People who enter a medical institution – staff members and patients alike – expect to find a safe space, where their wellbeing and health are looked after. We are reaching out to you following the tragic death of Mustafa Yunes, a man with mental health issues, at the Sheba Medical Center. The very fact that this serious incident ended with a fatality demands an inquiry into the circumstances that led to the shooting and the alternative measures the security guards should have had at their disposal – over and above the police investigation currently underway.
On Tuesday, May 13, 2020, Mustafa Yunes was shot by two security guards at Sheba Hospital. Yunes, who was living with mental health issues, had arrived at the hospital to receive medical treatment. The media reported that while there, he began threatening a physician and another person with a knife. To prevent an escalation and possible death, the hospital security guards were called to the scene.
The reports and the video that has been released seem to indicate that the security guards managed to stop Yunes after he assaulted and wounded one of them. During the takedown, when Yunes was already lying on the ground, he was shot from several sources, until he completely stopped moving as a result of the injuries he suffered and to which he subsequently succumbed.
Yunes’ death raises a multitude of questions to which PHRI is seeking answers:
Were the security guards called to stop Yunes informed by the medical staff that he was a patient who had mental health issues?
Keeping in mind that the security guards in question work inside a medical center, are there protocols on how to subdue violent patients in a manner that prevents harm to both staff members and other patients, while, at the same time, respects the life of the patient in question, in this case, a man living with mental health issues who might have been experiencing a psychotic episode?
What, tools other than firearms, can hospital security guards use (electroshock devices, etc.)? If they have access do these tools, why were they not used?
Why were shots fired at Yunes after he was lying on the ground, no longer holding the knife?
We note that, aside from his mental health situation, there is concern that being an Arab wielding a knife was enough to seal his fate. We, therefore, join the call made by our colleagues, civil society organizations that work to promote the health of the Arab population, to investigate the case both on its own right and in relation to how security forces treat Palestinian citizens of Israel and how threatened the latter feel in their interactions with members of security forces.
We have, therefore, written to the Ministry of Health and the Sheba Medical Center, demanding they open an immediate inquiry into the case. We called for transparency and public participation, particularly by representatives of the Arab population and organizations representing individuals living with mental illness. We believe an in-depth, transparent inquiry with an opportunity for public participation is the only way to help create a safe space for both medical staff and patients. Such an inquiry is necessary if we wish to prevent tragic events like this one in the future.
