THREAT: The Awad Family

THREAT : The Awad Family

by Mission Free Palestinian Political Prisoners on Friday, January 6, 2012 at 10:41am

6 December 2011 | International Solidarity Movement, West Bank
4000 shekels needed !!!

Mohammad Awad is a 16 year old Palestinian boy, he is in an Israeli jail and he is gravely ill – his family believe that he is not receiving the right treatment and that he may be dying.

As they sit in their house in Beit Ummar, a village near Bethlehem, Mohammad’s parents Ali and Amina, grow visibly angry and distressed as they recount their son’s treatment.

“He has fever, he sweats very much, he can’t sleep on the bed – he has to sleep on the ground to get some cold – he overheats and he cant move at all” says Ali. Despite the fact that he is barely eating, Mohammad’s weight has ballooned from 58kg to 92kg since he has been in prison.

Mohammad suffers from Familial Mediterranean Fever (FMF), an inherited condition characterized by recurrent episodes of painful inflammation in the abdomen, chest, or joints. These episodes are often accompanied by fever and sometimes a rash. Without treatment to help prevent attacks and complications, a buildup of protein deposits (amyloidosis) in the body’s organs and tissues may occur, which can lead to kidney failure or congestive heart failure.

Ali says that Mohammad was first arrested in February 2011 after he attended a peaceful protest in Beit Ummar. He was severely beaten by Israeli soldiers during his detention and was subjected to extreme cold. Amina says, “They beat him so badly, and he was shouting and screaming and crying ‘Please stop you’re hurting me’ but they said ‘no’. I believe that is the cause of his current condition – he had the fever [FMF] in the past but it was not serious as the thing he has now.”

Ali added that, ” When he told the solider that he had hurt him in the waist they beat him again and again on purpose in his liver and they caused internal bleeding.” The bleeding in his liver was so severe that Mohammad required a blood transfusion. He was released from prison in June, only to be arrested 14 days later and sentenced to six months imprisonment for attending a demonstration in the village and throwing one stone.

Mohammad is currently being held in Ofer Prison but the family has learned that he has been repeatedly sent to hospital at Ramle or Hadassah during the past two months and then returned to prison.

In the immediate family, only Mohammad’s sister Rahaf, 7, has been allowed to visit him. She first alerted the family that Mohammad’s condition had deteriorated when she visited him in prison with a cousin – she returned saying that her brother was swollen and dreadfully ill.

On 2 November 2011, Mohammad had a court hearing which his mother attended – but Mohammad was not in the court. “We didn’t get information why he wasn’t there,” said Ali, ”but the manager of the prison himself came to the judge – we knew this from the lawyer – and told the judge that [the prison] can’t be responsible if anything happens to Mohammad, [since] he’s now in hospital, in very bad condition, and we recommend that we release him.” The judge also recommended that he be released, but he needed approval from the Israeli intelligence – and they refused.”

According to Ali, “The manager of the prison himself called [him].”

“He told me, ‘your son is in a very bad condition and we can’t do anything for him so I will try to release him to be treated on the Palestinian side.’ So I’m afraid that my son is dying.”

Amina last saw her son in court on 28 November 2011. “He was very bloated and swollen all over his face and body, and it was not normal at all.”

Mohammad’s parents believe that the prison authorities have been giving Mohammad the wrong treatment that may be harming him even further. “When he was released for the first time, he smuggled some drugs out that he was being given [in prison]” says Ali, showing ISM the Allopurinol tablets given to Mohammad. “We asked a doctor what these was for, and he said these pills were for another disease, not for Muhammad’s condition. The doctor told him that it is vey dangerous to take this drug, and we’re sure now that they are giving him the same drug.”

The family has asked the prison authorities for Mohammad’s medical reports but they have refused to produce them. There is no cure for his condition but when he was out of prison Mohammad was taking Colchicine and antibiotics to manage his symptoms. Yet his rapidly deteriorating health and the statements from the prison manager suggest he is not receiving the correct medical attention.

The Israeli team of Physicians for Human Rights has attempted to visit Mohammad in prison but has so far been denied access by prison authorities. The Israeli human rights organization B’Tselem picked up some medicine for Mohammad but was also denied access to the prison by the Israeli authorities. The family claims that they have not been able to give him any supplies at all whilst in prison.

Mohammad is due to be released on 22 January 2012 – however, the family must pay 3000 shekels as a fine to secure his release. If they are unable to do so, he will serve a further three months in jail. His parents believe that his life is in danger and if he spends much more time in jail, without receiving correct treatment, the likelihood is that he will die. Mohammad’s brother Ahmad is due to be released from prison in three months but the family must find a 1000 shekel fine to secure his release, otherwise he will serve an extra month in jail. Ahmad also suffers from Familial Mediterranean Fever but his health is much better than Mohammad’s. If they do manage to pay the fines, the Palestinian Ministry of Prisoners usually pay it back – but Ali says this only happens around three years later.

As Ali shows us the documents from the military detailing the fines, he says that he doesn’t have the money and has no way to raise it as he is currently unemployed. “We are suffering from a very bad economic situation” he said. “I cant work inside settlements or inside the green line and most of the work is there. Also I am ill – I have asthma and I have heart problems now and can’t work.”

The targeting of the family

Mohammad’s parents have not been allowed to visit him in prison and they have difficulty getting information. Two of Mohammad’s brothers, Saddam, 21, and Ahmad, 19, are also in prison. Mohammad’s younger brother Hamza, 15, is not allowed to visit. When he was 14, he visited Mohammad during his first sentence, yet Israeli authorities detained and interrogated him for three days and then banned him from visiting in the future.

Now that all of his brothers are in jail, Hamza is terrified that he will soon be arrested. At night he paces around the house, looking out the windows for the Israeli military. “I am very depressed,” said Hamza, “I don’t have any hope that I will stay here at home, the Israeli army can come here at any time and detain me and take me to jail.”

The military has arrived in the night to arrest members of the family before – Ali has been detained eighteen times, although he claims that he has only resisted the occupation nonviolently by attending peaceful protests. “The detention of our children caused a medical condition for my wife,” said Ali – “She takes drugs for her nerves as she’s always worried and the doctor told her this is very serious. She’s on medication for anxiety and depression.”

The UN Convention on the Rights of the Child defines a “child” as “every human being below the age of eighteen years.” According to Israeli military order 132, Palestinian children aged 16 and older are tried and sentenced by Israeli military courts as adults. By comparison, juvenile legislation defines Israeli children as age 18 or younger. A Palestinian child’s sentence is decided on the basis of the child’s age at the time of sentencing, not when the alleged offence was committed.

According to Addameer, a prisoner support and human rights organisation, there were approximately 176 Palestinian children (under the age of 18) detained in Israeli prisons, as of September 2011 and around 700 Palestinian children from the occupied West Bank are prosecuted every year through Israeli military courts. Since 2000, more than 6,500 Palestinian children have been detained. The most common charge brought against children is for throwing stones – an offence which can incur a 20 year prison sentence.

Addameer reports that “the majority of children report being subjected to ill-treatment and having forced confessions extracted from them during interrogations. Forms of ill-treatment used by the Israeli soldiers during a child’s arrest and interrogation usually include slapping, beating, kicking and violent pushing. Palestinian children are also routinely verbally abused.”

With three of their four sons in prison, it seems that the family has been singled out and targeted by the Israeli authorities.

“All Palestinians are targeted, not just my family” said Ali. “But from the first Intifada I have been a member of a legal movement – I’m not doing anything illegal, I’m just demanding my people’s rights. I don’t do anything to hurt anyone, I just demonstrate.”

Amina says that she believes that the Israelis are doing this as “revenge.” ”My sons are innocent and they don’t do anything bad.” Ali added that he believes it to be “revenge against all Palestinians, but we are a special case as I was detained [so often] in the past. Also I have land near Karmei Tzur [an illegal Israeli settlement] and they are trying to take this land. They have made me many offers to buy the land and I refused so they hate me. I told them go to hell this is my land I will stay here, and I will die here.” Ali also shows us the protruding bone in his hand which was broken by the Israeli military a few months ago after he was detained during a peaceful protest in Beit Ummar.

Ali is trying to stay hopeful but he admits that it is difficult. “My son is only 16 years old, he is very ill, he needs medical treatment but they don’t care. My son is ill, I have a problem with my heart, my wife has a problem with her nerves, but I thank God that we are still alive.”

UPDATED 5 JAN 2012
Emily Lawrence | Electronic Intifada | Beit Ommar | 5 Jan 2012

The streets of Beit Ommar are lined with posters of Palestinian boys and men, martyrs and prisoners of the Israeli occupation. One house is plastered with more posters than the others: the house of the Awad family, whose two sons were, until recently, being held in Ofer prison on the charge of throwing stones.
Mohammad Awad, 16, and his brother Ahmad, 19, were released from Ofer prison near Ramallah in the second phase of the prisoner swap deal in December. For Mohammad Awad, it is a particular relief to be free — his time in prison had an almost fatal effect on his health.
Awad has Familial Mediterranean Fever (FMF), a rare genetic disease which causes severe abdominal pain and chest and joint inflammation. “Sometimes I feel like my stomach is about to explode,” he told The Electronic Intifada. During his time in prison his condition was largely ignored, and the prison doctors seemed unable to deal effectively with his health problems.
Awad was sentenced to six months in Ofer prison after throwing a stone during a demonstration against Israeli settlements, but was released a month early as part of the prisoner swap deal.
According to Israeli human rights organization B’Tselem, 835 minors were prosecuted for throwing stones between 2005 and 2010. The act of throwing stones is punished harshly under Israeli military law and usually results in a penalty of three components: imprisonment, a conditional prison sentence, and a fine.
Mohammad’s father, Ali, and other family members said that Awad was severely beaten by the Israeli soldiers who arrested him, and his health deteriorated further after being medically neglected during his time in prison.

Medical negligence


“They gave me five types of drugs and medicine,” Awad explained. “The prison doctor gave them to me. They weren’t drugs for my illness, they were just painkillers to ease the pain. Some children have cancer and all that they give them is painkillers. I felt that they neglected me, and I was ignored as a patient.”
According to the United Nations’ Standard Minimum Rules for the Treatment of Prisoners, “[t]he medical officer shall have the care of the physical and mental health of the prisoners and should daily see all sick prisoners, all who complain of illness, and any prisoner to whom his attention is specially directed.” This international rule, however, was not applied to Awad.
Ahmad was in the same prison cell as his brother, and says the doctors were not attentive to Mohammad Awad’s needs. “Sometimes we would wake up and see him and he couldn’t talk, he couldn’t walk, he looked like he was dead,” Ahmad said.
“All the prisoners called for the officers, and asked them to save his life, give him some painkillers, anything. After many tries and many knocks on the door they came to take him to the doctor, and gave him some painkillers. That’s all they did.” Awad was eventually taken to Hadassah hospital in Jerusalem, where he was treated for his illness. “I believe if they had taken him to the hospital the first day he was ill, he wouldn’t get this worse condition,” said Awad’s father.
“He wouldn’t go [to hospital] unless he was dying. That’s the only reason they would send him. He was handcuffed and his legs were cuffed. He wasn’t taken as a patient, he was treated as a prisoner. They neglected him and ignored his condition, and that’s why he got so ill.”

Lack of proper care

The lack of proper medical care for Palestinian child prisoners in Israeli jails is a cause for concern for numerous human rights organizations. According to Addameer, a prisoner support and human rights group, medical negligence is a deliberate policy within the Israeli Prison Service (IPS).
“Part of the punishment is to ignore their medical needs,” said Mourad Jadallah, a former child prisoner who is now a legal researcher at Addameer. “The doctors don’t care. They just treat them as enemies. In Israeli prisons, they are not serious when they deal with health programs for Palestinian prisoners.”
“To date, approximately 51 Palestinian and Arab prisoners have died in Israeli prisons as a result of the IPS’s policy of deliberate medical negligence,” Addameer stated during 2011 (“Annual Report 2010,” Addameer [PDF]).
“Combined with harsh detention conditions that are conducive to different contagious, chronic and life-threatening diseases, the impact of this medical negligence can amount to physical and psychological torture.”

No sunlight


Ahmad and Mohammad Awad contend that the prison environment itself was detrimental to the health of the prisoners. “It’s not healthy at all,” Ahmad said. “There is no sun, we don’t see the sunlight. There is humidity and it is not clean, it’s very bad for patients, even for a normal person.”
According to their mother, Amina, the prison doctors had received Mohammed’s medical reports stating he has FMF. “We are assured that medical reports were received within the prison, but they neglected the reports and did not care about them, or about the medical condition of Mohammad,” she said.
“The problem with the detention of children is that treatment is always delayed,” said Amany Dayif of Physicians for Human Rights-Israel. “Doctors get the medical reports but don’t have the relevant medical reports in hand, and they don’t always know the accurate names of the illnesses.” The medical report issued upon Awad’s release, signed by Dr. Tsekhman of the Israel Prison Service, incorrectly states that he has thallasemia minor, a genetic blood disorder, rather than FMF.
One of the problems is that the standard for prison doctors is very low, therefore they are unable to provide a sufficient level of medical care. “The doctors in prison are not trained at all,” added Dayif. “They are not specialists of any kind. Sometimes they don’t even read English.
“If they weren’t employed by the prisons, they wouldn’t be employed by anyone else in Israel. They don’t know about many illnesses.”
Mohammad Awad’s family believes that he was misdiagnosed on purpose and given the wrong drugs deliberately as a form of punishment. “There was an Arab physician in prison with [Mohammad and Ahmad], and he saw the drugs. He advised them not to take them because they are very dangerous,” Awad’s father Ali said. “I accused the Israeli authorities that they were targeting him to make his health much worse.”
“It is possible that this is the case,” said Jadallah of Addameer. “Some of the doctors participate in the ill-treatment of prisoners.”
According to Physicians for Human Rights-Israel, however, the prison doctors are complicit in the ill-treatment of child prisoners through negligence rather than deliberate misdiagnosis. “I don’t believe they deliberately gave him the wrong medicine, they wouldn’t have the knowledge or the tools to do this,” said Dayif. “It’s more a case of neglect, which is a form of mistreatment, rather than deliberate mistreatment.”
“Doctors look aside when prisoners are being tortured or ill-treated,” Dayif explained. “They don’t hurt the prisoners, but they don’t report the ill-treatment. So they are part of it in some way.”
Mohammad and Ahmad Awad were also subjected to torture while in Ofer. Torture is defined by the UN as “any act by which severe pain or suffering, whether physical or mental, is intentionally inflicted on a person for such purposes as … punishing him for an act he or a third person has committed or is suspected of having committed.”

Torture as tool of occupation


The Awad brothers told The Electronic Intifada that they experienced and witnessed mistreatment — including sleep deprivation, vocal intimidation and taunts, beatings, being made to stand for long periods of time, as well as being attacked with dogs and tear gas. Addameer confirmed these are known practices within Israeli prisons.
“At Addameer, we believe that to arrest Palestinians is an Israeli tool of the occupation to destroy Palestinian society,” said Jadallah. “We don’t believe that arresting children is for the security of the area … but it’s a very good way for the Israelis to destroy Palestinian society, to destroy the Palestinian as a human being. The idea of prison is to turn Palestinians into passive people who accept the torture and accept the occupation.”
The maltreatment of Palestinian child prisoners becomes especially stark when contrasted with the treatment of Israelis, and particularly settlers, in the Israeli justice system. While Palestinians can be arrested by the army and are tried in military court, Israeli settlers from the same area are subject to civil law.
“There is no equality, no justice,” Nasri Sabarna, mayor of Beit Ommar, told The Electronic Intifada. “The settlers attack the houses, they attack the farmers in their fields. Sometimes they cut down the trees and burn the land. This is daily behavior … and they never get sent to jail.”
According to Addameer, every year approximately 700 Palestinian children under the age of 18 are prosecuted in the Israeli military courts after being arrested, detained and interrogated by the Israeli military.
According to the Palestinian Ministry for Detainee Affairs, more than 6,500 children have been arrested since 2000. The most common charge against these children is throwing stones, which is punishable in the military system by up to twenty years in prison.
The IPS, which is in charge of all prisons in Israel and the West Bank, claims to treat all prisoners with respect. The value statement on the IPS website claims that “IPS shall take all appropriate actions to protect the body and mind of every individual, guard, prisoner and citizen, out of recognition of their supreme importance.”
In reality, life for a child in prison tells a different story; one not of bodies and minds appropriately protected, but of bodies and minds deliberately neglected and mistreated.
Now back in Beit Ommar with his family, having regained his freedom, Mohammad Awad is starting to regain his health. “I feel so happy that all the family is together again,” he said.
“I feel like I am recovering and getting better. I feel much better now [that] I have seen the doctor.