Thursday, August 18, 2022, 18:53 Once again, the Prison Service has added a stringency to the prison conditions of Amiram Ben Uliel. This time, the Prison Service denied Ben Uliel’s request to hug his daughter during the last ten minutes of their visit. The standard regulation for security prisoners is to allow them family visits separated by a glass partition, and small children are permitted to pass the glass partition during the last ten minutes of the visit to hug their parent. With regard to Ben Uliel, for a long time the Prison Service has been making it very difficult for his daughter to pass the partition at the end of the visit, but usually allows him to hug his daughter. For the first time, the Prison Service has denied the request submitted by Honenu Attorney Adi Keidar for Ben Uliel’s daughter to hug her father at their next visit, which is expected to take place on Friday.
Honenu Attorney Adi Keidar: “Amiram Ben Uliel is imprisoned under the most severe conditions in the Prison Service. The only contact that he has with his family is a short visit every two weeks. Unfortunately and surprisingly, the Prison Service has rejected our formal request; his daughter is usually allowed to pass the partition at visits. On the other hand, we see the prison conditions that Arab terrorists are granted: open wings, some of them with telephones, family visits, fancy meals, and more. It is sad and saddening. Amiram Ben Uliel is in a closed cell, and they only make his prison conditions worse. I call on Commissioner [Katy Perry] to stop harassing Ben Uliel. The harassment is illegal, immoral, and genuine persecution.”
Amiram Ben Uliel is being held under extremely harsh prison conditions in Eshel Prison in southern Israel. He is in a high-security wing, in isolation, without any contact with other prisoners. He is allowed to leave his cell for only two hours a day, alone, to an empty, closed-in prison yard. Contrary to other prisoners, he is prohibited from phoning either his family or his attorneys. His family is allowed to visit him once every two weeks for approximately half an hour, separated by a glass partition. Additionally, he is not allowed to go to the prison synagogue to pray with a minyan and he is allowed to keep only five holy books in his cell.
Ben Uliel’s daughter, Malchut, was only 11 months old when her father was suddenly taken in by the GSS for torturous interrogations, and he has been held under very severe conditions, in isolation, since then. In March 2022, prior to a Supreme Court appeal hearing, a protest was held, and the announcements read, “After six years of struggle, the moment of truth has come. Before the appeal by Amiram Ben Uliel we will all come and raise the call: Stop the torture. Release Amiram!”
Malchut recorded a brief video asking for supporters to participate in the protest. The complete message is as follows: “Am Yisrael, come to the protest on Sunday! It’s very hard for me. My Abba has been in prison for many years. Please come to the protest.”