A/HRC/23/21 formally recorded, 22 the Palestinian Authority’s chief medical examiner, Saber Aloul, observed the autopsy and reported clear indications of ill-treatment and torture on the body of the previously healthy 30-year-old Palestinian. He reported that Mr. Jaradat’s death had been caused by nervous shock resulting from severe pain owing to injuries inflicted through direct and extreme torture. Dr. Aloul found that Mr. Jaradat displayed severe bruising on his upper back, deep bruising along the spine and significant bruising on both sides of the chest. The autopsy uncovered bruising on both of his arms and inside his mouth, blood around his nose and three fractured ribs. 23 The death of a prisoner during interrogation is always a cause for concern, but Israel remains firmly committed to impunity for its officials who interrogate Palestinians, as evidenced by a study that determined that, between 2001 and 2011, more than 700 complaints of abuse by Israeli security agents interrogating Palestinians resulted in not one criminal investigation.24 In this context, there is a clear need for an outside, credible investigation to clarify the circumstances that led to Mr. Jaradat’s death. 36. On 2 April 2013, another Palestinian died while imprisoned by Israel. By all accounts, Maysara Abu Hamdiyeh died from cancer. Still, the Special Rapporteur received credible allegations regarding inadequate health care that may amount to medical neglect. Such allegations included a four-month delay in sending Mr. Abu Hamdiyeh to a hospital, providing him with the wrong medication, and then transferring him to an eye doctor when he was suffering from throat pain and had swollen lymph and salivary glands. The Special Rapporteur was informed that Israel had denied Ms. Abu Hamdiyeh’s sons visitation rights for 11 years, and did not release him even when it was confirmed that his cancer was terminal. Mr. Abu Hamdiyeh died chained to a bed in a prison, without the presence of – or even any chance to say goodbye to – his family. His death in these circumstances should be considered in the context of years of reports of lack of access to health care and medical neglect suffered by Palestinians detained by Israel. 25 According to information provided to the Special Rapporteur, at least 54 cases of clear medical neglect have resulted in the death of Palestinians in Israeli prisons. 37. The sense of hopelessness ground into Palestinian prisoners by Israel has caused many to launch hunger strikes to protest against their treatment and conditions of their detention.26 At the end of the period under review, seven Palestinians were on a hunger strike: 27 Samer Al-Barq, Samer Al-Issawi; Younis Al-Hroub, Muhammad Ahmad AnNajjar, Zakariyah Al-Heeh Ibrahim Al-Sheikh Khalil and Hazem Al-Tawil. Each was protesting against being detained indefinitely without charge. Mr. Al-Issawi had been on a hunger strike for an extraordinarily long period and was in danger of death. According to media reports, Israel was offering to release him on the condition that he \ be forcibly 22 23 24 25 26 27 Mission of Israel to the UN in Geneva, Autopsy on Palestinian detainee Arafat Jaradat, 28 February 2013. Available from http://embassies.gov.il/UnGeneva/NewsAndEvents/Pages/Autopsy-onPalestinian-detainee-Arafat-Jaradat.aspx. www.alhaq.org/images/stories/PDF/2012/Arafat_Jaradat.pdf. ”Torture and abuse under interrogation”, B’Tselem, 1 January 2011. Available from www.btselem.org/torture/impunity. See A/66/358 and A/67/550. See also “Oversight and Transparency in the Israeli Penal System”, Physician’s for Human Rights – Israel, July 2008. Available from www.phr.org.il/uploaded/‫דוח‬%20‫שקיפות‬%20‫ובקרה‬.pdf. “Palestinian on Hunger Strike ‘in Mortal Danger’", theRealNews.com, 23 March 2012. Available from http://therealnews.com/t2/index.php? option=com_content&task=view&id=31&Itemid=74&jumival=8123. “Eight on Hunger Strike: Hunger Strikes are the Weapon of Prisoners in the Fight Against Administrative Detention”, Addameer, 10 March 2013. Available from www.addameer.org/etemplate.php?id=584. 15