There was no evidence of poisoning or physical
violence against Arafat Jaradat, the Palestinian prisoner who was found
dead in his Megiddo Prison cell last week, according to an intermediate
autopsy report released by the Health Ministry on Thursday.
According to the report, the fractures in
the ribs and hemorrhages on the skin were typical of the condition of
people who undergo intensive resuscitation in an attempt to save their
lives. The resuscitation was performed for 50 minutes by prison
physicians and Magen David Adom paramedics.
The ministry concluded that the forensic institute will continue to conduct tests to identify the cause of Jaradat’s death.
The Health
Ministry said that the examination was performed by senior pathologist Prof. Yehuda Hiss of the L. Greenberg
Forensic Institute. Head of the ministry’s medical branch Prof. Arnon Afek, Palestinian pathologist Dr. Sabar Alul and head of the pathology institute at Sheba Medical Center Prof. Iris Barshack observed the examination.
In
addition to the Health Ministry's investigation, the police were
investigating the death and a judge has ordered an inquest, as is the
case in all
instances of prison deaths.
Palestinian Authority President
Mahmoud Abbas called for an international inquiry into Jaradat's death,
saying he was "assassinated" and accusing the Shin Bet of torturing the Palestinian detainee during interrogation.
Israeli
officials dismissed the Palestinian Authority's demand for an
international inquiry as a “predictable” maneuver and part of a larger
strategy to bring the international community into the conflict whenever
possible.
On Monday, Public Security Minister Yitzhak
Aharonovitch said that Israel would be happy to have an international
professional look at how it was investigating the incident. The
officials also noted that UN Undersecretary- General for Political
Affairs Jeffrey Feltman called for an “independent and transparent”
investigation, but said nothing about an international inquiry.
Jaradat's death sparked violent protests in the West Bank. Two soldiers and 11 Palestinians were injured in riots that started after Jaradat's funeral.
Herb Keinon, Khaled Abu Toameh and JPost.com staff contributed to this report.