NOVANEWS
PCHR Calls for Investigating Circumstances of Detainee’s Death in Deir al-Balah Investigation Service Facility
The Palestinian Center for Human Rights (PCHR) calls upon the Attorney General in Gaza to initiate an investigation in the death of the detainee Salem Eid (40) in Deir al-Balah Investigation Service facility yesterday, few hours after he was arrested, and to publish the investigation results.
According to information obtained by PCHR from the victim’s family, at approximately 01:00 on Wednesday, 17 February 2016, the family of Ashraf Salem Eid (40) was informed of Ashraf’s death while he was detained in Deir al-Balah Investigation Service facility and the corpse was transported to al-Aqsa Hospital in Deir al-Balah. Monir Salem Eid (44), the victim’s brother, said to a PCHR’s fieldworker that his brother was summoned on Monday, 15 February 2016, to refer to Deir al-Balah Criminal Investigation Service to be questioned on grounds of the murder of his uncle Nawaf Selmi Eid on the previous day inside his apartment in al-Zawayda area in the central Gaza Strip.
Ashraf was released on the same day, but on the next day morning, 16 February 2016, he was summoned again for interrogation. Monir added that he tried to visit his brother at Deir al-Balah Investigation Service facility, but he was told that his brother was not there. In addition, at 01:00 yesterday, one of his relatives told him that his brother was dead and the corpse was in al-Aqsa Hospital in Deir al-Balah. When Monir saw the corpse of his brother in the morgue, he noticed blue signs on the wrists.
Chief of the Central Gaza Strip Police said to PCHR’s fieldworker that Eid was suffering from diabetes, but he sustained circulatory collapse while being detained in the facility. Therefore, he was transported by an ambulance to al-Aqsa Hospital in Deir al-Balah, but he died on his way to the hospital. The victim’s family denied that Ashraf was suffering from diabetes, they refused to receive and anatomize the corpse unless by an unbiased doctor.
In light of the above, PCHR:
1. Calls upon the Attorney General and the Ministry of Interior in Gaza to initiate an investigation in the death of the detainee Salem Eid and publish the investigation results; and
2. Stresses that the Palestinian Authority (PA) is responsible for the lives of all prisoners and detainees inside the detention facilities; therefore, the PA is responsible for treating them in dignity, including offering medical care, according to the 1998 Correction and Rehabilitation Centers’ Law
