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Heeding a PCHR Request, Palestinian High Court of Justice orders prosecutors to explain the detention of two PFLP leaders
Ref: 63/2001
Date: 27 October 2001
This morning, the Palestinian High Court of Justice ordered prosecutors to explain the detention of the lawyer Mr. Younis El-Jaru and Dr. Rabah Mahanna and demanded that the arrests conform with legal procedures. The Court gave prosecutors eight days to submit a response. This decision came in response to a demand that PCHR’s lawyers had submitted to the court on behalf of El-Jaru and Mahanna, explaining that the arrests contradict Palestinian law and that they should therefore be released.
El-Jaru and Mahanna are prominent figures in the Occupied Palestinian Territories and among the political leaders of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP). The two were arrested on 18 October in a campaign that has targeted dozens of PFLP leaders and activists after it claimed responsibility for the killing of Israeli Tourism Minister Rehavam Ze’evi in a hotel in occupied Jerusalem on 17 October. Ze’evi’s killing was in retaliation for the assassination of PFLP Secretary General Abu ‘Ali Mustafa by Israeli occupation forces.
PCHR lawyers Raji Sourani and Iyad ‘Alami asserted that the arrests contradicted legal procedures under Palestinian law. PCHR had submitted a demand to the Palestinian Attorney General on 20 October to release El-Jaru and Mahanna, to explain the reasons for their detention and to reveal where they were being held in order to be visited. However, PCHR has not received a response from the Attorney General.
PCHR welcomes the decision of the Palestinian High Court of Justice, and reiterates its call for the PNA to release all prisoners arrested only on grounds of political affiliation. PCHR considers this campaign of arrests against PFLP leaders and activists to be in violation of basic rights provided by Palestinian law and international human right instruments. PCHR asserts that it will follow all legal procedures to ensure the release of all political prisoners, in promoting the rule of law and respect for public freedoms.
