The Palestinian Authority has continued to detain a Palestinian man from the Hebron-area town of Dura in the southern occupied West Bank despite four court orders calling for his release, according to a statement released on Wednesday from legal NGO al-Haq, in which the group condemned the PA for the detention.
Shadi Nammourah has been “arbitrarily” detained by the PA’s General Intelligence Service (GIS) in its Jericho detention center, according to al-Haq, which cited release orders by courts in Dura and Jericho issued on 30 May, 13 June, 20 June, and 3 August.
GIS responded to each release order by continuing to detain Nammourah, allegedly based on new charges, al-Haq said.
The Palestinian human rights organisation said they have sent a letter to the head of GIS calling on him to implement the courts’ orders, underscoring that, the ongoing arbitrary detention of Nammourah is in violation of the Palestinian Basic Law.
Al-Haq added that it was also a violation of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights.
The group further filed a complaint with the PA public prosecutor and sent a notice to the Palestinian Anti-Corruption Commission in response to Nammourah’s case.
Al-Haq is deeply concerned over the implications that the GIS’s failure to implement judicial decisions will have on society at-large, as well as on the efficacy of the judicial authority. The GIS’s continued arbitrary detention of Nammourah comes within a broader deterioration of the human rights and rule of law situation under the Palestinian Authority.
The PA has arbitrarily detained Palestinians in defiance of release orders before, to the outrage of the public and Palestinian factions who have long accused the PA of carrying out politically-motivated arrests against Hamas members and others — including journalists and activists — who express opposition to PA policies.
Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas’ administration has also cracked down on dissent by blocking some 30 news sites allegedly affiliated to Hamas or discharged Fatah leader Muhammad Dahlan, and by passing a new Cyber Crimes Law through presidential decree, which broadly criminalizes freedom of expression on the internet.
(Ma’an, PC, Social Media)
