Letter to Palestinian Authority President Yasir Arafat

Your Excellency,
Human Rights Watch is writing to express our deep concern over the February 27, 2001 death of Salim al-Akra while in Palestinian
Authority custody. Mr. al-Akra reportedly had been arrested by Military Intelligence Service (MIS) officers on February 6, 2001, and
held incommunicado at a MIS facility in Nablus until MIS officers transported him to a Nablus hospital. A cousin who was detained
with Mr. al-Akra has reportedly said that he and Mr. al-Akra were beaten with sticks and punched by masked men while handcuffed
in MIS custody, and individuals who saw Mr. al-Akra in hospital or examined his body in the morgue have reported that it appeared
to show signs of torture.