The Arab League condemns Israel's killing of Palestinian prisoner

The Arab League condemned the death of Palestinian prisoner of Aziz Awaisat at the hands of the Israeli Prison Service (IPS).

In a statement, the Arab League said on Tuesday that “The Israeli occupation authorities have full responsibility for the extermination of Awaisat, 53, due to deliberate medical negligence.”

The Arab League warned against “the continuation of brutal practices in dealing with Palestinian prisoners through gross violations of the most basic rules of human rights law and other relevant international laws.”

It also referred to the “harsh conditions of Israeli prisons and detention centres which lack basic and humanitarian conditions. Palestinian prisoners are daily subjected to various forms of oppression, punishment, torture, deprivation, harassment, and deliberate medical negligence.”

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The Arab League demanded that the international community compel Israel to respect the rules of international law and international humanitarian law, specifically the Fourth Geneva Convention, and abide by the rules of humane treatment of Palestinian detainees.

It reiterated the call for “the formation of a commission of inquiry into the crimes of the occupation and to hold it responsible for its crimes and follow up the perpetrators before international justice.”

Awaisat was arrested in March 2014 and was sentenced to 30 years in prison. He suffered from a severe stroke and a heart attack after he was tortured in an Israeli prison until he suffered a coma. His health condition deteriorated and he died at the hospital. Last Sunday, the Palestinian Prisoners Association announced the demise of Awaisat after he suffered a stroke in the Ramleh prison’s clinic on 9 May.

Majdi al-Adra, spokesman for the Palestinian Liberated and Detainees Affairs Authority, said that the Israeli occupation authorities repressed Palestinian prisoners in their prisons following protests against the martyrdom of Awaisat.