Al Mezan Questions the Role Israeli Authorities Play in Death of Palestinian Detainee and Calls for Thorough Investigation

The Al Mezan Center for Human Rights questions the role the Israeli authorities played in the death of Maysara Ahmed Abu Hamdiya who passed away from throat cancer after stating medical negligence.
In the morning hours of Tuesday 2 April 2013, Abu Hamdiya was pronounced dead in the intensive care unit at Soroka Hospital in Beer Sheva, Israel.
Prior to his death, Abu Hamdiya reported delays and ill treatment.
After determined to be terminally ill, he was not released from prison, a move that Al Mezan sharply criticizes.
When visiting Abu Hamdiya in the hospital, the lawyer of the Palestinian Prisoners’ Club reported finding Abu Hamdiya fully shackled during his chemotherapy treatment.
The lawyer requested the removal of the cuffs, but to no avail.
The Palestinian Prisoners’ Club reported that Abu Hamdiya was referred to Soroka Hospital from Ishil prison due to the severe deterioration in his health.
In a recent press statement, Abu Hamdiya’s lawyer cited the quick deterioration in Abu Hamdiya’s health as swollen glands, weight loss, muscle and rib pain, and an inability to sleep.
He also stated that Abu Hamdiya lost consciousness on several occasions, sustaining injuries from his falls.
Abu Hamdiya was unable to speak due to the cancer in his throat.
According to Al Mezan’s interviews with 300 ex-detainees who were released in the prisoner swap on 18 October 2011, Palestinian detainees are routinely subjected to both physical and psychological abuse while in detention.
Many of the ex-detainees reported medical negligence as delays, insufficient treatment, and neglect.
A recent case also brought to light the use of torture in Israeli prisons.
Palestinian prisoner, ‘Arafat Jaradat, 30, died shortly after interrogation; his autopsy report showed severe physical abuse.
Jaradat, from Hebron, died in Majedo prison in Israel in February 2013.
Al Mezan expresses grave concern over the reported physical abuse and medical neglect of Palestinian prisoners in Israel, coming to light again with the recent death of Abu Hamdiya.
To this end, Al Mezan calls for an immediate, thorough, and independent investigation into Abu Hamdiya’s death and sharply criticizes the Israeli authorities for failing to release a terminally ill patient.
Al Mezan calls on the international community, particularly the High Contracting Parties to the Fourth Geneva Convention, to exert pressure on Israel to respect its obligations under International Law and uphold the United Nations Standard Minimum Rules for the Treatment of Prisoners of 1955 and relating principles.
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