The IOF broke into Ofar Detention Camp this week injuring many detainees, among them the Deputy Secretary General of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP), Mr.
Abdel Rahim Mallouh.
The administration at Ofar had previously requested to aggressively transfer detainees from the Camp, a request which was turned down.
On November 29th, an Israeli force of around 100 soldiers broke into the detention camp, opened fire on them, using gas and water pipes to attack and beat detainees.
23 injuries were reported, among whom was Mr.
Abdelrahim Mallouh, Member of the Executive Committee of the Palestinian Liberation Organization PLO and Deputy Secretary General of the PFLP, who was brutally beaten and left with a broken lower jaw and bruised body.
Ofar Detention Camp was established on 400 dunums of land in the vicinity of Ramallah in the final years of the British Mandate; Ofar was administered by Jordan between 1948 and 1967, before the IOF took control.
It was annexed by the IOF, not even by the Israeli Prison Authority.
The Camp holds around 800 detainees who live in exceedingly harsh conditions.
Al Mezan Center for Human Rights emphasizes that the administration of Ofar is entirely responsible for the wellbeing of Palestinian detainees; an incident such as that of this week is exemplary of oppressive Israeli policies against Palestinian detainees in Israeli prisons.
Al Mezan has therefore directed a letter to the IOF Legal Advisor to open an investigation into this latest IOF offense against Palestinian detainees in Ofar and to pressure Israeli authorities to disclose the location of injured detainees in order to facilitate lawyer’s meetings.
Al Mezan expresses its support to the Palestinian detainees in Ofar; it also urges the international community to provide protection to Palestinian detainees in accordance with International norms.
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