The lawyer for detained Palestinian doctor Hussam Abu Safiya has warned that he fears for his client’s life after seeing him severely beaten during a prison visit at Israel’s Rakefet interrogation facility.
Nasser Odeh said he visited Abu Safiya last Thursday and struggled to recognise him because of the extent of his injuries. “He nearly lost consciousness several times,” Odeh told the BBC, adding that the former director of Kamal Adwan Hospital in northern Gaza had told him he was subjected to severe violence inside the prison, particularly on the day of the visit.
Odeh said bruises covered Abu Safiya’s face, including around his eyes, neck and ears, and that visible signs of beating and torture were clear. He added that the doctor appeared exhausted, unable to breathe properly and in a severe physical, psychological and mental condition.
According to Odeh, Abu Safiya said more than five prison guards assaulted him with their hands, batons and hammers after an appeal against his detention was heard last month at Israel’s Supreme Court in Jerusalem. He said he had not received medical treatment.
“He said clearly, ‘I’m living in hell. The mind can’t imagine what I go through every day. I think someone has decided to kill me’,” Odeh told the BBC.
