11.12, sentenced on 22.01.14 to 20 months imprisonment and 12 months suspended for five years from the date of release and a fine of NIS 10,000
Dunia Waked
from TulKarem arrested on 27.05.13 and sentenced on 15.01.14 to 42 months imprisonment and 12 months suspended for three years from the date of release.
Ranaa Ibu Kuwik
from Ramallah, arrested on 27.10.13 and sentenced on 29.01.14 to 8 months imprisonment and 18 months suspended for five years from the date of release plus a fine of NIS. 5,000
For donations to WOFPP
:
Bank account:
Women's Organization for Political Prisoners (WOFPP)
Account number: 471067
BANK HAPOALIM
Branch 532
Daniel Frisch St. 3,Tel Aviv 64078, ISRAEL
IBAN number: IL 60-0125-3200-0000-0471-067
BIC (swift): POALILIT
Address to receive the contribution:
WOFPP
Frug Street 30
Tel Aviv 63417, ISRAEL