Ref: 63/2010

The Palestinian Center for Human Rights (PCHR) condemns the continued
arrest campaigns and illegal detentions of members of Hamas by Palestinian
security services in the West Bank. The
latest arrest campaign was carried out on 24 July 2010 in Shyoukh village,
northeast of Hebron, during which eleven persons, most of them members of one
extended family, were arrested. Personal
belongings were confiscated in one of the houses. The son of Ms. Samira
Halayqa, a member of the Palestinian Legislative Council (PLC), was violently
beaten and taken from her by force as security services arrested him, his
brother and some of his cousins. PCHR
reiterates its call upon the Palestinian National Authority (PNA) and security
services to stop all arbitrary arrests, to promptly release all political
detainees, and to completely stop all political arrests.

According to investigations of PCHR and the testimony of PLC Member
Samira Abdullah Abdul Rahim Halayqa, 46, at approximately 01:20 on Saturday, 24
July 2010, a
Palestinian security force comprised of approximately fifteen vehicles moved
into Shyoukh village, northeast of Hebron. The security force, some of whom were masked and all of whom who were
heavily armed, surrounded several houses, including houses belonging to
Halayqa’s extended family in the “Qufan Khamis” quarter in the
southeast of the village. They broke into
the houses and arrested Halayqa’s eldest son, Anas Mohammed Halayqa, 24, in
front of the house. As soon as her
youngest son, Osama, 20, became aware of the situation, he left his uncle’s
house, where he had gone to investigate after the house had been attacked. Upon
witnessing his brother’s arrest, Osama called for the members of the security
force to release his brother. As a
result, a large number of the security force attacked and violently beat him with
gun butts and kicked him all over his body, all this occurring in front of his
mother and many members of the family. In the meanwhile, the Palestinian force opened fire into the air.

Ms. Halayqa stated that when she intervened to hug Osama and protect him
from beating, the force members continued beating and pulling him into the
vehicles by force. Members of the
security force pulled the mother away from her son by force, and pushed him
into a black vehicle, continuing to beat him. When Ms. Halayqa introduced herself and inquired about the identity of
the security force, one of the officers wearing civilian clothes told her that
they are members of the Palestinian Intelligence Service (GIS) and they were on
duty.

Ms. Halayqa added that the force raided nine other houses in different
areas of the village in this violent manner and without any legal warrants or
respect for the residents. They arrested
nine persons, most of whom are related, as well as her two sons. Thos detained were transported to GIS’s
detention centers in Hebron. Ms. Halayqa
also stated that the security force confiscated a computer and some valuables
from the house belonging to Watani Merhej Halayqa during their raid.

The detainees are:

1) Anas Mohammed Zaitoun
Halayqa, 24, a
student at Hebron University;

2) Osama Mohammed Zaitoun
Halayqa, 20, a
student at al-Quds Open University;

3) Watani Merhej Zaitoun
Halayqa, 29, a
worker;

4) Yusuf Ahmed Yusuf
Halayqa, 27, a
worker;

5) Abdul Karim Hussein
Halayqa, 55, an Imam of a mosque;

6) Mahmoud Abed Mousa
Warasna, 32, a
taxi driver;

7) Mohammed Ali Sleem
Halayqa, 39, a
teacher;

8) Mohammed Mahmoud ‘Isa
Halayqa, 29, a
teacher who was arbitrarily dismissed from his job;

9) Rezeq Mahmoud ‘Assi
Halayqa, 43, a
teacher who was arbitrarily dismissed from his job;

10) Mohammed Suleiman
Dawood Halayqa, 52, an owner of a factory of bricks; and

11) Adeeb Yusuf ‘Oda
Halayqa, 38, a
worker.

It should be noted that, in the past two weeks, the GIS and Preventive
Security Service (PSS) arrested a number of Palestinians in different areas in
Hebron, including Mohammed Isam’il Qabaja, 65, from Tarqumia village southeast
of Hebron, whose son had been detained by the GIS; and Morad Badr Shaheen, 35,
who had been released from the Israeli jails just a week before his detention
by PSS.

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

1. Reminds of 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.