Palestinian prisoner loses memory due to Israeli torture

RAMALLAH, Palestine

The last days of administrative detention for Palestinian prisoner Nabil Rajoub in Israel were too tormenting that caused him to lose his memory.

Even his release was humiliating. A father of four, 40-year-old Rajoub was thrown by Israeli prison authorities near the Sabaa crossing in the southern West Bank after he was released from Negev prison south of Israel.

He was then picked by a Palestinian ambulance to the Hebron hospital as pictures of him lying helplessly on the ground went viral on social media.

Speaking to Anadolu Agency from his home in the village of Al-Koum west of Hebron, Rajoub recalled the harsh conditions he was subjected to in the last days of his eight-month administrative detention.

Rajoub said he was put in solitary confinement on December 5-9 and was left without food or drink until the day of his release.

"I was dragged from among the prisoners, taken to a solitary confinement cell and my feet were chained together”, he said, adding that his shackles hanged from a nearby small bed.

Moreover, he explained, his hands were tied behind his back which made him cry in agony. “They did not give me even water to drink."

Rajoub said he was left in that situation for five days.

He explained that the jailers would often step on his feet cuffs, which caused marks still apparent on his hands and feet.

The policy of administrative detention allows Israeli authorities to detain Palestinians for up to six months without charge or trial.

Breakdown

In his solitary confinement, Israeli jailers lied to him that his children died in a car accident, which exacerbated his suffering.

Besides, he was deprived of medical care and from taking his daily medication despite showing the prison authorities his medical reports.

After five days in tormenting conditions in his solitary cell, Rajoub said he suffered "a nervous breakdown” as evident in the videos circulated on social media to the extent that he did not recognize his children, mother, other family members, and friends.

Rajoub’s plight raises concerns about the treatment of Palestinians in Israeli prisons.

Now free, Rajoub has appealed to Palestinian officials and the free world "to intervene to save the prisoners and to bring their case to the International Criminal Court” before it is too late.

Free prisoners

His mother, Sarah Rajoub, is worried that her son may not regain his complete health.

“My wish is to see him regain his health and memory and get to know his children," she told Anadolu Agency.

Commenting on Rajoub’s case, a member of the Central Committee of Fatah movement, Sabri Saidam, said Israel "is trying to break the will of the Palestinian people and the steadfastness of prisoners,” noting that the Palestinian leadership continues to call for international pressure on Israel to end the administrative detention policy.

There are around 4,500 Palestinian detainees in Israeli prisons, including 520 administrative detainees, according to institutions concerned with prisoners’ affairs.

*Writing by Ibrahim Mukhtar