RAMALLAH, Palestine, Feb 8 (NNN-WAFA) – Officials of the Palestine Liberation Organisation (PLO), have called for international monitoring over the situation of Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails, after the death of an inmate in custody.
Faris Baroud, 51, from Gaza Strip’s Shati’ refugee camp, died Wednesday, in jail. Palestinian sources said he died as a result of neglect of his medical condition.
Baroud was serving multiple life sentences and has been imprisoned for 28 years.
PLO Executive Committee member, Hanan Ashrawi, said that, Baroud died “as a result of deliberate medical neglect,” adding that, the incident indicates the critical situation of Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails.
Ashrawi called on the international community to intervene immediately and launch an investigation into Baroud’s death and the conditions of other Palestinian prisoners.
PLO Secretary General, Saeb Erekat, said, the Palestinian side is urging the International Criminal Court (ICC) to open a judicial probe with Israeli officials, over Baroud’s death, stressing that, Israeli defence minister, interior minister and prime minister, should be responsible for his death.
PLO’s Detainees Affairs Commission, declared that, it has submitted a request to the Central Israeli Court in Ber Sheva, south of Israel, to hold an autopsy on Baroud, in the presence of a Palestinian forensic doctor, to understand the causes of his death and hand his body over to his family.
The commission said that, Baroud had needed special psychological and medical care, but did not receive the necessary support. He suffered hernia and liver disease and received surgery a few months ago, but was not treated thoroughly.
Baroud was imprisoned in 1991 after being convicted of killing an Israeli settler.
Palestinian official data showed that as many as 219 Palestinian prisoners have died in Israeli jails, including 63, who died of medical neglect.
Meanwhile, the Palestinian Foreign Ministry, said that, it is following up closely with relevant international bodies, most prominently the International Red Cross Society, to “guarantee the accountability of those responsible for this crime.”
The ministry’s statement slammed what it described as “medical neglect crime committed by the Israeli prison authority, that has led to Baroud’s death,” saying that, it consolidates the “hatred and killing mentality that is taking over Israel.”
The Palestinian presidency issued a statement, in which it paid condolences to Baroud’s family and warned against the “continuation of slow killing sequence of Palestinian prisoners.”
According to the PLO’s Detainees Affairs Commission, there are over 6,000 Palestinians in Israeli jails, including nearly 250 children, 54 women and 27 prisoners, who have been serving sentences longer than 30 years.– NNN-WAFA
