Amnesty demands immediate release of Ahmad Manasra
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Ahmad Manasra, who was only 13 years old when he was jailed in Israeli occupation prisons, remains in solitary confinement at "Eshel" prison after his sentence was renewed at the age of 20.
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Amnesty calls for the urgent release of Palestinian child prisoner
Amnesty International’s Regional Director for the MENA region, Heba Morayef, called for the immediate release of Ahmad Manasra, a Palestinian prisoner who has developed serious mental health issues since his arrest as a 13-year-old child due to the Israeli prisons authorities' brutal practices against prisoners and whose sentencing has recently been renewed for him to remain confined in the Israeli occupation prisons.
"It is outrageous that the Israeli authorities have renewed Ahmad Manasra’s spell in solitary confinement. Continuing to detain Ahmad Manasra in such inhumane conditions is a callous act of injustice. Ahmad has been diagnosed with schizophrenia and is severely depressed," she said.
"Ahmad Manasra was just 13 years old when he was arrested. The decision to detain him should always have been a measure of last resort and for the shortest possible time," Morayef said.
The Director warned that Manasra has turned into a shadow of his former self and has threatened to take his own life. "The Israeli authorities must immediately revoke their decision to renew his solitary confinement, and urgently release him from detention," she stressed.
Last April, an Israeli occupation parole committee classified the case of the Manasra as "terrorism". Manasra's defense team explained that this decision means that the prisoner's case will not be transferred to a committee to reduce one-third of the sentence imposed on Manasra for an alleged stabbing attempt in occupied Al-Quds in 2015.
On June 28, Al Mayadeen correspondent reported that the Israeli occupation court rejected a request for the early release of the 20-year-old Palestinian prisoner Ahmad Manasra, despite his deteriorating health and psychological condition.
Earlier today, it was reported that the Occupation's Prison Service rejected for the second time a request to move Manasra out of solitary confinement at "Eshel" prison.
It is expected that a hearing regarding his solitary conditions at "Beersheba" District Court will be held on August 16.
Manasra has been diagnosed with schizophrenia, suffers from psychotic delusions, and is severely depressed with suicidal thoughts.
His lawyer, Khaled Zabarqa, told Amnesty, "He is in danger for his life, actual danger, and the repeated extensions of his solitary confinement are destroying him."
