Palestine calls for an international inquiry into death of Palestinian detainee in Israel
Ramallah (QNN) – The Palestinian Foreign Ministry called today for an international inquiry into the death of a Palestinian detainee held in Israeli jails and prosecution of Israeli officials involved in war crimes.
It said in a statement quoted by Wafa, the official Palestinian news agency, that the Israeli government and its security apparatus, including the Israel Prison Service (IPS), are fully responsible for the death of Nassar Taqatqa, 31, while undergoing interrogation in its prison cells.
Taqatqa, from Beit Fajjar in the south of the occupied West Bank, was detained on June 19 and was kept in solitary confinement when he was found dead this morning in his cell. Reports said Taqatqa was kept in a cell in humid and bad living conditions and infested with insects. He was also tortured during long and rough interrogation, was tied in his hands and legs all the time and that he was seen bleeding where he was tied.
The Foreign Ministry called on the International Committee of the Red Cross to form an international investigation committee to look into the reasons for the death of Taqatqa and to provide legal and political protection to all Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails.
It said that “the indifference by the international community, its organizations and special councils toward Israeli violations and crimes encourage the occupying power to persist in committing such atrocities.”
The Ministry said that “the martyrdom of Taqatqa in the interrogation cells demand an immediate action by the International Criminal Court and the opening of an official investigation into the crimes of the occupying power in order to pursue and prosecute Israeli war criminals.”
