Hadash Chairman, MK Mohammed Barakeh, visits on Sunday Palestinian prisoner Samer Issawi, who has been on a hunger strike for over 210 days. MK Barakeh tells journalists that Issawi is at immediate risk because he stopped drinking water and receiving fluids on Friday. Issawi’s protest is meant to convince the international community to intervene on the Palestinian prisoners’ behalf.
Around 4,500 security prisoners in Israel’s jails sent back all three of their meals on Sunday and Monday in a show of solidarity with Palestinian hunger strikers, and to protest the murder of a Palestinian prisoner, Arafat Jaradat, in Israeli Megiddo Prison on Saturday. An autopsy has revealed that Jaradat died of extreme torture in Israeli custody and did not have a cardiac arrest, the PA Minister of Detainee Affairs said Sunday night.
Palestinians protest in front of “Palestine Red Crescent Society” office in the West Bank city of Nablus, in solidarity with hunger striking Palestinian prisoners jailed in Israeli prisons; Ayman Sharawneh (240 days), Samer Issawi (217 days), Tareq Qa’dan and Ja’far Aiz Din (89 days), on Sunday, February 24, 2013 (Photo: Activestills)
At a news conference in Ramallah, Issa Qaraqe said an autopsy conducted in Israel in the presence of Palestinian officials revealed that 30-year-old Jaradat had six broken bones in his neck, spine, arms and legs. “The information we have received so far is shocking and painful. The evidence corroborates our suspicion that Mr. Jaradat died as a result of torture, especially since the autopsy clearly proved that the victim’s heart was healthy, which disproves the initial alleged account presented by occupation authorities that he died of a heart attack,” Qaraqe said.
A spokeswoman for Israel’s Prison Authority said Saturday that Jaradat had apparently died of cardiac arrest in Megiddo prison. An emergency service team had tried to resuscitate him but failed, she said. Qaraqe described the claim as a fabrication and called for a committee to investigate those responsible for Jaradat’s death. The minister said Jaradat had sustained injuries and severe bruising in the upper right back area and severe bruises of sharp circular shape in the right chest area. Jaradat’s heart was in good condition and there were no signs of bruising or stroke, the minister added.
Palestinian Prisoners Society president Qaddura Fares added that the autopsy revealed seven injuries to the inside of Jaradat’s lower lip, bruises on his face and blood on his nose. After the autopsy, Jaradat’s body was transferred to the Palestinian Red Crescent at the Tarqumiya crossing west of Hebron, and taken to the Al-Ahli Hospital. He will be buried on Monday in his hometown Sair. Jaradat’s lawyer Kameel Sabbagh said he was tortured by Israeli interrogators.
On Sunday, thousands of Palestinians protested the death across the West Bank and Gaza, and at least two protesters were injured by live fire in clashes with Israeli forces, including the 13-year-old son of a Preventive Security officer. Dozens more were injured by rubber-coated bullets.
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