Manal Ghanem

Palestinian Female Political Detainee, Manal Ghanem, Appeals for her Release Along With her Baby from Israeli Prison
Palestine. June 30, 2005. (WAFA+IPC)---

Three months are left before the administration of the Israeli Prison of Hasharon decides to separate the 21- month-child from his mother Manal Ghanem, who had her baby inside the Israeli prison. Lawyer of the Palestinian Prisoner's Society Sanaa Herbawi said.

According to Adameer Organization, Manal Ghamen is serving 50 months sentence since April 2003. She had given birth of her baby, Nour, in prison in a very harsh humanitarian situation as the prison administration did not bother to provide her with any medical care while having her baby.


" Manal Ghanem is suffering from blood problem known as Cooly's Anemia and thus she cannot breastfeed her baby. The prison administration at Hasharon Prison denied Manal and Nour any medical care, and oddly enough deprived the newly born baby Nour of the milk he needs to survive" Adameer, reported.

During her visit to Hasharon prison, Sanaa Herbawi met many female prisoners, among them was Manal Ghanem.

The PPS's lawyer said that Manal is going through very pathetic psychological situation because taking apart her baby from her draws closer. She also affirmed that the baby's health conditions are in a dire situation because of malnutrition, dirtiness and humidity inside the prison.

It is worth mentioning that out of the 8,500 Palestinian prisoners inside the Israeli prisons, 119 are women, two of them gave birth while were in jail, one of them was released in late February.

On her turn, Ghanem called upon the human rights organizations and all the kind-hearted people to stand by her side and press on the Israeli authorities to release her along with her baby who is in pressing need of her care due to his bad health conditions.

The female prisoners told Herbawi about their miserable inhuman living conditions inside the Israeli prison of Hasharon and the humiliating way the prison's administration treat them, as they search them thoroughly leaving no spot in their bodies in a provocative way, they also served them meals that even dogs decline to eat. When one of them falls sick, they do not provide her with the proper medical care the only prescribed medication is painkilling.

The prisoners also complained that the administration of the prison deprived their relatives from visiting them under the pretext of security reasons.

Accordingly, the Palestinian Prisoner's Society appealed to the Palestinian, Arab and International Human rights organizations to immediately step in to put an end to the slow-pace killing the Palestinian prisoners are going through inside the Israeli prisons.