Palestinian Center for Human Rights (PCHR) demands inquiry into death of man believed to be tortured to death by Palestinian Internal Security Services

Investigation sought after Gaza man tortured to death by security forces

Date: 09 / 02 / 2009  Time:  15:20

Gaza – Ma’an – A Palestinian human rights organization is calling for an investigation in to the death of a Gazan man it says was tortured to death by Palestinian security forces in Gaza. According to the independent Palestinian Center for Human Rights (PCHR), Jameel Shafiq Shaqqura, 51, from Khan Yunis refugee camp Internal Security Services and subsequently died of his injuries. According to PCHR’s investigation, the security forces delivered Shaqqura to a hospital on 31 January. He died on Friday after his condition deteriorated while in custody. The victim’s brother, Aatef Shaqqura told PCHR that on 30 January Jameel and three others were summoned to the Khan Yunis Sports Club for questioning “in a case they knew nothing about.” “At approximately 06:30 on Saturday, 31 January, I received a phone call from a staff member of Nasser Hospital, who informed me that my brother Jameel had been admitted into the hospital and that he was in a serious condition. I went to the hospital immediately,” Aatef Shaqqura said. “When I saw my brother, I saw signs of beating on his head and limbs. Jameel told me that as soon as he and his friends entered Khan Yunis Sports Club, they were handcuffed, blindfolded and taken to an unknown destination, where they were violently beaten. He added that security officers beat him to force him to change a testimony in the case. He fainted due to being subjected to violent beating.” According to PCHR, On Saturday evening, a delegation of Hamas members, headed by Younis Al-Astal, Member of the Palestinian Legislative Council (PLC) went to pay their condolences to the Shaqqura family in Khan Yunis. Al-Astal delivered a speech in which he indicated that Shaqqura had been unjustly killed, and that Hamas was responsible for his death. He added that a commission of inquiry had been established, and the movement would comply with the results of the inquiry. Al-Astal stated that “This offense has made the movement stricter in its instructions to the Internal Security Service.”