PM Mahmoud Abbas
Photo: AP
Abbas orders inquiry into alleged PA torture of dead Hamas preacher
Palestinian prime minister demands investigation into death of Hamas leader Majed Barghouti while under PA custody. Family say the 44-year-old preacher was tortured during his detention in Ramallah, agree to autopsy to prove case
A Hamas preacher died in the custody of the Palestinian intelligence service, and his family, citing reports from fellow detainees, alleged Saturday that he had been tortured.
Majed Barghouti, 44, died at an intelligence lockup in the West Bank city of Ramallah on Friday, a week after his arrest. Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas ordered an investigation of the death, which came among repeated complaints by Hamas detainees that they were mistreated by Abbas' forces.
Six West Bank legislators called for an independent investigation, and Barghouti's family said it would agree to an autopsy, if attended by independent observers.
Hamas denounced the death as a crime.
In a statement published in Palestinian newspapers, the intelligence service said Barghouti had complained of chest and abdominal pain and was examined by a hospital doctor two days before his death. Intelligence officials were not available Saturday to comment on the torture allegations.
Barghouti was among hundreds of Hamas activists to be detained by Abbas' security forces in the West Bank following the violent Hamas takeover of Gaza in June. Dozens are currently in custody. In many cases, Hamas activists are released after telling investigators about hidden weapons.
One of Barghouti's relatives, cousin Seif Barghouti, said Saturday that the family learned of the alleged mistreatment from four men who had been arrested along with Barghouti and were released after his death.
The four told the family that they, along with Barghouti, had been tied up in painful positions during interrogation, and that intelligence officers demanded to know where the detainees had hidden weapons
One of the released detainees, Azzam Sahel, showed a reporter bruised, purple wrists he said he sustained while being tied up in painful positions, including being forced to stand on his toes for extended periods. Sahel said he was forced to sleep on cardboard on a wet floor, dressed only in a T-shirt and underweart. Sahel said Barghouti was in a nearby cell, and that he could hear him shouting for help repeatedly, but that he did not witness actual mistreatment of Barghouti.
Barghouti's wife, Fawziyeh, said her husband was in good health when he was arrested.
Barghouti, a father of eight, was a mosque preacher in the West Bank village of Kobar, and spent several years in Israeli prisons. As the torture allegations spread, Barghouti's relatives blocked a main road near Kobar with rocks and burning tires on Friday evening and Saturday morning, demanding that his interrogators be put on trial. In Friday's protest, Palestinian security forces fired in the air to disperse the crowd.
The protests forced nearby Bir Zeit University to close Saturday.
In Gaza, Hamas government spokesman Taher Nunu said the West Bank government Prime Minister Salam Fayyad, appointed after the Gaza takeover, is not legitimate and has no authority to carry out arrests.
''We condemn this crime, we consider it a murder,'' Nunu said. ''We call on citizens not to obey any arrest orders.''
