Field
Update

On
Saturday morning, 01 March 2014, Majdi al-Moghrabi from Rafah in the south of
the Gaza Strip was kidnapped and beaten by unknown gunmen.  As a result, he sustained fractures in his
left leg and bruises throughout his body. 
This incident is part of the state of security chaos and assaults on the
rule of law in the occupied Palestinian territory (oPt).

According
to investigations conducted by the Palestinian Centre for Human Rights (PCHR)
and the victim’s testimony, at approximately 05:00 on Saturday, 01 March 2014,
masked gunmen, who were traveling in a white Jeep, kidnapped Majdi ‘Abdullah
al-Moghrabi (49), Board Member and Media Officer of Ibn Baz Charitable
Association in the Saudi Housing Project, west of Rafah, while he was heading
to the nearby Tibah Mosque.  The gunmen
took al-Moghrabi to an unknown destination and severely beat him with sticks and
rifle butts.  They then threw him near
al-Mawasi area adjacent to the Egyptian borders with the Gaza Strip.  Al-Moghrabi called his family from a
passers-by’s cell phone.  His family
members immediately arrived accompanied by an ambulance, which took him to
Martyr Abu Yousif al-Najjar Hospital to receive medical treatment.  There they observed that he sustained
fractures in the left leg and bruises throughout the body. The medical sources
described his wounds as moderate.  The
Palestinian police sources said that they took the victim’s testimony and
opened an investigation into the incident.

PCHR
strongly condemns this crime which is part of the state of security chaos and
assaults on the rule of law in the oPt. PCHR also calls upon the Attorney
General to seriously investigate the incident and bring the perpetrators to
justice.