The Geneva Council for Rights and Liberties (GCRL) has warned of a serious threat to the life of Palestinian detainee Maher al-Akhras, 49, after a sharp deterioration in his health condition.
Akhras entered day 82 of his hunger strike, on October 16, in protest at his administrative detention, with no indictment or trial.
GCRL called on the Israeli authorities to immediately release Akhras, who has been on hunger strike since his arrest on July 27 and to provide him with proper and adequate health care as his health worsened due to his exposure to deliberate medical neglect. GCRL also called for an end to the policy of administrative detention.
Palestinian detainee Akhras is currently held in Kaplan Hospital and he has been there since last September 23 following a sharp decline in his health and repeated loss of consciousness.
He suffers from severe head and stomach pain, high pressure in the eyes, cloudy vision, and ringing in the ears. He also suffers from pressure in the chest area and he is unable to move. His wife reported that the doctors told her that there is a real danger to her husband’s life and that he could die at any moment.
The Israeli occupation forces arrested him Akhras, a father of six, after raiding his house in the town of Silat al-Dhahr, south of Jenin in the northern West Bank, and placed him in administrative detention in Ofer prison. He decided to go on hunger strike as he had previously suffered from repeated administrative detention of more than 4 years.
Geneva Council held “the Israeli authorities fully responsible for the life of Akhras amid the continued Israeli refusal to release him, accusing the Israeli supreme court of being complicit in the illegal detention of Akhras.
“On Monday, 12 October 2020, the supreme court of Israel refused to release Maher al-Akhras, an administrative detainee on a hunger strike, despite his seriously deteriorated health condition,” GCRL noted.
“This decision further exposes the complicity of Israel’s authorities, including its judiciary, in the systematic violation of human rights. Geneva Council affirms that detainee Maher Al-Akhras’ hunger strike to protest administrative detention cast light on this policy which violates human rights norms.”
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