Israeli Police Officers Convicted Over 2008 Death of Abandoned Detainee
Eighteen years after police officers abandoned vulnerable Palestinian detainee Omar Abu Jariban on a highway in 2008, leading to his death from dehydration, the case remains a stark reminder of moral failure in law enforcement.
In June 2008, two Israeli police officers abandoned a vulnerable Palestinian detainee, Omar Abu Jariban, on the side of Highway 443 in hospital pajamas and attached to a urinary catheter. Two days later, a truck driver discovered his body; an autopsy determined he died of dehydration. Eighteen years after the incident, prosecutor Batya Kolitz of the Department of Internal Police Investigations recalls the harrowing trial that ended in the conviction of officers Asaf Yekutieli and Baruch Peretz for death by negligence.
Abu Jariban, a resident of the Gaza Strip staying in Israel without a permit, had been hospitalized for two weeks at Sheba Medical Center following a car crash on Highway 6 while driving a stolen vehicle. Upon his discharge on the night of June 12-13, hospital documents clearly stated he was intermittently confused, needed assistance with eating and drinking, walked with difficulty, was at risk of falling, and required a urinary catheter and ongoing medical follow-up. When transferred to the police station in Rehovot, officers faced a dilemma as the Israel Prison Service refused to accept him. Instead of finding a proper medical facility, a decision was made to deport him back toward the West Bank.
Commanded by Yekutieli, a police vehicle drove Abu Jariban toward checkpoints where security forces refused to take him. Peretz, the duty officer at the Rehovot station, approved leaving him near a lighted junction, but the officers ultimately abandoned him past a guardrail on Highway 443 without food, water, or medical supervision, leaving him to die. Throughout the trial, the officers maintained they were only following orders, showing no remorse.
The Supreme Court ultimately rejected final appeals, upholding the convictions and prison sentences. Justice Isaac Amit famously wrote, "Even a wounded animal is not abandoned on the side of the road," while Justice Zvi Zilbertal described the conduct as "first-degree moral bankruptcy."
