29 June '09: Detainee held by Palestinian Authority dies, torture suspected

On 11 June 2009, Palestinian Authority security forces in the West Bank detained Haitham ‘Amru, 33, a resident of Beit a-Roush al-Fauqa, a village in Hebron District. ‘Amru, who was married with three children and worked as a nurse, belonged to Hamas and was a board member of the Islamic Charitable Society. He was taken to the General Security Service's (GSS) detention facility in Hebron, and while there, PA officials denied his family's requests to visit him. Around midnight on 14 June, ‘Amru was taken, in critical condition, from the detention facility to ‘Aliyah Hospital, in Hebron, and was pronounced dead within a few hours of arrival. His body was taken to the Abu Dis Forensic Institute for an autopsy.

A fieldworker for the Palestinian Centre for Human Rights, who saw the corpse before it was buried, reported there were signs of severe bruises all over his body. These signs of bruises, clearly evident on photographs obtained by B'Tselem and in a video broadcast on Al-Jazeera, raise concern that ‘Amru died as a result of torture he sustained at the GSS's interrogation facility.

At first, GSS officials told the media that ‘Amru had jumped from the second floor in an attempt to escape from the detention facility, which led to his death. This claim has not been repeated. GSS officials subsequently stated that the circumstances of ‘Amru's death were being investigated. The forensic report has not been made public. According to media reports, on 15 June, the PA's Preventive Security Force detained an Al-Jazeera television crew for investigation that had filmed the bruised body prior to burial, and forced them to erase sections of their video tapes.

Responsibility for the wellbeing of detainees rests with the authorities holding them. Torture of detainees is absolutely forbidden, and all persons who breach this prohibition bear individual criminal responsibility for their actions. The PA must investigate the death of Haitham ‘Amru and bring the perpetrators to justice, if the investigation's findings indicate wrongdoing. Additionally, the PA must establish clear procedures regarding treatment of detainees, procedures that ensure the detainee's wellbeing and clearly reflect the absolute prohibition on torture.