Ref: 97/2010

The Palestinian Center for Human Rights (PCHR) calls upon
the Attorney-General’s office to seriously investigate subjecting Na’im
Khammash, from the Central Gaza Strip town of Deir al-Balah, to beating and
torture by the Palestinian police during interrogation, which led to
deterioration to his health condition and a kidney layover.

According to investigations conducted by PCHR, at
approximately 19:00 on Wednesday, 06 October 2010, a number of militants
wearing civilian clothes forced Na’im Suleiman Khammash, 21, from Deir
al-Balah, to travel with them in a vehicle in Abu Houli area in the south of
the town. They transported him towards a
police station near al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital. They stopped there and violently beat him. They then transported him to the anti-drug
police station near the Municipality of Deir al-Balah, where they detained him
until Thursday evening, 07 October 2010. During interrogation about his relations with a relative who was wanted
by the police, he was subjected to beating and torture. In his testimony to PCHR, Khammash stated:

“Police officers tied me to a
pillar, and two of them tied my feet reversely. They then tied my hands backwards and upwards. While I was tied, they violently beat me
using sticks. Nearly 7 hours later, I
felt sick, so the police officer transported me to al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital,
where I underwent medical checking. I
was then taken back to the police station. They phoned my father who came to took me out.”

In his testimony to PCHR, Suleiman Hamdan Khammash, 65, the
father, stated:

“At approximately 00: on
Friday, we received a phone call from a persons who introduced himself as an
anti-drug police officer. He requested
us to go to take my son, Na’im. I went
to the police, where I found my son lying on the ground. Two police officer carried him into my car,
and we traveled back home. I saw
inflammations on the feet and hands of my son, and signs of tying. He was suffering from severe pains throughout
his body. At approximately 11:00 on
Saturday, 9 October 2010, I transported Na’im to al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital for
medical checking, but doctors asked me to come on the following day. At approximately 00:00 on Sunday, 10 October
2010, Na’im’s health condition deteriorated, so we transported him to the
hospital. According to medical checking,
he was suffering from a kidney layover. They made dialysis for him was taken to the intensive care unit.”

According to a PCHR field worker, Na’im is still placed in
the intensive care unit, where dialyses are made for him from time to
time. According to the field worker’s
observations, there are signs of ties and torture on Na’im’s Khammash’s
body. 

PCHR condemns subjecting Na’im Khammash to beating and
torture, and:

1) Calls upon the Attorney-General to seriously investigate
this crime and prosecute its perpetrators. 

2) Reminds that torture is prohibited under the Palestinian
law, and it constitutes a serious violation of international human rights
instruments, particularly the Convention against Torture and Other Cruel,
Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment of 1984. PCHR stresses that torture crimes remain
punishable all the time and the perpetrators cannot escape justice.

3) Calls for stopping the practice of torture by security
officers in detention centers of the Palestinian Authority.