Turkish union urges UN to take action for Palestinians

By Sena Guler

ANKARA (AA) - The head of HAK-IS Trade Union Confederation of Turkey on Tuesday called on the UN to take action for the release of innocent Palestinians held in Israeli prisons.

“[...] We would like to submit our request to the UN to take action towards innocent Palestinian inmates who are subject to inhumane treatments in Israeli jails and to release Palestinian prisoners,” Mahmut Arslan, also president of the Global Coalition of Trade Unions in Support of Al-Quds and Palestine, said in a letter to the UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres.

Arslan noted that innocent Palestinians, including women and children, have been arrested by Israeli forces “without any justification".

“Palestinian prisoners have been living under the worst circumstances of the last decades due to oppressive policies that Israel Prison Service has been implementing,” he said, adding that the oppressions were growing day by day.

Citing figures from a report of Palestinian Prisoners Center for Studies, Arslan stated that the number of prisoners in around 23 different jails had reached 5,700, including 250 children, by the end of 2018.

Some 47 prisoners have been languishing in jail for over 20 years, he added.

“1,100 of the Palestinian prisoners that are held in Israeli jails face severe health problems; 27 of them have been diagnosed with cancer,” he said.

Highlighting the situation of women prisoners, he noted that around 16,000 women have been arrested by Israeli forces since 1967 and they are “exposed to verbal and physical assault” during their time in custody and interrogation.

Arslan said that Israeli forces were conducting sudden raids in the prisons to assault and mob the Palestinians prisoners.

“Israeli forces have used pepper gas, stun grenade, plastic bullet, truncheon and dogs during these sudden raids,” he said.

In custody centers, the Palestinians are deprived of basic rights, such as communication, and medical treatment, they are forced to pay fines, and not provided with enough drinking water, while they are also being attacked and put under solitary confinement.

“The Government of Israel must promptly release the detained women and children in the Israeli jails,” Arslan urged.

He also called on the international community to “condemn all sorts of atrocities practiced by Israel” and to cooperate in pushing Israel to release the prisoners.