Palestinian Prisoners handcuffed in surgery

“The Society for Palestinian Captives” has confirmed in a report that Israeli forces insist on prisoners being handcuffed when they undergo surgical operations. A lawyer from “The Society for Palestinian Captives” has visited and examined a number of prisoners who are being held in Ramallah prison hospital. The lawyer visited the captive Zayed Shamasnah, who was arrested on the 6th July 2011. He is a paraplegic and has lost all feeling in the lower half of his body. The prisoner, who is confined to a wheelchair, was arrested at home, and confirms that despite his disability, the prison administration insist that he is shackled to his wheelchair. During her visit to Ramallah prison hospital, the Society's lawyer declared the conditions of the prisoners to be very dangerous, especially those of the sick prisoners. The inmates of Ramallah prison hospital have expressed their discontent at the insistence of the prison administration on patients having their hands and feet cuffed. They have asserted that the Ramallah prison hospital cannot be described as a hospital, as it is not suitable for human beings, especially not for patients with chronic diseases. The lawyer also visited Alaa Hassouna, a prisoner sentenced to 8 years, who has been detained since the 18th of October 2004. He is suffering from heart disease, and underwent open heart surgery in 2006, after which he entered the prison's intensive care sector. There the prison administration insisted that the movement of his hands and feet be restricted for "security reasons". Hassouna explained that during the open-heart surgery that he underwent, one of his hands was handcuffed to the hospital bed, while he was instructed to put the other under his head. Both his feet were also shackled. The prisoner said: "The doctors never objected to this, even though I have heart disease, and they proceeded to shackle my hands and feet." The lawyer’s report stated that his health had continued to deteriorate due to the negligence of the prison management, pointing to the fact that this highlights how brutal the Israeli occupation is, and its lack of humanity. It should also be noted that there are a large number of disabled and chronically ill prisoners that have been arrested, confirming Israel's insistence on the arrest of any person regardless of his condition.