PA still prosecute civilians before military courts, continue to detain 70 Najah University students

Friday 11 February 2011

PA still prosecute civilians before military courts, continue to detain 70 Najah University students

MPs in West Bank: PA still prosecute civilians before military courts

[ 11/02/2011 - 02:47 PM ]

RAMALLAH, (PIC)-- Palestinian lawmakers from the change and reform bloc have asserted Thursday that the PA still prosecute Palestinian civilians before military courts despite claims that it has halted such practices.

"The PA allegations that military courts in the West Bank were no longer prosecuting Palestinian civilians were meant to deceive the Palestinian and international opinion as no official statement has been issued so far either from the PA security departments or the office of Mahmoud Abbas, the de-facto PA chief", the MPs pointed out in a statement the issued to clear the issue.

They, however, stressed that halting prosecuting civilians before military courts should include all PA security departments and not to be selective, describing attempts by the PA security apparatuses to partitioning the decision as deceiving, blackmailing, and grave aggression on human rights.

The MPs cited a number of cases to substantiate their claims including the case of four Palestinian citizens Abdullah Al-Akr, Abdul Hakeem Al-Kadah, Emad Al-Tanbour, and Munir Al-Masri from Nablus city who were sentenced by a military court to different imprisonment terms on January, 19, 2011 despite the fact that a number of them have supreme court decisions ordering their release.

Seven other Palestinian students from Al-Najah University in Nablus stood before a military court on 02/02/2011 (two weeks after the PA decision of halting military prosecution for civilians) and remained under detention "for further investigation".

Moreover, the legislators lashed out at the PA security departments for exchanging roles in arresting Palestinian civilians, saying once a detainee receive a release order from one PA security department, he will be re-arrested by another PA security group at the gates of the prison.

"The PA security apparatuses in the West Bank are violating the simplest rules of respecting the judiciary represented in implementing and respecting orders issued by the Palestinian courts as they keep the captive in prison for several weeks after the court's order for releasing him", the parliamentarians underscored.

In this regard, the MPs called on human rights institution and all concerned agencies to carryout their duties in closely watching the implementation of the decision not to try civilians before military courts, and to pressure the PA security departments in the West Bank to implement and respect orders of the Palestinian judiciary.

On January, 16, 2011, the PA general intelligence department issued a decision of halting arresting citizens without a warrant of arrest, and to stop prosecuting civilians before military courts. The decision was welcomed by Palestinian human rights and groups but it remained "ink on the paper".

Abbas’s militia continue to detain 70 Najah University students

[ 11/02/2011 - 11:26 AM ]

NABLUS, (PIC)-- The Islamic bloc at Najah University in Nablus said that Abbas’s militia continue to detain 70 of the university’s students on a political background, the bloc said in a statement.

The bloc added in its statement that the detention was made at the backdrop of a visit to the university by Saeb Ureikat and Naser Allaham who insulted the audience’s intelligence by making more lies regarding the leaked negotiations documents aired by al-Jazeera, especially those talking about the concessions made by Ureikat, the chief negotiator.

The Islamic bloc asked Lahham to talk about the 70 university students detained by the PA security and to open the file of student Muhammad Raddad who was killed by Fatah elements at the university.

Najah university students, like other university students in the West Bank, suffer from pursuits and arrests by both the IOF and Abbas’s militia, in an attempt to kill the spirit of the people and their will to resist the occupation and to express their opinion freely.