Tuesday, 3 August 2010

Rights center slams daily arrest and harassment of Hamas supporters in W. Bank

[ 03/08/2010 - 10:12 AM ]

RAMALLAH, (PIC)-- The Palestinian center for human rights strongly denounced the campaigns of arbitrary arrests and harassment carried out by Mahmoud Abbas's security militias against Hamas supporters and cadres in the West Bank.

In a statement on Monday, the center affirmed that Abbas's militias lately illegally arrested a number of Palestinians, including a 43-year-old woman and two human rights activists, in the cities of Nablus and Ramallah without any guilt.

The woman told the center that she was locked up in a narrow cell of one meter and half in length in the headquarters of the preventive security and one hour later she felt sick and asked one of the female jailers to take her to the toilet, adding that when she had to throw up for the second time, an officer ordered to put her in a cell next to the toilet.

"I remained like that for two hours and then an interrogator showed up while I was in very bad shape asking me to confess to all accusations he would level against me. He accused me of bringing funds from abroad and when I denied the charge, he asked jailers to take me back to the cell and leave me to rot," the woman said on condition of anonymity.

"At about 2:30 pm they brought me a doctor and I was released on his instructions at 3:30 pm. I went back to my home, and my family took me to the women's union hospital to receive medical treatment," she added.

Armed men from the preventive security had broken into and ransacked the house of this woman without producing a warrant.

The human rights center recalled the decree issued by the Palestinian high court on February 20, 1999 which illegalized political arrest and demanded all executive bodies to respect this decision and refrain from such arrests.

In another context, Hamas lawmaker Sheikh Hamed Al-Beitawi said that the arrest of three of his sons in Nablus is a desperate attempt to silence and pressure the lawmakers, adding that his sons were not the first who were imprisoned in Abbas's jails and would not be the last persons.

Sheikh Beitawi added in a statement on Monday that the arrest of his sons is nothing compared to what thousands of Hamas supporters and cadres face day and night at the hands of Abbas's militias in the West Bank.

For its part, the international Tadamon (solidarity) foundation for human rights demanded Abbas's authority to immediately release its activist Ahmed Al-Beitawi, one of MP Betawi's arrested sons, noting that Ahmed is an activist in the field of human rights and prisoners' affairs, and his job is not against the law.

The Hamas lawmakers in Nablus city also denounced Abbas's security militias for summoning dozens of Palestinian citizens everyday and detaining many of them without questioning.

The lawmakers said that these summonses are intended for disturbing the citizens' lives and preventing them from earning their living, and is also considered a kind of psychological torture against the detainees and their families.

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