The Palestinian prisoner Asif Abdel Muti Mohamed Al-Rifai, 22, died in the Israeli Ramla prison clinic, after struggling with cancer in prison.
Al-Rifai, from Kafr Ain town near Ramallah, got arrested and detained for the 4th time on September 24, 2022. He had been arrested since he was a child, and was shot with the occupation’s live bullets several times. The Israeli occupation had also threatened to kill him prior to his arrest.
Since his arrest, Al-Rifai’s transfer to the hospital to carry out the necessary tests and provide him with treatment was severely delayed for several months. He was first detained in Ofer prison then he was transferred to the Ramla prison clinic. According to medical reports, the delay in treating him resulted in the spread of cancer all over his body, which reached a critical stage, resulting in his death today.
Al-Rifai’s death brings the number of detainees who died inside Israeli prisons since October 7, 2023 to 11, due to Israeli occupation authorities’ increased violations against them through medical neglect, sexual insults, mistreatment, assault and beating, and solitary confinement.
Since October 7, the occupation prison authorities have been assaulting prisoners through beating them with batons, insulting them with sexual phrases, forcing them to urinate on other prisoners, slapping and punching them while transferring them between different wards, forcing them to kiss the Israeli flag, and beating those who refuse to do so.
Medical reports proved that the reasons for death among the prisoners was due to severe medical negligence and severe violence.
As a means of punishment, the occupation prison administration deliberately decreased the level of medical services received by Palestinian prisoners, as they were deprived of receiving or medical treatment within prison clinics, while transports to hospitals were cancelled, the provision of medicines was irregular and no medical examination and follow-up by prison doctors was provided.
These deliberate violations committed by the occupation against Palestinian prisoners require the international community and human rights organisations to ensure respect for human rights, and to put an end to these oppressive practices.
