A human rights group has strongly criticized the Israeli government for mistreating Palestinian women kept in Israeli prisons.

According to a report by the Addameer Prisoner Support and Human Rights Association, sponsored by the United Nations Development Fund for Women (UNIFEM), imprisoned pregnant women are often shackled on their way to hospitals to give birth.

The report also added that the Palestinian female prisoners are held in "Israeli prisons and detention centers, which were designed for men and do not meet female needs."

Pregnant detainees "do not receive necessary if preferential treatment in terms of diet, living space or transfer to hospitals," the report went on to say. "Pregnant prisoners are also chained to their beds until they enter delivery rooms and shackled once again after giving birth.”

"The unbalanced diet, insufficient amounts of protein-rich foods, lack of natural sunlight and movement, poor ventilation and moisture all contribute to the exacerbation and the development of physical health problems such as skin diseases, anemia, asthma, prolonged stomach aches, joint and back pains," the report explained.

Meanwhile, the report revealed that the majority of the prisoners were "subjected to some form of mental pressure and torture through the process of their arrest," including beatings, insults, threats, sexual harassment and humiliation techniques. The indirect impact this has on the unborn child is deeply concerning.

The UN-sponsored report was based on interviews with 125 Palestinian women who were arrested, detained or imprisoned in Israeli prisons between November 2007 and November 2008. Half of those remain incarcerated today and form part of over 11,000 Palestinians held in Israeli prisons and detention centers.

HRF/SC/MMN