At approximately 8:00 am on Tuesday, 25 April 2017, inmates at the Rehabilitation and Reform Center in Deir Al Balah found the lifeless body of Mohammed Ashour Barbakh, 42, resident of Khan Younis. Mohammed’s body was referred to Al Shifa Hospital in Gaza City for forensic examination.

In his affidavit to Al Mezan Center for Human Rights, Mohammed’s uncle, Faraj Mohmammed Barbakh, stated that he received a phone call from one of his relatives around 9 am on Tuesday informing him of Mohammed’s death. Farj and other family members went to the detention center where the director informed them that Mohammed was found lying motionless and unconscious during the regular morning cell check conducted by guards. He was immediately transferred to the Al Aqsa Hospital in Deir Al Balah where he was pronounced dead.

Iyad Al Buzum, the Ministry of Interior spokesperson, stated that Mohammed’s cellmates tried to wake him up in the morning, but to no avail. The forensic examination conducted at Al Shifa hospital revealed that the cause of death was suffocation; traces of rope around his neck was cited. The police opened an investigation into the incident. 

Mohammed Barbakh was detained at Khan Younis police station on 15 December 2016 on criminal charges. On 8 January 2017, he was moved to the Deir Al Balah prison. He asked the prison administration to be kept in a cell holding detainees who have hepatitis. While Mohammed himself was not said to have the disease, he wanted to be in the same cell as his brother who was later released on 16 February 2017. He was never moved out of that cell. 

Al Mezan regrets the death of Barbakh and calls for a credible and transparent investigation by the relevant authorities in the Gaza Strip. Al Mezan asserts that every incidence of death inside of a prison must be investigated swiftly and in accordance with the law, and that the results of the investigation must be dealt with in an open and transparent manner.