Ref: 24/2009

Date: 09 February 2009

Time: 11:00 GMT  

PCHR Calls upon the Government in Ramallah to Investigate Death of a Detainee in Jenin Preventive Security Service Headquarters

The Palestinian Centre for Human Rights (PCHR) calls for an immediate investigation into the circumstances of the death of Mohammed ‘Abdul Jameel al-Hajj, 30, from Jalqamous village, east of Jenin, while he was in the custody of the Preventive Security Service (PSS) in Jenin. PCHR also demands the results of the investigation be made public, and that if the results conclude a crime was committed, or that there was a failure by the PSS to protect Mohammed al-Hajj whilst he was in their custody, those responsible be prosecuted according to the law.

According to investigations conducted by PCHR, at approximately 18:00 on Sunday, 8 February, a Palestinian security source announced that Mohammed ‘Abdul Jameel al-Hajj, had died whilst in PSS custody in Jenin. The source claimed al-Hajj had committed suicide and that the PSS had transferred his body to a medical center to ascertain the cause of death.

The Governor of Jenin, Qaddoura Fares, stated to the Wafa Palestine News Agency that a Palestinian detainee had committed suicide in a detention cell in the PSS headquarters in Jenin. He indicated the individual had been found dead in his cell at 18:00 on 8 February, and had hung himself using a piece of cloth. The body was transferred to hospital, where doctors confirmed the death.

Qaddoura Fares also stated that an autopsy would be performed on the body, and that the office of the Attorney-General would investigate the death in due process. He added that the PSS had arrested al-Hajj because there was evidence that he had been involved in criminal offenses. Fares stated that al-Hajj had not been detained on a political basis, but purely as a result of being suspected of committing criminal offences. He said al-Hajj had been arrested in the past and had signed a commitment not to re-offend. Qaddoura Fares denied that al-Hajj was subjected to torture during his detention.  

On Monday 9 February, Mohye al-Hajj, the brother of the dead man, told PCHR that at approximately 15:00 on the previous Thursday, 5 February, a vehicle with a Palestinian registration plate came to his brother’s house in Jalqamous village. Two people wearing civilian clothes got out of the vehicle and, claiming they were members of the PSS, said they wanted to speak to Mohammed al-Hajj for just five minutes. Since 5 February, no-one from Mohamed al-Hajj’s family had seen him. They had not asked about his whereabouts because he had been arrested on five separate occasions since June 2007. Mohye al-Hajj also indicated that his brother had been released from detention ten days before his last arrest, and that Mohammed al-Hajj had told him he had been subjected to torture during previous detentions. Mohammed al-Hajj also told his brother he had previously been interrogated by PSS about owning a pistol.  

On Monday 9 February, the victim’s body was taken to the Forensic Medicine Department at the College of Medicine in an-Najah National University in Nablus. A PCHR field worker reported that the autopsy started at approximately 11:00 following the family’s approval. At the time of publication, the family has not been permitted to see the body.     

In light of the above:

1)   PCHR calls upon the Palestinian government in Ramallah to seriously investigate         al-Hajj’s death and to make the results public.  

2)   If a crime was proved to have been committed, PCHR calls for those found responsible to be prosecuted according to the law.

3)   PCHR reiterates that torture is prohibited under the Palestinian law, and constitutes a serious violation of international human rights standards and instruments, especially the 1984 Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment, and that crimes of torture remain punishable even in retrospect.  

4)   Stresses that arrests and detentions are regulated by Palestinian law and fall under the mandate of judicial warranty officials, including the civil police, under the supervision of the Attorney-General.