Palestinians protest for hunger-strikers in PA prisons

By Kaamil Ahmed

JERUSALEM

Palestinians activists have called on the Palestinian Authority (PA) to release six hunger-striking prisoners, who have been held for months in Palestinian prisons without charge.

Protesters gathered in the West Bank city of Ramallah on Saturday, according to prisoner rights groups Samidoun, a week after the prisoners began their strike and following demands from the Palestinian Human Rights Organizations Council (PHROC) for a fair trial.

A statement issued by PHROC on Thursday said the prisoners had been transferred to isolation after they announced their hunger strike.

The families of the six prisoners, who were arrested in April, said in a joint statement they had been "subject to cruel methods of torture at the hands of Palestinian intelligence agents”.

"When our children announced they were taking this step of hunger strike, the prison administration escalated arbitrary punishments against them, including depriving us of family visits to check on them and their health," the statement said.

Last month, a Palestinian man was beaten to death in Nablus by Palestinian security forces for his alleged involvement in the fatal shooting of two security personnel.