PRESS RELEASE

Released @ 12.00 hours GMT 1st July 1997

Palestinian man dies while under detention of Palestinian security services in Gaza

Sami Ali Muhammed Abed Rabbu, (resident of Jabaliya village, 40 years old, married and the father of eight children), died yesterday 30th June 1997 while under detention at the Saraia Prison in Gaza.

Abed Rabbu was arrested on 15th February 1997 by the Directorate General of Intelligence (DGI) and has been held under detention for these past four months. His family has been allowed to visit him once during this period, in April. Family sources state that they were informed of his death in a phone-call to the Mukhtar, (head of the family), from the DGI at around 16.30 local time yesterday 30th June, and that he had died as a result of a blood clot.

Abed Rabbu, had previously been arrested twice by Palestinian security services for suspected collaboration with Israeli authorities. On one of these occasions, while under arrest by the Preventative Security, he also suffered from a blood clot located in his leg.

The Palestinian Centre for Human Rights expresses its deep concern over the circumstances of Abed Rabbu’s death and the suspicious circumstances in which his body was buried. Accordingly the Palestinian Centre has submitted a complaint to the Palestinian Authority (acting) Attorney-General, Mr. Mazen Sesalem, demanding that an investigation be conducted into the circumstances of the death of Sami Abed Rabbu, in accordance with Palestinian law, which requires the appointment of an investigating judge in cases of death in detention or prison. The Palestinian Centre also requires an explanation as to why an autopsy has not been carried out.