Al Dameer Demands Investigation into the Circumstances of the Death of the Child Jihad Ghonaim, and to Announce the Results of the Investigation to the Public

Reference: 35/2010

Al Dameer Association for Human Rights follows-up with great concern the death of the child Jihad Ghoniem, from Al Nusirat Refugee Camp. This incident comes to renew the incidents of death in unknown circumstances in the Gaza Strip.

According to Al Dameer’s available information, at approximately 03:30am, on Saturday 8 May 2010, the Palestinian police found the dead body of Jihad Suliman Salman Ghoniem, 18, in a residential apartment in Dier Al Balah. The police then admitted the body to Shuhada’ Al Aqsa Hospital in Deir Al Balah, and was referred to Shifa Hospital for forensic examination.

According to his affidavit, the cousin of Jihad Ghoniem said that on Thursday evening 6 May 2010, the victim left his house in Al Nusirat Refugee Camp and didn’t return. Then the police found his body at a residential apartment in the Deir Al Balah refugee camp and the dead body was admitted to Al shuhada Al Aqsa Hospital. Members of the family went to the hospital and identified the dead body. There were no clear traces of torture on his body but there was cyanosis allover his body.

Al Dameer Association for Human Rights condemns this crime and expresses its strong regret for the death of the child. It calls on the competent authorities to open an immediate investigation into the circumstances of Ghoniem’s death, and to announce the results of the investigation to the public.

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