[ad_1]
PThe security forces in Algiers routinely torture prisoners and arrest political opponents "to crush dissent" in the occupied West Bank and Gaza, Human Rights Watch (HRW) said on Tuesday.
A new report indicates that the West-backed Palestinian Authority (PA) and its Hamas rivals routinely resort to torture and widespread arrests that could constitute crimes against humanity.
HRW called on Britain, the United States and the EU to suspend funding for Palestinian Authority security forces until they stop torturing detainees and investigate police officers accused of abuse . The group also called on Qatar, Iran and Turkey to stop funding Hamas.
Security forces of the Palestinian Authority and Hamas denied having practiced torture and said that they were investigating all allegations of abuse.
Tom Porteous, deputy program director at HRW, said the claims were inaccurate. "Palestinian officials 'calls to safeguard Palestinians' rights sound hollow when they crush dissent," he said.
According to one of the most disturbing allegations, HRW claimed that the PA security forces arrested a 32-year-old civil servant and tied a rope around his genitals for eight hours, causing them to "swell up and become blue".
The man stated that his captors had reserved a small room called "the closet" about 60 cm by 60 cm, where he had trouble breathing. He added that he was kept in the room 22 hours a day for 22 days in a detention center in Jericho, West Bank.
[ad_2]Source link
