Ref: 67/2010

The Palestinian Center for Human Rights (PCHR)
condemns the campaigns of arbitrary arrests waged by Palestinian security
services in the West Bank against members of
Hamas, which have included detentions and maltreatment and are in violation of
the law. The latest campaign targeted a
number of Palestinians in Nablus
and Ramallah, including a 43-year-old woman and two human rights defenders, one
of whom is the son of Hamed al-Beetawi, a member of the Palestinian Legislative
Council (PLC). PCHR reiterates its call
for the Palestinian National Authority (PNA) and its security services to stop
conducting political arrests, release all political detainees, and genuinely
and totally ban the principle and practice of political arrests. 

According to investigations conducted by PCHR:

· At approximately 08:00 on
Saturday, 31 July 2010, Islam Hamed Khdayer (al-Beetawi), 35, arrived at the
headquarters of the General Intelligence Service (GIS) in Nablus in response to a summons sent to him
on the preceding day. There he was
interrogated and later, at approximately 15:00, he was released. Approximately ten minutes after he had arrived
home from the interrogation, a vehicle of the Preventive Security Service (PSS)
arrived on the area and security officers arrested him.

· At approximately 19:30 later that
day, Hatem Hamed Khdayer (al-Beetawi), 38, a Sharia‘ judge, received a
phone call from a GIS officer summonsing his brothers, Nasser, 33, and Ahmed,
28, to the GIS headquarter in Nablus. Nasser
and Ahmed immediately went to the GIS headquarters, where the latter was
instantly taken to Jnaid Prison, while the former was released but was
requested to come back to the GIS headquarters on the following morning. Since this episode on 31 July, Nasser has been referred to the GIS headquarters
daily. The GIS also requested Judge
Hatem al-Beetawi to appear at its headquarter on Tuesday, 03 August 2010. It should be noted that Ahmed al-Beetawi is a
journalist working with the International Solidarity Foundation for Human
Rights in Nablus. He is also a researcher in the field of
prisoners’ affairs.

· At approximately 09:30 also on
Saturday, 31 July 2010, H. A. arrived at the PSS headquarters in Nablus in response to a
summons sent to her on the preceding day. There she was detained in a small cell under severe conditions for
several hours, despite the fact she was ill and was suffering from severe
nausea and repeated vomiting. She was
released later and was taken to a hospital in Nablus. 

In her testimony to PCHR, H.
A. stated:

“… I sat on a chair for five minutes. I was then taken by a female PSS member into
a 1.5m-long cell, which has a very high window. An hour later, I felt that I would vomit, so I called the PSS
officer. She came and took me to the
bathroom. After I had vomited, she took
me back to the cell. Five minutes later,
I called her again, so her superior ordered her to put me in a room near the
bathroom. I suffered from this problem
for two hours. Later, an interrogator
came and requested me to confess all charges which he would direct against me, although
I was in a very bad condition. He
accused me of bringing money from abroad, and when I denied such accusation he
ordered the officer to take me back to the cell to decay. They provided me with a plastic sac for
vomiting. At approximately 14:30, they
presented me to a doctor and, based on his recommendations, I was released at
approximately 15:30. I came back home
and my family took me to the Women’s Union Hospital.”

It should be noted that PSS
members stormed the this woman’s house at approximately 15:00 on Thursday, 29
July 2010, without a legal warrant. They
confiscated a computer and a number of compact discs. PSS members stormed and searched the house
again at approximately 20:30 on Friday, 30 July 2010, ignoring the woman’s
request to present a legal warrant. 

· At approximately 23:30 on
Saturday, 31 July 2010, a GIS vehicle arrived at a house belonging to the
family of Khaled Mohammed Abu al-Baha, 36, in the town of Bitounia, west of Ramallah. A GIS officer requested Mr. Abu al-Baha to accompany
them to the GIS headquarter for an hour, but, as of this writing, he has not
returned home. Mr. Abu al-Baha is the
former director of the Prisoners’ Supporters Association. He had been repeatedly arrested by Israeli
occupation forces and Palestinian security services. 

PCHR reiterates it condemnation of political
detention and the accompanying practice of torture against the detainees, and:

1. Reminds the Palestinian Supreme Court of
the Justice ruling on 20 February 1999, which considers political detention
illegal and demands all executive bodies to respect the Court ruling and
refrain from practicing political detention;

2. Emphasizes that detention is governed by
the Palestinian law and falls within the competence of judicial warranty
officers, represented by the police, under direct supervision of the
Attorney-General; and

3. Calls for the immediate release of all
political detainees who are held by Palestinian security services in the West Bank.