LONDON: An Israeli rights group petitioned an Israeli court on Wednesday to allow an independent medical examination of detained Palestinian pediatrician Dr. Hussam Abu Safiya, after prison authorities failed to include the results of a chest X-ray in his official medical file.
Physicians for Human Rights Israel said that it filed the petition with the Administrative Court, asking judges to order the Israel Prison Service to allow a specialist acting on the group’s behalf to examine Abu Safiya.
The doctor is reportedly being detained in the underground Rakefet detention wing at Israel’s Nitzan Prison. PHRI said that the specialist should be allowed to reach him wherever he is being held.
The petition came after weeks of reports by PHRI alleging violence and abuse against Abu Safiya. Last month the group, after receiving the doctor’s medical records from the prison service, made a request for a specialist to see him but that was rejected.
According to the medical records, prison staff examined Abu Safiya after his lawyer, Nasser Odeh, requested an urgent evaluation during his visit on July 2. The records note an injury to his left eye and complaints of injuries to his head and chest, including rib pain, and show that he was referred for a chest X-ray.
