61-year old female Palestinian held in solitary confinement

RAMALLAH (Ma'an) -- Palestinian prisoner Fathiyeh Abd al-Fattah Khanfar, 61, is currently being held in solitary confinement in Israeli jail, the lawyer of a prisoners' committee said Saturday.

Khanfar, from the village of Silat al-Thahr in Jenin in the occupied West Bank, is being held in a "tomb-like" room in unbearable living conditions, lawyer Hanan al-Khatib of the Prisoners and Former Prisoners' Committee told Ma'an.

Al-Khatib visited Khanfar in the Al-Ramla jail and said she is suffering from foot and back pain and infection in her trachea.

The detainee reported to al-Khatib that the room she is being held in lacks electrical appliances and is infested with cockroaches. She said she sleeps on a thin mattress on top of the concrete and is prevented from receiving visits or contacting her family.

Khanfar added that she needs to request water from the prison personnel as prisoners held in solitary confinement don't have access to water or restrooms except by permission.

Solitary confinement is one of several practices enforced routinely inside of Israeli prisons, according to prisoners' rights group Addameer, in addition to torture, forcible transfers, and medical negligence. more

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