Ref: 38/2012
Date: 27 March 2012
Time: 11:00 GMT
The Palestinian Center for Human Rights (PCHR) is gravely concerned over summons issued by the Internal Security Service (ISS) against a number of Fatah members in the Gaza Strip in the past few days. PCHR calls for stopping such summons and detention practices under degrading conditions, in order to create an appropriate atmosphere to promote the internal reconciliation process.
In the past few days, PCHR received a number of complaints from Fatah members throughout the Gaza Strip that they were summoned or detained often under humiliating and degrading conditions. According to information collected by PCHR, in the past few days, the ISS issued summons against them to go to the ISS’s offices, each in his area of residence. In their testimonies, the complainers said that they received notices to refer to the ISS’s offices, where they were detained for several hours. In his testimony to PCHR, a complainer said the summoned persons receive other notices to refer again to the ISS’s offices on the following day, after few days or to return to them to be detained under the same conditions. Some of the complainers complained that they had been detained under cruel conditions that include detention in small cells. Besides, they were questioned about their activities as Fatah members in the Gaza Strip and their provocative role against the government in Gaza under the power crisis that emerged over a month ago.
The summons has been issued against approximately 80 members of Fatah throughout the Gaza Strip so far, but they have been all released on the same day. They said that they were mainly questioned on allegations of their factional role against the government in Gaza in light of the power crisis. One of Fatah members who were detained said that he was questioned and subjected to methods of torture, while another person said he was threatened of a field court-martial and of being shot in the legs in public in case he was convicted of incitement.
In Rafah, on 23 and 24 March 2012, the ISS summoned 11 members of Fatah movement. They were detained inside the ISS’s office and were released on the same day. One of the summoned persons said that he was questioned about his activity and on the provocative statement against the government in Gaza relevant to the latest power crisis; the statement that was attributed to Fatah movement. On 26 March, the ISS at Rafah International Crossing Point prevented six members of Fatah movement from traveling and were instructed to appear before the ISS on the beginning of April.
In Khan Yunis, from 18 to 24 March, the ISS delivered bodices to 15 members of Fatah to refer to its head office in Khan Yunis. The Fatah members had been detained for several hours, during which they were questioned about their relationship with an internal circular that was attributed to Fatah movement, claiming that it incited people against the government in Gaza regarding the power crisis.
Moreover, in the central Gaza Strip, on 23 March, the ISS summoned 15 of Fatah members to its head office in Deir al-Balah. The Fatah members were detained for several hours and were then released. One of them said that he was questioned while he was blindfolded. He added that an interrogator threatened him of “a field court-martial” and being shot next time in case he carried out incitement activities relative to the power crisis against the government in Gaza. He also said that he received another notice to return to the office on 29 March.
In Gaza City, on 22 and 23 March, the ISS summoned six members of March 15 Youth Group to the ISS’s head office in Gaza City. The summoned persons said that they were questioned about their latest activities and sources of funding, especially the spontaneous gathering that took place at al-Azhar University intersection in Gaza City, protesting against the transportation crisis, in addition to the mural painting of Yasser Arafat and Ahmed Yassin on the university’s wall. One of them said that he received another summon. Moreover, he was questioned about his relationship with the provocative statement attributed to Fatah on the power crisis in Gaza. He was also subjected to beating, humiliation and methods of torture. On Sunday, 25 March 2012, the ISS summoned 36 members of Fatah, and detained them in Qaser al-Hakem near Ansar Compound until 13:00 of the following day. Some of these members said that they were questioned about certain activities, and they were accused of incitement and trying to stir up the public opinion on the power crisis. These members, who were detained, were forced to sign an oath not to stir up the public opinion and to stop any factional activities.
In the northern Gaza Strip, on 22 March 2012, the ISS summoned four Fatah members in Jabalia, including the secretary of Fatah movement in the northern Gaza Strip. The four members were questioned in the ISS’s office, as they intended to organize a memorial service of the martyr “Kamal Medhat,” who was targeted by the Israeli Occupation Forces in Lebanon two years ago, but the ISS cancelled the memorial service. The four members were released a few hours later. In another context, on Friday morning, 23 March, a number of Fatah members in the northern Gaza Strip received text messages on their cell phones. The messages read: “To all those trying to be an accomplice to the crime and to harm the safety of people, stop and think as the price is high and we will not be merciful.”
PCHR is gravely concerned over summons issued against Fatah members and calls upon the government in Gaza to stop such acts that are carried out on political grounds.
