Israeli authorities released Palestinian detainee Dana Joudeh, 35, on Monday evening, along with her newborn daughter, whom she gave birth to inside Damon Prison earlier that day. The mother and her daughter were taken from the al-Jalama checkpoint near Jenin, north of the West Bank, to a hospital in Ramallah for examinations and medical care.
Details of Dana Joudeh’s arrest and legal status
The Palestinian Prisoners’ Club said Joudeh, who has another child, was arrested while pregnant and then placed under administrative detention for 6 months. Palestinian rights organizations say pregnant detainees face a lack of medical, psychological and nutritional care, as well as harsh detention conditions.
The Commission of Detainees and Ex-Detainees Affairs held Israeli authorities and the prison administration responsible for the safety of Joudeh and her daughter, accusing them of denying her adequate medical care. The commission said forcing the detainee to give birth to her daughter inside the prison “constitutes a double crime that contradicts human values.”
Palestinian warnings over the conditions of pregnant detainees
On June 23, the commission had warned that the conditions of 3 pregnant detainees, including Joudeh, were deteriorating, saying they had been subjected to starvation and harsh detention conditions. It also said the detainees’ families and the International Committee of the Red Cross had been denied visits with them. The Prisoners’ Club, for its part, said information gathered by lawyers during regular visits, along with testimony from released detainees, indicated that the prison administration was pursuing a policy of starvation and imposing punitive measures on detainees.
It added that the pregnant detainees had been subjected to interrogations it described as harsh and violent, without regard for their health needs related to pregnancy. Other cases of Palestinian women giving birth while detained have been recorded over the decades. Zakia Shammout is considered the first Palestinian female detainee to give birth inside Israeli prisons. She gave birth to her daughter Nadia on February 18, 1972, inside a solitary cell at Neve Tirza Prison, after being arrested in her fifth month of pregnancy.
Cases documented by Palestinian sources include Majida al-Salaymeh, who gave birth to her daughter while detained after being arrested in 1978; Mirvat Taha, who gave birth to her son Wael in 2003; and Aisha al-Kurd, who gave birth to her son Yasser in 1988. Samar Sbeih also gave birth to her son Baraa in 2006, and Fatima al-Zaq gave birth to her son Yousef in 2008, during their periods of detention.
Other cases include Omaima al-Agha, who gave birth to her daughter Haneen inside Talmond Prison in 1993. The child remained with her for 2 years before being transferred to her family. Manal Ghanem also gave birth to her son Nour in 2003, before Israeli authorities separated them in 2006, leaving their contact limited to visits from behind a glass barrier and mesh.
