Ref: 106/2007
Date: 26 August 2007
Time: 11:30 GMT
Palestinian Prisoner Dies in El-Ramla Prison inside Israel
The Israeli Prisons Authority (IPA) announced on Saturday, 25 August 2007, the death of Omar Ayed Suliman Masalma (22) from the town of Beit Awa west of Hebron. The IPA did not specify the cause of death. However, the victim’s family informed PCHR that their son has been suffering from artery problems since his detention.
PCHR’s preliminary investigation indicates the Israeli Police detained Masalma on 6 February 2006 for working inside Israel with a fake ID and for attempting to assault a police officer. He was sentenced to 27 months in prison. He was spending the sentence in El-Ramla Prison inside Israel. Throughout his detention, Masalma complained to his family and lawyer about medical negligence towards him by the prison administration. He was suffering from problems in his arteries; and the prison administration did not provide adequate health care, present him to a specialized physician, or transfer him to a hospital. Masalma’s family informed PCHR’s fieldworker that on Thursday, 23 August 2007, the victim’s sister, Thekrayat, and her daughter, Arij, visited him in prison. His health condition was stable; but he complained of negligence. On Friday, 24 August 2007, he called his brother Jamal (38) and complained of negligence by the prison administration despite their knowledge of his case. In the afternoon of the same day, Masalma felt pain in the chest and abdomen. The prison doctor gave him a sedative without taking any other steps. In the early morning hours of the following day, Masalma passed away on his bed inside the prison.
It is noted that tens of Palestinian prisoners have died in Israeli jails due to medical negligence. The last prisoner to die before Masalma was Shadi Sa’id El-Sa’ayda (27) from El-Maghazi refugee camp in the center of the Gaza Strip. Shadi died on 31 July 2007 in Soroka Military Hospital in Beersheva inside Israel.
PCHR holds the Israeli government responsible for Masalma’s death, and for the lives and well-being of all prisoners facing the same circumstances due to the policy of willful medical negligence stemming from inhumane holding conditions, physical and psychological torture, and inadequate heath care. The Centre also:
1. Calls for an immediate and impartial inquiry into the death of Masalma.
2. Calls upon the ICRC to increase its activities in monitoring the conditions of Palestinian and Arab prisoners in Israeli prisons.
3. Calls upon the international community to pressure Israel to respect International Humanitarian Law, especially the 4th Geneva Convention, and to respect minimal ideal standards in treating prisoners.
“End”
