Ref:
74/2009
Date:
03 June 2009
Time:
07:00 GMT
PCHR Condemns Arrests of Hamas'
Members and Supporters in the West Bank; Director of the Office of PLC
Members from the Change and Reform Bloc Continues to be Detained
The Palestinian Center for Human Rights (PCHR) condemns the
continued detention of journalist Murad Abu al-Baha, director of the office
of members of the Palestinian Legislative Council (PLC) from the Change and
Reform Bloc. Abu Al-Baha has now been detained by the Preventive Security
Service (PSS) for nearly 45 days, during which time he has been subjected to
torture and denied access to legal counsel. His family has only been
permitted one 10 minute visit. PCHR expresses its concern regarding Abu al-Baha's
health, which has deteriorated as a consequence of his detention.
PCHR further condemns the current campaign of arrests and
illegal detention waged by Palestinian security services against members and
supporters of the Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas) in the West Bank.
Many of the arrested individuals have had their detention confirmed by the
military prosecution.
According to investigations conducted by PCHR and information
obtained from Mohammed Khaled Abu al-Baha, at approximately 23:00 on Monday,
20 April 2009, 20-30 security men came to his house in Bitounia town, west
of Ramallah. They introduced themselves as members of the PSS and informed
Mohammed Abu al-Baha that they wanted his son, 24-year-old Murad. Murad was
arrested and taken to the PSS headquarters in Bitounia town. Since that
date, his father has only been permitted one 10 minute visit, on 4 May 2009.
In his testimony to PCHR, Abu al-Baha stated:
"I visited him in a small cell whose area is nearly one
square meter, and 3 members of the PSS were there. When I asked him about
his health condition, he answered: 'I am on the way to becoing paralyzed.'
Members of the PSS prevented him from continuing his speech and ended the
visit. When they first brought him to the room, two persons were holding him
to assist him in walking. His hands were so sluggish that he faced
difficulties when shaking hands with me. I noticed bruises on his forearm
apparently because of shabeh."
Since he came back from pilgrimage in Saudi Arabia on 17 May
2009, the father has been going daily to the detention center, where his son
is detained, requesting to visit him, but all requests have been rejected,
despite the fact that the PSS have designated Fridays and Saturdays for
family visitation. The father told PCHR that he asked some persons who were
released from detention by the PSS about his son, but they told him that
they had not met him, apparently because he had been placed under
incommunicado detention. The father added that his son's lawyer informed him
on 30 May 2009 that he had been denied visitation rights.
Murad Abu al-Baha is the director of the office of PLC
Members from the Change and Reform Bloc, which is affiliated to Hamas, in
Ramallah. He was detained by the PSS in 2007 for two months. His brother,
Khaled, director of the Prisoners' Friends Association, which was closed by
the Palestinian government together with dozens of associations because of
their alleged affiliation to Hamas, has been placed under administrative
detention by Israeli Occupation Forces for 18 months. He has also been
arrested by the PSS.
PCHR reiterates its condemnation of torture, and all
politically motivated arrests, and:
1)
Reminds that the prohibition of
torture forms a jus cogens norm of international law. It is
prohibited under the Palestinian Basic Law and constitutes a serious
violation of international human rights standards and instruments,
especially the Convention against Torture and Other Forms of Cruel, Inhuman
or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (1984).
2)
Highlights the Palestinian High
Court of Justice ruling of 20 February 1999 which considered political
arrests illegal; and calls upon all executive parties to respect the Court
ruling and refrain from conducting illegal political arrests.
3)
Affirms that all forms of
detention under the Palestinian Law are the mandate of judicial warranty
bodies, represented by the civil police, working under instruction and
supervision of the Attorney-General.
4)
Calls for the immediate release
of all political detainees held by security services in the West Bank and
Gaza Strip.
.
