On the evening of Monday 16 March 2009, Zayid ‘Aayish Jaradat, a 40-year-old father of nine, died in the custody of anti-drugs police in Rafah City.
  According to information made available to Al Mezan Center for Human Rights by Mr.
Jaradat’s wife, Mr.
Jaradat was arrested on Sunday 15 March 2009.
Later the same day, he was taken to his house by a group of police officers wearing police uniforms.
The police demanded that Mr.
Jaradat reveal the whereabouts of drugs located in his house.
Mr.
Jaradat protested his innocence and said that his confession to the possession of drugs had been extracted under physical duress.
According to his wife, he was then beaten in his house in front of his wife and children and taken to an unknown destination.
He was brought back to his house, told to reveal the whereabouts of drugs and beaten in front of his family on two further separate occasions.
  On Monday 16 March at around 15.
30, one of Mr.
Jaradat’s relatives received a telephone call from Abu Yousef An-Najar Hospital in Rafah City in the south of the Gaza Strip saying that Mr.
Jaradat had died and that his body was at the hospital.
The family refused to accept his body until the publication of this statement demanding the disclosure of the circumstances of his death.
  Al Mezan lawyers were able to examine the body of the deceased prior to its submission to the pathologist.
The lawyers observed head injuries and bruises on the neck, the upper and lower limbs, and different parts of the back.
He also observed bleeding from the feet and abrasions on the right and left legs and the right knee - injuries which suggest that the victim was tortured.
  Based on information available to Al Mezan Center, legal procedures related to the arrest and the place of detention were violated.
The victim was arrested without the presentation of an arrest warrant which contravenes Articles 11 and 12 of the Amended Palestinian Basic Law and as well as the Palestinian Criminal Procedures Law.
  Al Mezan Center for Human Rights expresses deep regret for the death of Mr.
Jaradat and condemns the failure to adhere to legal procedures during his arrest, as well as (according to his wife) his subjection to beating in front of his wife and children.
These actions constitute a form of cruel and degrading treatment to which detainees may not be subjected.
Al Mezan Center affirms that mistreatment and torture constitute a grave and unacceptable violation of both human rights standards and Palestinian law; and especially Article 13 of the Amended Palestinian Basic Law.
Al Mezan Center emphasizes that criminal and civil case resultant from the crime of torture shall not be subject to any statute of limitation and that the perpetrators of this crime must be held to account and victims compensated, according to Article 32 of the Amended Palestinian Basic Law.
  Al Mezan Center for Human Rights demands an immediate and effective inquiry into this incident to include an investigation into: the legality of the arrest procedures; the legality of the place of detention; interrogation methods; and the cause of death.
The results of the inquiry must be made public, and those proven to have perpetrated crimes must be brought to justice.
    Ends