Ref: 18/2015
Date: 09 April 2015

The Palestinian Center for Human Rights (PCHR) follows up with deep concern the death of a detainee in a detention cell of the Palestinian Military Intelligence Service in Hebron yesterday and calls for conducting an impartial and serious investigation and publishing its results as soon as possible. PCHR calls also for prosecuting the public servants working in the detention facility if it is judicially proven that there was negligence or failure to preserve the detainee’s life.

According to investigations conducted by PCHR, at approximately 20:30 on Wednesday, 08 April 2015, Hebron Hospital pronounced Rabee’ Mahmoud Mousa al-Jamal “Abu Snaina” (37), from southern Hebron, dead as he sustained burns because the cell in which he was detained alone was burnt.

At approximately 19:30, a detention cell caught fire in the headquarters of the Military Intelligence Service in Ein Arab Street in the center of Hebron without identifying the reason of that fire. As a result, Rabee’ al-Jamal, first assistant at the Palestinian Preventive Security Service, who was detained on the same day, passed away. Al-Jamal was taken to Hebron Hospital and was pronounced dead. His corpse was referred to Abu Dees Forensic Medicine Institute, but no results have been published so far.

PCHR learnt that the Palestinian Authority declared forming an inquiry commission consisting of five members, who are the chiefs of security services in the city.

Following the death of the abovementioned person, security backups arrived at the scene, where angry civilians set fire to tires in different streets of the city. Besides, heavy gunfire was heard in some neighborhoods. Later on, in the early morning, a 10-day truce was reached between the victim’s family and security services.