Oweisat died a few days ago from a heart attack he suffered after being brutally beaten by Israeli prison guards.
Feras Omari said that when he entered the Bosta he saw blue bruises all over Oweisat's face, adding that when he asked him about what happened he told him that 10 Israeli guards broke into his cell in Eshel prison on 2nd May and beat and punched him brutally.
"I noticed that he was suffering from pains in his chest and he could barely breathe," Omari said.
Commenting on this testimony, head of the Detainees and Ex-Detainees Commission Issa Qaraqe said that the results of the autopsy conducted for Oweista's body on 25th May showed bruises on his right waist and marks of chains on his hands and feet.
Qaraqe said that the Israel Prison Service (IPS) committed three crimes against Oweisat. First, Oweisat was suffering from heart problems. He underwent an open-heart surgery in 1998 and a cardiac catheterization in 2003. Despite the fact that the IPS was aware of his health condition, no proper treatment was offered to him, so his health kept worsening day by day.
Second, the Israeli guards' attack on Oweisat led to further deterioration in his health until he died from a heart attack on 20th May.
Third, Oweisat was violently beaten and assaulted although the IPS and the prison doctors were fully aware of his critical health condition. They were the reason behind the complications that he suffered after the attack and later led to his death.
Qaraqe stressed that this is a deliberate and complex crime that is added to an endless series of violations committed by the IPS against Palestinian prisoners and requires the intervention of the International Criminal Court.
Comment: Interestingly, this story bears a strong resemblance to Sergei Magnitsky, the Russian accountant who died in custody. Bill Browder then spread the story that Magnitsky had been beaten to death by numerous guards, and his activism led to the Magnitsky Act, which sanctions Russians allegedly guilty of human rights abuses.
Now here's the thing: Browder's story was a fabrication. Yes, Magnitsky died in prison and the guards were negligent about caring for his health. But there is no indication he was beaten. Browder just made that up.
All things being equal, the claims that Israeli guards beat Oweisat, leading to his death, should result in an "Oweisat Act" sanctioning Israelis tied to alleged human rights abuses. God knows, there is more evidence of Israeli human rights violations than there are for Russians. So what do you think? How long until the U.S. starts sanctioning Israelis for beating up Palestinian detainees? We're not holding our breaths, either.