The prison service informed the Honenu organization that it is examining the transfer to the religious wing of Amiram Ben-Uliel, who was convicted of murder in Douma after being tortured and held in solitary confinement for over 8 years, this is in response to a letter sent by Ben-Uliel's lawyer Adi Keidar from the Honenu organization.
In his letter, Attorney Keidar notes the harsh conditions in which Ben-Uliel is being held: "My client, a prisoner in the reserved wing, married and the father of a minor girl, living as an ultra-Orthodox. The prisoner is in a cell alone, without television, and without the possibility of going to education and activities around the prison, and is engaged in studying and praying in his cell all day. The prisoner has been detained since 2015 and does not receive communion. In the last two months, the prisoner began to phone call his family members after many years in which he was denied phone calls. It is about long years in which the prisoner stays in reserved wings, in a cell alone, and there is a significant concern for his health and mental state, after long years of isolation," explained Keidar.
In his letter, Keidar addresses the prisoner officer at Eshel Prison and requests that she allow Ben-Uliel to move to the prison wing: "The prisoner has submitted several requests to be transferred to the prison 'Torah' wing, the wing that suits his lifestyle, and is suitable for the prisoner, and has not yet been granted. We would like to consider this request positively, since as mentioned the long stay in the cell alone, seriously harming my client and his health, the right and appropriate place for a prisoner is the Torah wing, where he can integrate into studies, prayers in the minyans and other activities relevant to the prisoner."
Attorney Keidar said: "There is no more appropriate time than the new year and the holiday season to make amends for the ongoing injustice and transfer Amiram to appropriate conditions and we hope that this will be done before Rosh Hashanah."
We will remind you that Ben-Uliel is under extremely difficult conditions of imprisonment in Eshel prison in the south of the country. He stays in a guarded wing, in a cell alone, without meeting other prisoners. He is only allowed to leave the cell for about two hours a day to a closed yard by himself. His family is allowed to visit him once every two weeks for about half an hour through a glass partition. In addition, he was forbidden to go to the synagogue and participate in prayer services, and he was also allowed to keep only five holy books in his cell.
Recently, after 7 years without phones, Ben-Uliel was allowed to make phone calls to his family members. The decision follows the policy of the Minister of National Security, Itamar Ben-Gvir, who assumed that Arab terrorists can't enjoy much more favorable conditions than Jewish prisoners defined as security and even some of the regular criminal prisoners. As a result, the security establishment decided as a first step to allow Ben-Uliel to make phone calls to some people, including his wife and young daughter.