Monday, December 31, 2012

Arab NGO Condemns Human Rights Abuses Of Palestinian Authority

The Jerusalem Post reports that UK-based Arab HR group accuses PA of abuse
An Arab human rights group based in London accused the Palestinian Authority of inhumane practices and human rights violations against Palestinian civilians in a scathing report published on Friday.

The Arab Organization for Human Rights has put the primary blame for the human rights abuses on PA President Mahmoud Abbas and called on the UN, Arab League and Organization of Islamic Cooperation to take urgent action.

Among the findings of AOHR:

  • From June 2007 until the end of 2011, PA security forces detained 13,271 Palestinian citizens and 96 percent were subjected to various methods of torture, the report said. This resulted in the death of six detainees and caused “chronic illness” in others.

  • Between January and July 2012, PA security agencies detained 572 people and sent summonses to 770 more.

  • It also said the PA was guilty of torture and degrading treatment, with 18.7 percent of a sample of 300 former detainees stating that they experienced “severe torture” and 99.7% claiming that they were exposed to degrading treatment.

  • "With regards to the effect of detention on the lives of the detainees, 60% of those in the study explained that they now suffer from chronic diseases due to torture and the poor conditions in which they were held in detention."

  • "On another level, 60% confirmed that repeated or extensive detention reduced them to a state of acute poverty.”

  • "At least 73 people were made unemployed in the period under review, and it is estimated that around 3,200 have faced the same injustice since 2005. Harassment also includes students with security records being unable to find employment, acquire a driving license or open a business."

  • "A significant number of detainees are elderly people aged 60 and above, representing 11.3%; women made up 15.3%. Of the sample, 39.3% are students, 38% of whom confirmed that their studies were interrupted as a result of detention.”
The article notes that the report is critical of the Israeli government as well:
The PA’s activities, the NGO said, are routinely carried out in full coordination with Israel. It added, however, that the detentions and summons by the PA surpassed those by Israeli security forces.
The findings of the report of course puts the Palestinian Authority on a par with Egypt and a host of other Muslim countries.

A fact that affects neither US aid nor acceptance and support from both Europe and the UN.


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