Press Releases
10/4/2024
Palestinian prisoner, Walid Daqqah, completed his original sentence of 37 years on 25 March 2023 but continued to be arbitrarily detained by the Israeli colonial-apartheid regime for another 2 years. Israeli politicians and media orchestrated a campaign against Walid calling on the government to ensure he dies in prison, denying Walid early release based on medical grounds, as he suffered from a fatal cancer.
As a Palestinian prisoner, Walid experienced ill-treatment including torture and medical neglect,* which led to a significant and speedy decline in his health and culminated in his death on 7 April 2024.
Widespread and systematic arbitrary detention of Palestinians is an Israeli policy aimed at maintaining its regime of colonial domination and oppression against the Palestinian people to continue to deny them their inalienable rights to self-determination and return.
Walid did not receive justice and dignity during his life. He is survived by his wife, Sana Salameh and his daughter Milad who raised his case at the UN Human Rights Council in July 2023. Their calls for the release of Walid were echoed by 60 states.
Today, the undersigned organizations and networks are alarmed at the risk that Israel will withhold the body of Walid, a longstanding policy of collective punishment used against the family and community of the deceased. Israel has withheld at least 17 Palestinian prisoners’ bodies, including one for over 43 years and 6 prisoners’ bodies that had been killed due to torture and medical neglect since 7 October.
In line with human dignity, and to provide closure for his family, we call on the UN, High Commissioner Turk, and special procedures to demand the unconditional and immediate release of Walid Daqqah’s body for burial in line with Palestinian culture and tradition.
*In a joint communication to Israel, the Special Rapporteurs on health and the oPt, requested that Israel provides information on the legal grounds for the extension of the 37-year sentence by 2 years and the denial of appropriate medical care. The Special Rapporteurs also stated that “since 1967, 236 Palestinian prisoners reportedly died in Israeli prisons, and 32 per cent of them (75 prisoners) allegedly died as a result of lack of access to adequate health care and living conditions” and reiterated that the Committee Against Torture repeatedly concluded that “inadequate detention conditions could amount to ill-treatment.”
Organizations and Networks:
BADIL Resource Center for Palestinian Residency and Refugee Rights
Global Palestinian Refugee and Internally Displaced Persons Network (GPRN)
Social and Economic Monitor (Al Marsad)
The Palestinian Disability Coalition
Palestinian Performing Arts Network