Ref: 144/2007
Date: 23 October 2007
Time: 11:30 GMT
After Killing a Palestinian Prisoner by Excessive Force in the Israeli Negev Detention Center: PCHR Calls for an Impartial International Commission and for Ensuring Israel’s Respect of Prisoners’ Rights
PCHR is extremely concerning by the killing of the Palestinian prisoner Mohammad Sati El-Ashqar (29) from the town of Saida north of Tulkarm in the Israeli detention center in the Negev desert. El-Ashqar was killed in the early morning hours of Monday, 22 October 2007, when the Israeli Prison Service (IPS) riot dispersal unit, Metsada, used excessive force when raiding sections G1 and G2 of the prison. The Centre stresses the need for the international community and related international humanitarian organizations to intervene so as to put an end to Israeli measures against thousands of Palestinian prisoners detained in Israeli prisons and detention centers. In this regard, the Centre specifically points to treating prisoners inhumanely and in a degrading manner, and holding them under inhumane and degrading conditions, in violation of human rights standards and the Fourth Geneva Convention.
Al-Ashqar was killed in the early morning hours of Monday, 22 October 2007, as a result of an injury sustained in the head during the raid by the Metsada Unit to sections G1 and G2 of Ketsa’ot Detention Center in the Negev Desert. It is noted that this detention center was reopened in April 2002, and holds approximately two thousand Palestinian prisoners out of approximately eleven thousand Palestinians held in Israel. Al-Ashqar was married with one child. He was due for release in three months after serving a 3-year sentence.
PCHR’s preliminary investigation indicates that approximately 2:00 on Monday, 22 October 2007, a force of about 550 members of the Metsada Unit raided sections G1 and G2 of the Ketsa’ot Detention Center. The raid was under the pretext of searching for outlawed materials, and to enforce movement of some prisoners. The raid was in violation of an agreement between the IPS and prisoners not to conduct any unannounced night raids after the evening prisoner count. The armed raiding force used tear gas grenades and sound charges as well as unknown fragmentation burning projectiles and metallic projectiles. Approximately 30 prisoners were injured.
The continuous raid and subsequent clashes with prisoners that lasted for 2 hours led to the injury of another 30 prisoners. Four prisoners were taken to Soroka Hospital in Beersheva, including 3 suffering from serious injuries. The seriously injured prisoners are: Sufian Jamjoum from Hebron, Osama Sawafta from Tubas, and Mohammad Al-Ashqar from Saida near Tulkarm who died of his injury.
In a statement published on the web site of Haaretz Newspaper on Tuesday, 23 October 2007, “Major General Eli Gavison, head of the IPS’s southern district, confirmed that jailers had fired ‘nonlethal objects’ at the crowd, and that caused the prisoner’s injury. He refused to specify the exact ‘nonlethal means’ the wardens had used. However, he did say that the mortally wounded prisoner was hit in the head by a small bag filled with pellets of some kind.”
PCHR in its capacity as the legal representative of the victim’s family is currently constructing the legal file necessary to submit a complaint requesting for an investigation into the circumstances of Al-Ashqar’s death, to pursue and prosecute the responsible parties, and to compensate the family for damages.
The use of force and maltreatment of Palestinian prisoners in Israeli prisons, in addition to holding them under inhumane and degrading conditions, constitute violations of human rights and the minimum standard conditions for Standard Minimum Rules for the Treatment of Prisoners. These violations reflect an official Israeli policy. Furthermore, it is noted that the current Director of the IPS, Beni Kaniak, who was appointed by the current Israeli Minister of Internal Security, Avi Dichter, has launched wide scale attacks on Palestinian prisoners that have voided many privileges they achieved after several hunger strikes. The IPS Director’s measures included:
– Reduction in food and cleaning materials rations.
– Adding additional entries to the lists of items prohibited from reaching prisoners.
– Confiscation of prisoners’ money and preventing the money sent by families from reaching them.
– Adding restrictions on preconditions to visitation rights, preventing Gaza Strip families from visiting their imprisoned kin, as well as banning hundreds of West Bank families from visiting their imprisoned kin under outrageous security and non-security excuses.
– Renewal and wide scale use of solitary confinement.
– Continuation of periodic movement of prisoners to annul any sense of stability.
– Repeated unannounced night raids.
PCHR condemns the use of force by the Metsada Unit during the raid on sections G1 and G2 of the Ketsa’ot Detention Center, which led to the death of Mohammad Al-Ashqar and injury of many others. The Centre holds the IPS responsible for the injury and death of Al-Ashqar. After the announcement of Al-Ashqar’s death, the Centre holds the IPS and for any additional casualties if confrontations resume in Israeli prisons between Palestinian prisoners and the Israeli units codenamed Nakhshon and Matsada, which are specialized in dispersing prisoners.
The Centre warns against giving a free hand to the 2 units mentioned above to use arms during dispersing Palestinian prisoners inside Israeli jails. And in light of these developments, the Centre calls:
– Upon the international community to form an impartial commission of inquiry immediately so as to determine the circumstances surrounding the death of Mohammad Al-Ashqar.
– Upon the ICRC to move quickly to visit Israeli prisons, especially Ketsa’ot Detention Centre to evaluate the conditions of Palestinian prisoners, especially in light of the current state of tension.
– Upon the international community and related international organizations to ensure Israel’s respect for human rights and its responsibilities towards Palestinian prisoners, especially those pertaining to the treatment of prisoners and their holding conditions.
