Ref: 5/2010

In a grave assault on the authority
and independence of judiciary, Palestinian security services re-arrested two
Palestinians after two court rulings ordered their release.

According to investigations
conducted by the Palestinian Centre for Human Rights (PCHR) in the first case,
the Court of First Instance in Nablus issued a decision regarding the charge of
treason, case no. 99/2007, in its session held on Wednesday, 27 January 2010. It ordered the release of Mo’ayad Taye’ Abdul
Karim Bani ‘Ouda, 26, in
case he was not detained or convicted of another charge. After his family received the court’s
decision, at approximately 10:30 of the same day, the family headed to the
Police Directorate in Nablus and obtained a letter, at approximately 14:45,
stating that the mentioned prisoner is free of any charge. The family went to the Central Prison and
gave the prison guard the court ruling and the letter of the Police
Directorate. About 45 minutes later, Mo’ayad
was released from the prison. As he
wanted to shake hands with his brother, Mahdi, five persons in civilian clothes
attacked them. One of those five persons
strangled Mo’ayad’s neck while another pushed Mahdi away. The three others started firing on the ground
using their pistols. In the meantime,
someone whistled when a grey vehicle for the General Intelligence Services
(GIS) arrived. It was parked about 100 meters from the Bani
‘Ouda family. Ten members in black
military uniforms exited the vehicle and started firing into the air, beating
and kicking Bani ‘Ouda family members. They
insulted the relatives and chased them for a distance of 100 meters, then
arrested Mo’ayad and took him to an unknown destination.

It is worth noting that the GIS
arrested Mo’ayad Bani ‘Ouda on 22 July 2007. He was accused of affiliation with the Executive Force of Hamas,
membership in the Hamas movement, and possession of weapons. After the Hamas movement declared the death
of Mo’ayad due to torture, the mentioned person appeared on the following day
in a program on Palestine TV. He
confessed that he had collaborated with the Israeli intelligence.  In mid-2008, he was transferred from Jnaid
Prison, where he had been detained, to a civilian prison. He remained there until the day of his trial,
release and re-detention.

According to investigations
conducted by PCHR in the second case, on 2 February 2010, the Court of First
Instance in Ramallah ordered the release of Khaled Mohammed Abu al-Baha’, 36,
who had been detained by the Preventive Security Services (PSS). He was released on a bail of 10,000 Jordanian
Dinar (JD); of which 2000 JD were paid in cash. On the morning of Wednesday, 3 February 2010, the father of the said
person fulfilled the release conditions, including paying the bail and
obtaining the letter from the Police Directorate in Ramallah stating that the
said person is free of any charge. At
approximately 12:00, his father headed to the PSS’s headquarters to complete
the release procedures. About 15 minutes
later, he was requested to sign a letter that he received his son. The released son and

his father left the PSS headquarters
and got into their car. A PSS vehicle cut
them off, and members of the PSS stepped out of it and pulled Khaled out of his
car. He was returned to the PSS headquarters.

In light of the above, PCHR calls
upon the GIS and PSS in the West Bank to comply with the rulings of the Courts
of First Instance in Nablus and Ramallah, and immediately release Bani ‘Ouda
and Abu al-Baha’.