[ad_1]
Human Rights Watch (HRW) condemned "systematic arbitrary arrests and "Torture" practiced by the Palestinian Authority in the occupied West Bank and Hamas in Gaza.
In a report released Tuesday, the human rights group called on Palestinian governments to hold Palestinian officials accountable and also urged donors to the Palestinian authorities to suspend assistance to agencies involved in violations until action is taken.
The report's conclusions were rejected by the Palestinian Authority and Hamas as inaccurate and "distorted".
Entitled "Two Authorities, One Way, Absolute Dissent: Arbitrary Arrest and Torture Under the Authority of the Palestinian Authority and Hamas", the 149-page document assessed "arrest and detention patterns". detention conditions "in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip.
The report is the result of a two-year survey of 86 cases and interviews with 147 people, mostly ex-inmates, family members, lawyers and NGO representatives. .
"The Palestinian Authority and Hamas are using detention to punish critics and dissuade them and others from pursuing activism," the report said. "In detention, security forces regularly provoke, threaten, beat and force detainees into painfully stressful positions for hours at a time."
The rights group also found that Palestinian authorities often used expansive interpretations of general laws criminalizing "superior authorities" insulting or "inciting" sectarian feuds ", or" undermining revolutionary unity " , in order to hold critics for days or weeks "only to free most of them without sending them back to trial, but often leaving pending charges".
The two Palestinian authorities arrested people for their political activism on university campuses, to participate in demonstrations and to participate in social media activities, the report said.
The Palestinian Authority in the West Bank operates under an invading Israeli military occupation, while Hamas-controlled Gaza has been under the joint Israeli-Egyptian military and economic blockade since 2007.
Hamas vs. Fatah: mutual arrests
According to this information, the Fatah-controlled Palestinian Authority in Ramallah often detains political activists affiliated with Hamas in the West Bank, while Hamas detains Fatah militants in Gaza.
In one case, the Palestinian Authority arrested Osama al-Nabrisi at least 15 times after serving his 12-year sentence in an Israeli prison in 2014. Once, he was arrested just two days after his release, due to his association with Hamas militants in an Israeli prison.
In another case, Hamas-controlled Gaza police arrested former Palestinian Authority preventive security officer Abdel Basset Amoom in 2017 for his involvement in a demonstration against the protests. # 39; electricity.
The report detailed several cases of independent Palestinian journalists and political activists who were arrested, detained and subjected to violations without an appropriate arrest warrant for several days.
In some cases, the courts acquitted those found "illegal", while others, who were arrested through social media, were fined heavily after pleading with prosecutors.
Response of the Palestinian Authority
Brigadier General Adnan Dameri, spokesman for the Palestinian Authority's security forces in the West Bank, told Al Jazeera that the HRW report is full of misinformation and extremely biased.
The State of Palestine has signed all international laws and conventions prohibiting human rights violations and torture and is committed to upholding them.
General Adnan Dameri, spokesman of the PA security forces
"No one from HRW has ever contacted us for specific information on the incidents that they believe would constitute human rights violations," he said.
"The State of Palestine has signed all the international laws and conventions prohibiting human rights violations and torture and is committed to upholding them," he added.
HRW said that she had met with the Palestinian Authority's intelligence services in Ramallah and that she had not been able to meet with Hamas representatives in Gaza after that. Israel refused her official permission.
Dameri acknowledged that human rights violations may have occurred in the premises of the Palestinian Authority, but these cases were neither "systematic" nor sanctioned by the government.
"The abuses did occur, but they were committed by officers acting alone, not on the basis of government policy," he said.
"We are not Switzerland, but we are doing everything we can to enforce our laws and prevent human rights violations by individual agents." he said
"People are criticizing the government here all the time, we do not stop them for mere criticism unless a crime is committed, such as hate speech, and there must be a warrant to stop it." he added.
Hamas response
Iyad al-Bozom, spokesman for the Palestinian Ministry of the Interior and Hamas Security Forces in Gaza, told Al Jazeera that he had received an HRW inquiry in March asking for details of the allegations of human rights abuses by Hamas police.
He told Al Jazeera that he had sent HRW a detailed answer explaining all the cases on which they had asked questions, but that the group had never taken them into account when publishing his report.
All our law enforcement facilities have been and still are open to inspections by Palestinian and international human rights organizations.
Iyad al-Bozom, spokesman of the Palestinian security forces in Gaza
He added that he recently sent HRW a new memorandum asking the organization to provide explanations for allegations of police abuse in Gaza.
"We have never received any response or communication from them," he said.
Al-Bozom said Gaza police were determined to uphold Palestinian laws banning human rights abuses and torture.
"All our law enforcement centers have been and still are open to the inspection of Palestinian and international human rights organizations," he said.
Al-Bozom also acknowledged that human rights violations were committed by officers acting alone, but never on the orders of the government.
He said that between 2014 and 2016, Gaza police had received 314 complaints of human rights violations by police officers, which had been the subject of thorough investigation.
He said that 90 cases were proven and 224 no. The offending officers were dismissed or punished in accordance with police regulations, he added.
"People constantly criticize the government or Hamas, we do not stop them for that." he said
A report released by the Ramallah-based Independent Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) documented a total of 23 human rights violations cases in the West Bank and Gaza during the month of September. .
Of these cases, 12 were documented in the West Bank and involved Palestinian Authority security forces, while 11 were recorded in Gaza, involving Hamas-controlled police forces.
Hani al Masri, a political analyst based in Ramallah, said human rights violations and illegal arrests were common.
Al-Masri told Al Jazeera that Hamas and the Palestinian Authority often detained their members, as well as independent journalists and citizens.
He added that the two Palestinian groups are ruling the areas under their control with an "authoritarian bias".
Follow Ali Younes on Twitter: @ali_reports
[ad_2]Source link
