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PRESS RELEASES 2000
Jerusalem, June
07, 2000
First death in PA custody this
year
Khaled Mohammed Younis al-Bahar (35) died in the custody of
Palestinian police at Dhaheria prison yesterday, June 6
2000. Khaled left behind his wife and six children. He was
arrested on May 25 2000 by the Preventive Security Service
without being presented with any charges. Khaled’s family
still claims not to know what the charges were, and his
father were not allowed to visit him in prison.
Khaled was found dead in his cell at 6.00 p.m. yesterday,
and was taken to Hebron for autopsy against the wish of the
family. They demanded the autopsy to be performed in Abu-Kabri
(Tel Aviv), something that was refused by the PA. It was
agreed to hold the autopsy in Abu-Dis, providing that two
physicians from the family’s side attended as observers.
Colonel Jibril al-Rajoub, Head of the Preventive Security
Service in the West Bank announced today in Al Quds
newspaper that Khaled died of a heart attack, this before
the results of the autopsy have been released.
Ten minutes after Bassem Eid, the director of the
Palestinian Human Rights Monitoring Group (PHRMG), gave an
interview about this case on radio, our office received a
phone call from Riyad Kabaha, a lieutenant at the
Palestinian police in Ramallah. He demanded to know the
whereabouts’ of Bassem Eid and to get his mobile phone
number.
Since the establishment of the Palestinian Authority, this
is the 23rd death in the custody in Palestinian prisons. In
none of the cases, autopsy reports were released. In each
case, the PA established an investigating committee to look
into the deaths, but until today there exist no conclusions
or recommendations from these committees.
The Palestinian Human Rights Monitoring Group (PHRMG)
strongly protests against the practice of not releasing
autopsy reports or medical reports of prisoners who die in
Palestinian custody. The families of the deceased have the
right to receive autopsy reports and any medical evidence
collected. Further, The PHRMG call upon the Palestinian
Authority to establish a forensic department totally
independent from the Ministry of Justice, the Ministry of
Prisoners Affairs and the Palestinian police and security
forces.
For more information, contact the PHRMG office: Tel: 972 2
6262463, Fax: 972 2 6262378, E-mail: admin@phrmg.org
http://www.phrmg.org
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