Israel must free mentally-ill detainee

A 35-year-old Palestinian man in Israeli jail is suffering from schizophrenia and should be released for medical treatment, the PA ministry of prisoners affairs said on Saturday. Karam Sulaiman Ahmad Issa, from Balata refugee camp near Nablus, is being held in Israel's Megiddo prison after he was detained in March 2011. He was accused of trying to shoot a solider near al-Hamra checkpoint in the West Bank, but relatives said he was not carrying a weapon and was instead injured by Israeli forces. Lawyer with the ministry Fadi Abedat said Issa was diagnosed with the psychiatric disorder in al-Ramla hospital, and an Israeli court was meant to release him for treatment abroad after it received a report on his medical condition. Issa, who is married and has two children, sleeps most of the time and is confused during his waking hours, Abedat said after visiting the prisoner. "The detainee doesn’t know who he is and who he’s talking to or the date of his detention and all he talks about is him wanting to go home," the lawyer said. The ministry released a report detailing the situation of some 35 Palestinian detainees suffering from various physiological disorders, who they say do not receive appropriate treatment in jail. Israeli authorities prescribe the patients with sleep-inducing drugs and hold them in isolation cells, exacerbating their condition, the report said.