A human rights group has claimed that the Palestinian Authority (PA) continues to torture and abuse Palestinian prisoners under its watch.
The Arab Organization for Human Rights in the UK said that the PA’s security services continue their repressive approach against activists, using psychological and physical torture against them.
The organization explained that, in the past two weeks, PA security services in the occupied West Bank have arrested 17 Palestinians, including previously-released prisoners and students. The arrests were carried out by the Preventive Security Service (PSS) in Tubas, northeast of Nablus, the Jenin Intelligence and the General Intelligence in Nablus.
The Palestinian Authority's recent arrest and torture of a Palestinian mother of three is the kind of story that the "State of Palestine" does not intend to raise during its chairmanship of the largest bloc of developing countries at the United Nations.
— Eli Tabori (@TaboriEli) January 16, 2019
The organization said that among the detainees was Murad Fattash, whose mother has since declared a hunger strike in protest against his arrest and the harsh treatment he received at the PSS detention center in Salfit, southwest of Nablus. The security services also prevented Fattash’s family from supplying him with appropriate winter clothes and blankets for the cold weather.
The group also pointed out that the wife and mother of detainee Abdulrahman Shaheen, from the city of Salfit, announced a hunger strike yesterday evening in solidarity with Abdulrahman, who was arbitrarily detained 21 days ago by the PSS.
Had Jbara been detained by #Israel, her story wld hv made headlines. From the pov of the Palestinian Authority, Jbara's ordeal does not fall within the category of HRs. A #Palestinian woman complaining abt torture in a Palestinian prison is not newsworthy.https://t.co/kTIdqvwdt7
— Eitan Arvats (@EitanArvats) January 16, 2019
Two detainees, Montasar Al-Shunnar and Qutaiba Azem, were reportedly presented to court on Tuesday. Both bore marks of severe brutality and torture and, though they filed complaints to the court about their treatment, their complaints were ignored. The court instead extended their confinement on charges of stirring up sectarian strife and collecting and receiving funds from illegal associations.
The organization added that the PA security services continue to arbitrarily arrest students and activists as an instrument of silencing them, especially after the decision to dissolve the Palestinian Legislative Council (PLC). As a result, the Palestinian judiciary is unable to achieve justice for the detainees or open investigations into torture and abuse.
Former Prisoner: #PA Investigators Tortured Me (VIDEO) https://t.co/9YuifYvqTh @PalestineChron pic.twitter.com/lyLI7MbbPT
— Palestine Chronicle (@PalestineChron) January 15, 2019
The group concluded by calling on the international community, particularly those who support the PA security services, to take a decisive position to stop the arbitrary detention of Palestinian citizens, torture and suppressing freedom of opinion and expression and to hold those responsible to account.
(MEMO, PC, Social Media)
