Politics
Repeated human rights violations against Palestinian women prisoners continue at the notorious Zionist detention facility, Damon Prison.
Repeated human rights violations against Palestinian women prisoners continue at the notorious Zionist detention facility, Damon Prison. Organizations working for prisoners’ rights say that the ongoing crackdown is no longer a matter of individual actions by prison officers, but has become part of a systematic policy that enjoys direct political backing from far-right National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir.
In a statement, the Palestinian Centre for Prisoners’ Studies said that women prisoners face repeated raids and crackdowns three to four times a week. These measures include forcibly removing them from their rooms, tying their hands, blindfolding them, and forcing them to sit in humiliating positions. Their belongings, blankets and mattresses are also confiscated, with some being torn apart, while food items are reportedly destroyed.
The Centre linked the escalating tensions to Ben-Gvir’s repeated visits to the women prisoners’ wards. It said that video footage has also emerged from some of these visits showing mistreatment and humiliation of prisoners, suggesting that disciplinary measures intensify following each visit.
According to the Centre, an additional campaign was carried out during Ben-Gvir’s latest visit to Damon Prison. The campaign reportedly involved removing the women prisoners’ belongings from their rooms for three days, preventing them from immediately accessing the bathrooms, and forcibly taking them outside, where they were subjected to verbal abuse and loud shouting and forced to lie on the floor.
The Centre believes that these tactics go beyond individual punishments and represent an attempt to break the will of women prisoners and impose further repression on Palestinian women. The measures are not limited to raids. The Centre also pointed to an expansion of the use of solitary confinement among women prisoners, citing the solitary confinement of administrative detainee and writer Lama Khater, as well as the separation of two minor female prisoners from the rest of the detainees by placing them in a separate room.
According to the Palestinian Centre for Prisoners’ Studies, the occupying authorities are holding approximately 88 Palestinian women prisoners who have faced various forms of deprivation and punishment amid deteriorating detention conditions since October 7, 2023.
The Centre has strongly called on international human rights organizations to intervene immediately to protect the women prisoners and exert pressure for their release, particularly those held under administrative detention or detained on charges that, according to the Centre, are often linked to so-called “incitement.”
These calls come amid continued criticism from Palestinian and international human rights organizations over the detention conditions of Palestinian prisoners in the occupying authorities’ prisons, particularly with regard to solitary confinement, medical neglect, restrictions on family visits and violations of basic rights.
The abuses documented at Damon Prison expose a punitive system that goes beyond depriving women prisoners of their freedom and extends to undermining their health, dignity and human relationships. According to the Palestinian Centre, the repeated raids, solitary confinement and deprivation, coupled with Ben-Gvir’s political intervention, reveal a policy aimed not merely at managing the prison but at subjugating women prisoners and breaking their ability to resist. Regarding health conditions, the Centre warned of the deteriorating condition of several sick women prisoners, including two cancer patients and another woman suffering from hepatitis. It strongly criticized the continued medical neglect and the lack of necessary treatment and medical follow-up. The Centre also reported extremely difficult living conditions and food shortages, pointing out that policies of starvation and medical neglect have contributed significantly to the spread of illnesses and the worsening suffering of women prisoners, including pregnant detainees.
