Statement on Death of Jamal Saraheen

MENSCHENFREUNDE INTERNATIONAL
GESELLSCHAFT FUER MENSCHENRECHTE
VIENNA - AUSTRIA

Exclusive

Friends of Humanity International:

The incessant deaths are evidence of the insufficiency of medical care
The demise of prisoner Jamal Saraheen is a true example of the
premature deaths among prisoners

Friends of Humanity International stated that the Israeli Government
and its security systems bear the responsibility of the death of the
Palestinian prisoner Jamal Hasan Saraheen (35 years) at the desert
jail of Naqab.

The organization added that the medical negligence policy practiced
by the Israeli jails authority and army combined with the inhuman
conditions endured by the prisoners at the jails are the direct cause
of the recurrent deaths among prisoners either during the period of
imprisonment of after release.

The human rights organization indicated that the demise of prisoner
Jamal Saraheen is a true example of the premature death cases which
are avoidable in case the necessary medical treatment is given to the
prisoners. It also noted that the successive deaths among prisoners
serve as a strong indication of the bad quality of the medical
services available at the Israeli jails.

The organization, which devotes substantial attention to the issue of
the medical care given to the Palestinian prisoners, demanded the
Israeli government through several reports and messages to take
measures to improve the standard of the medical services provided to the prisoners and to respond positively to their entire medication and treatment needs.

It is worth mentioning that Tuesday 16 January, witnessed the demise
of the Palestinian prisoner Jamal Hasan Saraheen from Beit Owla, a
village situated in the suburbs of Hebron (to the south of the West
Bank), at the Israeli jail in the desert of Naqab.

The deceased prisoner suffered from numerous blood and lungs diseases at the time when the jail administration refused to hospitalize him.The prisoner, who was imprisoned and subjected to despotic administrative detention on 18 May 2006, had neither been charged nor brought before a just trial. On the contrary, the administrative detention was extended in November for an additional period of six
months like the case of the thousands of Palestinian prisoners who are taken to jail without trial.

Saraheen was previously detained for periods of time making up to six
years during which he was deprived of proper medical treatment, a
condition that aggravated his illness and caused his death.

(Following the death of Jamal Saraheen 11,000 Palestinian political prisoners went on a one day hunger strike, in protest.
All emphsis is mine. B.M.)

Vienna, 18 January 2007
FRIENDS OF HUMANITY INTERNATIONAL / HUMAN RIGHTS ORGANIZATION
Hirschstettnerstrasse 19-21/D00, 1220 Vienna, Austria

Tel : 0043 1 2028501

Fax: 0043 1 2028547
E-mail: mfi.info@aon.at