[prisoner-rights] Israel: Lack of medical assistance results in death of a Palestinian prisoner

24/2/2003:
Case ISR 240203
Death in detention / Ill-treatment / Torture

The International Secretariat of OMCT requests your URGENT intervention in 
the following situation in Israel and the Occupied Territories.

Brief description of the situation

The International Secretariat of OMCT has been informed by the Palestinian 
Society for the Protection of Human Rights and the Environment (LAW), a 
member of the OMCT network, of the a death in detention of a Palestinian 
prisoner, following an alleged lack of appropriate medical assistance, as 
well as continuing ill-treatment and torture of other Palestinian detainees 
in Israel and the Occupied Territories.

According to the information received, Walid Mohammad Issa Amr (34) from 
Doura, near Hebron died in the Nafha desert prison in the Negev desert at 
around 8pm on Wednesday, February 19th, 2003, after what appears to be 
medical negligence on behalf of the Prisons Administration, according to 
Walid's brother, Wael (32). According to Wael, his brother called him at 
around 8pm on Tuesday and told him of his worsening medical condition and 
that the prison administration was neglecting his case. Walid was 
reportedly already ill prior to imprisonment. LAW's lawyer, Khaled al-Araj 
was taking Walid Amr's case.

Walid had been held for approximately 16 months, although he had not been 
sentenced. He was apparently accused of being a member of the al-Aqsa 
Martyr's brigade, a militia connected to Fatah, and of planning to carry 
out a military operation. Walid was married and had six children, the 
oldest of whom is 13 years old, with the youngest being one and a half 
years old. According the Palestinian Prisoners Association (PPA), he was 
imprisoned on December 12, 2001. The PPA also noted that inmates at Nafha 
have been on strike for the past four days, by refusing to leave their 
cells. Around 2,300 Palestinians are currently in Israeli detention. LAW 
estimates that during this Intifada over 24,000 Palestinians have been 
detained by Israel, with detentions having ranged from hours to months to 
years.

According to the information received, there are grave concerns for the 
physical and psychological integrity of these Palestinian prisoners, who 
are being subjected to ill-treatment, which in certain circumstances amount 
to torture, by both the prison administration and the so-called civil 
administration. On February 19th, 2003, Palestinian prisoners in the 'Kfar 
Asion' military detention centre in southwest Bethlehem, and in the Salem 
military detention centre, located west of Jenin, have complained of 
physical violence, a lack of appropriate medical treatment and other forms 
of ill-treatment. In addition, these prisoners are being kept alongside 
convicted criminals.

Monir Manasra, a prisoner who was able to see LAW's lawyer, Jawad Imawi, 
during a visit to Kfar Asion, spoke of the case of 'Abd al-Hakim Talahmeh 
(47), from al-Dura, who has high blood pressure, depression, and memory 
loss. Manasra told LAW that as treatment, a medical officer gave Talahmeh 
pills that caused him to lose consciousness for three days. The prisoners 
told Imawi that they are beaten regularly, and forced to sit on a 'shabeh' 
a chair, which forces the back forward to an extremely painful position. 
Long periods on this chair cause severe pain in the back, arms and legs. 
Reports also indicate that prison cells that are meant to accommodate five 
persons have up to 10 and 11 prisoners in them, and cells meant to 
accommodate 12 prisoners are being used to hold 22 persons. Furthermore, 
prisoners complained of extremely poor food, that they are fed the 
leftovers of the Israeli soldiers meals, and are given very small portions. 
They are only given breakfast at 2pm, while 'dinner' is served at 1am.

Prisoners at the Salem military detention centre also complained of similar 
conditions, including overcrowding, physical violence and torture, poor 
food (two pieces of Arabic bread with yogurt or butter for the day); 
permission to go to the toilet for one hour for all prisoners, and bans on 
going to the toilet beyond that time; no medical staff at the prison, and 
for those who are extremely sick, soldiers only provide 'acamol' pills, a 
form of pain killer.

OMCT considers that Israel's treatment of Palestinian detainees is in 
violation of Article 10 of the UN Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, 
which guarantees the humane treatment for all persons who are deprived of 
their liberty, and does not meet the United Nations Standard Minimum Rules 
for the Treatment of Prisoners, the Body of Principles for the Protection 
of All Persons Under Any Form of Detention or Imprisonment and the Basic 
Principles for the Treatment of Prisoners.

Furthermore, the failure of the Israeli authorities to ensure that 
detainees receive adequate medical care violates article 91 of the Fourth 
Geneva Convention, which guarantees the right of detainees to obtain the 
medical attention they require: detainees suffering from serious diseases, 
or whose situation requires special care, surgery, or hospital facilities, 
must be referred to a proper institution to receive the necessary care 'not 
inferior to that provided for the general population'.

The International Secretariat of OMCT is therefore gravely concerned by the 
death in detention of Walid Mohammad Issa Amr, given the alleged negligence 
on the part of the authorities, as well as for the physical and 
psychological integrity of thousands of Palestinian prisoners who are still 
in custody, without charge or trial, who are often being held under 
administrative detention orders that may be renewed indefinitely. OMCT 
calls on the Israeli government to ensure that the rights of detainees are 
protected in accordance with international human rights and humanitarian law.

Action requested

Please write to the authorities in Israel urging them to:

i. take all necessary measures to guarantee the physical and psychological 
integrity of all Palestinian prisoners;
ii. order their immediate release in the absence of valid legal charges or, 
if such charges exist, bring them before an impartial and competent 
tribunal and guarantee their procedural rights at all times;
iii. guarantee an immediate investigation into the circumstances of these 
events, notably the alleged negligence which has led to the death of Walid 
Mohammad Issa Amr and all other ill-treatment and torture allegations, in 
order to identify those responsible, bring them before a civil competent 
and impartial tribunal and apply the penal, civil and/or administrative 
sanctions provided by law;
iv. guarantee adequate reparation to all injured people and Walid Mohammad 
Issa Amr's family;
v. guarantee the respect of human rights and the fundamental freedoms 
throughout the country in accordance with international human rights standards.

Addresses

· Ariel Sharon, Prime Minister, Office of the Prime Minister, 3 Kaplan 
Street, P O Box 187, Jerusalem 91919, Israel, Fax: +972 2 6705475; E-mail: 
pm_eng@pmo.gov.il
· Meir Sheetrit, Minister of Justice, Ministry of Justice, 29 Salah al-Din 
Street, Jerusalem 91010, Israel, Fax: +972 2 6285438, E-mail: 
sar@justice.gov.il
· Brig. Gen. Menachem Finkelstein, Chief Military Attorney, Military postal 
code 9605, Israeli Defense Forces (IDF), Israel, Fax: +972 3 5694370

Please also write to the embassies of Israel in your respective country.

Geneva, February 24th, 2003

Kindly inform us of any action undertaken quoting the code of this appeal 
in your reply.