Activist ‘beaten to death’ soon after arrest
A PALESTINIAN human rights activist died yesterday shortly after being arrested by Palestinian Authority (PA) security forces in the occupied West Bank, a provincial governor said.
His family reported that he was beaten to death.
Nizar Banat, 43, a PA critic from the flashpoint city of Hebron, was arrested in a dawn raid yesterday by Palestinian security forces, Hebron governor Jibrin al-Bakri said.
“Following … a summons from the public prosecution to arrest citizen Nizar Khalil Muhammad Banat, a force from the security services arrested him at dawn,” Bakri said in a statement carried by the official Wafa news agency. No reason was given for his arrest. Banat’s family accused security forces of “hitting him on the head with wooden sticks and bits of iron” and “deliberately murdering” him, they told the Palestinian news site Quds.
The governor said that during Banat’s arrest, “his health deteriorated”.
“He was immediately transferred to the Hebron government hospital … After he was examined by doctors, he was pronounced dead.”
Bakri gave no indication of the cause of death but said an investigation had been launched. Asked by AFP, Palestinian security forces declined to comment.
Banat was known for his videos posted on Facebook, in which he denounced alleged corruption in the PA.
He had registered as a candidate in the Palestinian parliamentary election, which had been due to be held in May before president Mahmoud Abbas postponed it indefinitely.
In May, the EU voiced its “concern” after Palestinian security forces raided Banat’s home.
“Violence against politicians and human rights defenders is unacceptable,” the EU’s representative to the Palestinians said at the time.
The EU issued a similar complaint in November 2020, after Banat spent four days in custody in Jericho, following his release of a video criticising the PA.
The UN Middle East peace envoy, Tor Wennesland, said on Twitter that he was alarmed and saddened by the death. “The perpetrators must be brought to justice,” Wennesland said.