Write to the FCDO about the urgent case of Palestinian political prisoner Walid Daqqah

Walid Daqqah is a 61-year-old Palestinian political prisoner who was diagnosed with a rare form of bone marrow cancer in 2022. His condition has worsened because of medical neglect in Israeli prison, and the authorities have recently refused to release him on humanitarian grounds, despite his need for urgent medical care.

The British government has a legal obligation to uphold Palestinian human rights and the implementation of international humanitarian law, including in the case of prisoners’ rights. Our Palestinian partner organisation Addameer has asked us to write to the Foreign Office and urge them to press Israel to immediately and unconditionally release Walid Daqqah to safeguard his rights and ensure access to the medical treatment he needs.

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Dear Foreign Secretary,
I’m writing to express my urgent concern over the Israeli authorities’ recent decision refusing to release the Palestinian political prisoner Walid Daqqah, who is suffering from severe health issues and needs intensive medical care, which he is being denied. Please would you insist to the government of Israel that prisoners must be given appropriate and timely medical treatment as a part of their fundamental human rights to life, health, and dignity; and given the state of Daqqah’s health now, press Israel to release him immediately so that he can access the care he needs. 
Walid Daqqa is a 61-year-old Palestinian political prisoner who was diagnosed with a rare form of bone marrow cancer in 2022 and has been in dire need of urgent medical attention since then. His original sentence was fully served by March 2023, and he is currently on a two-year extended sentence over spurious charges. Given the state of his health, and the length of his sentence already completed, granting him early release to seek urgent medical treatment and to be with his family is the only humane option.
Palestinian human rights experts have reported that doctors, including Israeli physicians, suspect that Walid Daqqah’s worsening health is a result of the Israeli Prison Service’s systematic practice of deliberate medical neglect, including a recent denial of emergency hospital transfer after he suffered from a stroke in prison in February 2023.
Medical neglect was also a decisive factor in the recent death of the political prisoner Khader Adnan, as well as several others over the past years. Medical neglect in the context of imprisonment is not only immoral and inhumane, but also a grave violation of international humanitarian law.
The FCDO has noted Israel’s repeated violations of the Fourth Geneva Convention in relation to the transfer of prisoners from occupied territory, as well as the systematic violations arising from the detention of children, and Israel’s frequent use of administrative detention against Palestinian prisoners. Medical neglect is also a fundamental violation of the prisoners’ rights and must be treated with the utmost seriousness.
As a contracting party to the Fourth Geneva Convention, the British government has a legal obligation to uphold Palestinian human rights and the implementation of international humanitarian law, including in the case of prisoners’ rights. I urge you to press Israel to immediately and unconditionally release Walid Daqqah to safeguard his rights and ensure access to the medical treatment he needs.
I would appreciate a response to this message detailing what actions the British government will take in respect of this very urgent situation.

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Write to the FCDO about the urgent case of Palestinian political prisoner Walid Daqqah