A sit-in in the Golan in solidarity with prisoners

Families and friends of prisoners from the occupied Syrian Golan Heights, currently held in the Israeli jails, on Wednesday staged a sit-in at the headquarters of the International Committee of the Red Cross in Damascus, marking the day of solidarity with the Syrian prisoners.

The protesters handed the representative of the International Committee of the Red Cross in Damascus a memo addressed to the Chief of the International Committee of the Red Cross in Geneva. The protesters appealed to the representative of the International Committee of the Red Cross, in their memo to work for the immediate release of Syrian prisoners in Israeli jails, who they said suffer the most hideous kinds of oppression and torture at the hands of the Israeli occupation authorities.

The memo asserted a hope that the chief will provide medical treatment for the Syrian prisoners because they are suffering from chronic disease.

The memo spoke in detail about the conditions of prisoner Yasser al-Muazen, who suffers from acute kidney failure, noting that the Israeli authorities refuse to release him. The Syrian Ministry of Health has submitted a message to the International Committee of the Red Cross expressing its readiness to treat the prisoner in Syria.

The memo demanded the release of prisoner al-Muazen and all Syrian prisoners in Israeli jails, stressing its total solidarity with them.

A committee supporting the prisoners in the occupied Syrian Golan asserted, in a statement released on Wednesday, that supporting Arab prisoners is Syrians', duty.

Moreover, a committee for defending Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails submitted a memo to the representative of the International Committee of the Red Cross in Damascus. It expressed the hope that the organization will continue its efforts to investigate the conditions of the prisoners and to make further efforts to halt Israeli oppressive acts against the prisoners in Israeli jails.

The memo pointed out that many prisoners are suffering from unacceptable health conditions and chronic diseases. Some 31,000 prisoners are still held in Israeli jails and their plight is resulting in grave concern.