| PCHR Condemns the Attack of a Judge by al-Qassam Members in Khan Yunis |
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| Monday, 30 July 2012 00:00 |
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Ref: 82/2012
The Palestinian Centre for Human Rights (PCHR)
strongly condemns the attack carried out by members of the ‘Izziddin al-Qassam
Brigades (the armed wing of Hamas) against a judge and his family in 'Abassan
village, east of Khan Yunis. The
attackers beat and insulted the judge, in addition to treating him cruelly and
inhumanely at the Palestinian police station.
PCHR calls upon the Attorney General in
In his statement to PCHR, Judge Yousef Khalil
Abu Latifa (65) said that at approximately 10:00 on Wednesday, 25 July 2012, he
cut down some trees that he had previously planted in front of his house as
some armed men used to sit under the trees, which disturbed the residents of
the house. Approximately one hour later,
about 10 armed men from the ‘Izziddin al-Qassam Brigades came to his house and
started beating him with gun butts and tree branches. Abu Latifa added that these armed men accused
him of collaborating with the Israeli occupation, because he was cutting down
the trees. They also attacked his family
members, including his wife Randa 'Atiya Abu Latifa (43), who suffers from
health problems and recently had surgery.
Abu Latifa said that when he tried to prevent
the gunmen from attacking his sick wife, one of them pushed him violently, and,
as a result, he fell onto the road, felt severe pains in his chest and
fainted. When he regained consciousness,
his nephew and he were in a police car transporting them to al-Sharqiya police
station, where they were detained in a cell.
Someone at the police station told them that they would be detained for 24
hours. After the police identified him
as a judge in the Court of Appeal, someone ordered that he be isolated from his
nephew, so they were placed in separate cells.
Although Abu Latifa had told them about his bad health conditions and
that he needed medical examination, they ignored his request and detained him
with other criminal prisoners until late that afternoon. He was then transferred to the
At 18:00, a number of political leaders in the
area, including 2 of those who attacked him, came and took him from the prison
to the police station's yard. They
requested that Abu Latifa end the issue.
The prison's director arrived and had Abu Latifa sign a paper whose
content was not known to him. After Abu
Latifa was released, he and 14 of his family members who were attacked, 8 of
whom had medical reports showing that they were beaten, headed to the police
station, where they were asked to sign similar papers.
PCHR strongly condemns this attack against
Judge Abu Latifa and his family, and:
1. Calls upon the Attorney General
to open a serious investigation into the attack and bring the perpetrators to
justice; 2. Stresses that the ‘Izziddin
al-Qassam Brigades is neither a police force nor a judicial one. In addition, al-Qassam Brigades' members do
not have a right or an authorization to treat civilians in the manner they
treated the judge, and any measures taken like this are illegal; and 3. Calls for an investigation into
the improper behavior of policemen against Judge Abu Latifa, including the
policemen who arrested him and detained him under humiliating and degrading
conditions at the police station even though they knew he was a judge. Add this page to your favorite Social Bookmarking websites |
