Outrage after Nizar Banat, critic of Palestinian Authority, dies after violent arrest
- Activist Nizar Banat dies after arrest by Palestinian security forces
- Autopsy shows head blows, other injuries, rights group says
Hundreds of Palestinians showed their anger on the streets of Ramallah in the West Bank after a prominent critic of the Palestinian Authority (PA) died while being arrested.
Nizar Banat's health apparently deteriorated during the operation by Palestinian security forces at his residence in Dura, and he was subsequently pronounced dead at a hospital in Hebron, said the city's governor, Jibrin al-Bakri.
Demonstrators in Ramallah on Thursday held up banners of Banat's face, and some demanded the resignation of Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas.
The circumstances of Banat's death were under investigation. A Palestinian rights group said the wounds indicated “an unnatural death” following an autopsy.
“The autopsy showed injuries represented by bruises and abrasions in many areas of the body, including the head, neck, shoulders, chest, back, and upper and lower extremities, with binding marks on the wrists and rib fractures,” the PA’s Independent Commission for Human Rights (ICHR) said. Banat’s family relatives accused the police hit him repeatedly with a metal rod before arresting him.
Banat had wanted to run in parliamentary elections scheduled for May – the first to be held in 15 years – but Abbas postponed them in April, blaming a dispute with Israel over voting rights in Jerusalem.