The political detainee Ahmad Hraish is being tortured
Lawyers for Justice group requests an urgent call for immediate intervention, in order to release political detainee Ahmed Hraish, who has been detained since 6/6/2022 by the intelligence agency in Jericho, related to what is known as the Beituniya carpentry case. The group, since 14/06/2022, mentioned in a statement that the detainee Hraish had stated earlier in the Jericho Magistrate’s Court that he had been subjected to torture, as following: “I am in Jericho’s prison cells since a week, they used strappado or corda (which the victim’s hands are tied behind his back and the victim is suspended by a rope attached to the wrists), my face is fully covered i couldn’t see anything through the cover, i was being hung and beaten with sticks and rubber, they used Falaka with me (Foot whipping, or bastinado is a method of inflicting pain and humiliation by administering a beating on the soles of a person’s bare feet) then they told me to stand up and dance. I’ve been tortured by bricks, iron, running reverse, and other torturing methods..”. Then, on 28/06/2022, Hraish stated in front of the Judge Diab al-Qawasmeh again, that he was constantly being tortured by the intelligence agaency in Jericho after the extension of the detention session, which took place on 14/06/2022. Yesterday, the detainee Hraish also declared before the General Attorney that he had been subjected to torture, and stated that there were efforts to compel him to accept very serious criminal charges that undermine his reputation and patriotism. The group requests an URGENT call for immediate intervention, and it is in the process of addressing all the competent official authorities in order to ensure the opening of a serious investigation into allegations of torture, and to demand the prosecution of a complaint of torture in accordance with due process of law fair trial.
Public opinion statement on the continuation of mass political arrests and arrests based on opinion
Lawyers for Justice group is following the mass of political arrests and arrests based on exercising constitutional rights, carried out by the executive authority, which has taken a noticeably escalating trend since the beginning of this June. The group has recorded, as part of its direct follow-up, more than 63 arrests, distributed among the cities of the occupied West Bank. For administrative detention, 4 of them are under the custody of the governor of Qalqilya, while one case was referred to the governor of Ramallah and two cases were released later. The types of the charges in these files varied between stirring up strife and racism, illegal gathering, accusations of collecting and receiving illegal funds, possession of a weapon without a license, and slander against the authority. During this period, the group has continued following up the mass arrests that followed what was known as the Beitounia carpentry case, where about twenty people were arrested regarding this case. Later on the majority of the detainees were released in this case, but some detainees were referred to the Joint Investigation Committee, or what is known as the Security Committee in Jericho. Where one of the detainees raised claims of torture in front of the judge of the Jericho Magistrate’s Court, while some lawyers present in the vicinity of the court mentioned seeing traces on the face of the detainee; lawyer Ahmed Khasib, suggesting that he was subjected to torture, before the aforementioned detainee later denied being tortured during his interrogation by the Public Prosecution in Jericho. The group also monitored the arrest and detention of 15 people among the aforementioned detainees based on “we want to live” movement in the city of Hebron, after the dispersal the demonstrators who were rejecting the exorbitant price hike in basic goods and services, 8 of them were referred to the security committee in Jericho, before all detainees were released on that case, after efforts made by the Independent Commission for Human Rights ICHR. The group also documented the exposure of the detainee Suleiman Qatash; He was later released, for being beaten by Preventive Security agents in front of the court, while he was being returned to the detention center, in addition to the aforementioned claim, during his interrogation in front the Ramallah Prosecution, that he was beaten by the aforementioned entity. Accordingly, the group confirms that all these arrests listed within the framework of political arrests on the basis of political affiliation, and all these arrests take place without the presence or presentation of any arrest warrant from the competent authorities, which is considered a violation of the Palestinian Basic Law and international human rights conventions. The group also confirms that if it is proven that any detainee has been beaten or tortured, these acts must be pursuited as it is considered a crime punishable by law, requiring the intervention of the Attorney General. And stopping the summons, out of respect for the Palestinian Basic Law, from which the political system derives its law, and the need to stop the policy of political arrest and detention based on exercising guaranteed constitutional rights. The group notes that it has documented hundreds of arrests during the period following the assassination of the late political critic Nizar Banat.
Arrest under the Governor’s custody in June
Since the beginning of June, the group has followed up on 5 administrative arrests pending under the governor decision, including 4 cases in the custody of the governor of Qalqilya and one in the custody of the governor of Ramallah. The group had obtained several previous decisions from the High Court of Justice in similar cases of detention; it had ruled that the arrest of the governor was false and illegal, in which it assaulted and exceeded the authority of the judiciary. Accordingly, the group asserts that the Public Prosecutor’s Office is the only legally competent body to prosecute any accused person of any nature of the charge, and that the use of the security services to arrest citizens in the custody of the governor aims to provide space for these organs to arbitrarily arrest citizens and conduct an illegal investigation outside the control of the court in which there is no minimum fair trial guarantees guaranteed under the Palestinian Basic Law and human rights conventions.
The trial of the accused in the assassination case of Nizar Banat is postponed without an official court session
In the supervisory role played by Lawyers for Justice group, by attending all the trials of the acؤused in the case of the assassination of political activist Nizar Banat from the beginning until today, the most recent updates in this case; the trial session of the accused was postponed, first from 10:00 am – as it was supposed to be held – until 02:00 pm, then it was postponed again to Sunday on 6/26/2022, without holding the official session in the Military Court in Ramallah, due to absence of defendants’ lawyer for his preoccupation in other cases.
Qalqilya Magistrate’s Court issues an acquittal in the case of Muhammad Al-Baz who is been accused of defaming the authority
The Qalqilya Magistrate’s Court decided this morning to acquit the former detainee, Muhammad Al-Baz, of the charge of defamation against the authority, in violation of Article 45 of Decree-Law No. 10 of 2018 in terms of Article 191 of Penalties No 16 to the year 60. The Preventive Security Service arrested Muhammad Al-Baz from Qalqilya governorate because of posts he wrote on his personal social media page, in which he criticizes the performance of the Palestinian Authority PLO, and in these publications he also criticizes the policy of political detention that targets those he described as respected people. He described the settlement agreements signed by the PLO as illegitimate, in addition he wrote that the authority is corrupted and accused the authority of killing Nizar Banat. After six months of prosecution, arrest and trial, the Magistrate’s Court in Qalqilya decided to declare his innocence. Accordingly, Lawyers for Justice group calls for the necessity of respecting rights, freedoms, and preserving the right to express opinion, no matter how climaxed it may be, as long as it is focused on legitimate criticism.The group also confirms that hundreds of files that were referred by city prosecutors on the same background receive acquittal verdicts at the conclusion of the trial, which requires waiting and reassessing the prosecution’s performance in the files referred to the courts or requests to extend arbitrary detentions that are arbitrarily submitted to the courts at the investigation stage. Punishing people, especially since the Public Prosecution Office exists to protect the public right, preserve rights, and freedoms, not to defend oppression and confiscation of constitutional rights enshrined by the Palestinian Basic Law. The group also stresses that the judiciary is required today to reconsider requests to extend the detention, so that the judiciary is not a haven to legitimize repression in the arrest stage, with the need also to repeal this decision by a law on cybercrime as it directly contradicts the Palestinian Basic Law and related human rightsconventions.
The trial of the accused in assassination of the political activist Nizar Banat has been postponed
The military court in Ramallah has postponed the trial of the accused in assassination of the political activist Nizar Banat today morning, until June 20th, upon a previous request from the defendant’s attorney to postpone due to his sickness.
A public statement on the suppression of the protest by An-Najah University students
Lawyers for justice group followed up on the bloody events that took place yesterday inside the campus of Al-Najah University in the city of Nablus, what accompanied these events was the repression and beatings of dozens of university security staff, reaching the point of serious harm, against students sitting on campus using their natural and legitimate right to express their opinions and demands in a safe university life. The group also monitored the beating of these protesters by using sharp tools that were in the possession of the aforementioned security forces, in addition the use of pepper gas in the face of the students, and the beating of one of the university lecturers while he was among the students. While the group expresses its disapproval and surprise at how things have turned out on campus, it looks at the behavior that has occurred that expresses a violent approach that is fueled by more aggression and hatred within a large scientific edifice such as Al-Najah University, until the university has become a place of human rights violations and attacks on human dignity, amid suspicious silence of the official institution and its executive bodies, which distanced themselves from interfering and standing up to their job responsibilities despite the torrent of blood on the university campus, until it came to chasing students in the public streets and shooting from weapons and guns.Considering the bloody events that took place are clear crimes, including attempted murder, which require the intervention of the Public Prosecutor to carry out his legal responsibilities by opening a criminal investigation and issuing orders to arrest everyone involved in the assault on students in order to preserve the status and prestige of the public right. The group also confirms that the official statements made by the Governor of Nablus Governorate, considering the events of An-Najah University an internal affair, are an inseparable part of the event, reflects the state of official disregard for human rights violations and disregard for crimes committed without interference by law enforcement officials, and at the time In which the detention centers of the security services are filled with dozens of political detainees without any legal basis, the outlaws are protected.
Detainees under torture in Jericho
Updates on the status of the political detainees Ahmad khaseeb and Ahmad Hareesh; our colleague lawyer Ahmed khaseeb, is detained for nearly a week by Palestinian security forces, he is being subjected to torture and abuse inside the Security Committee’s detention center, according to the testimony of lawyers who were able to see him yesterday after he was brought to the Jericho Magistrate’s Court. Detainees Ahmed Harish confirmed before the Jericho Magistrate’s Court judge that he was severely tortured at the place of his arrest.Therefore, lawyers for Justice confirms that torturing detainees is a crime committed by those in charge of enforcement the law, the detention centers which are under the supervision of the Public Prosecution are committing such crimes amid suspicious silence. The judiciary’s failure to take a position in this regard is considered a cover-up of these crimes, which requires for the intervention of all Human Rights and unions to determine their role and responsibility in confronting this behavior that contradicts the Palestinian Basic Law and human rights conventions. The group of Lawyers for Justice also emphasize that torture not only a crime punishable by law, also leads to the nullification of all investigation procedures, and therefore the group warns against dealing with any confessions obtained under the torture and the threat to which detainees are exposed.
A political detainee Sulaiman Qatash hasn’t been presented to any judicial entity since 3 days
For three day in straight; the Palestinian Preventive Security Forces in Ramallah refuse to present the political detainee Suliaman Qatash to any judicial entity, note that he was detained in the preventive security center on 6/6/2022, after he was arrested from his home in the village of Yabroud, Ramallah district, at ten o’clock at night. Sulaiman Qatash is a former political detainee and a former prisoner in the occupying Israeli prisons as the youngest administrative prisoner for several months. His father; Salem Qatash is a former political detainee and he is currently imprisoned in the occupying Israeli prisons. Today, The General Prosecution has rejected the Lawyers for Justice group’s request to visit the detainee Qatash, on the pretext that there is no file for him in the Prosecution’s records, after the preventive security refused to allow the group to visit him. Lawyers for Justice group calls the Public Prosecution to take a serious action; to immediately release the detainee Qatash, especially after the Prosecution of Ramallah refrained from offering protection procedures and trial guarantees for Qatash. The group also calls all human rights organizations to take immediate action to ensure that the aforementioned detainee is not subjected to any harm or threat.
“We want to live”!
The Lawyers for Justice group has followed the arrest of 11 persons by the Palestinians Security Forces in the city center of Hebron in 05/06/2022, then transported 8 of them to the security committee in Jericho, regarding their participation in a popular protest against extreme high living expenses of goods and services. After the arrest of those who are mentioned, the Security Forces have referred them to the security committee center in Jericho, then they brought them back to the general prosecution in Hebron, charged with roads sabotage and illegal gathering. The general prosecution had issued a decision to extend the arrest to 48 hours to complete the investigation while some of the accused refused to sign the interrogatory in the prosecution, as some of the arrested had declared they had permission to protest based on the law. Later on June, 6th, 2022 they have been all released. Accordingly; Lawyers for Justice confirms that the dispersal of any peaceful sit-in is an assault on a constitutional right, and a clear violation of the Palestinian Basic Law, which guarantees the public freedoms of citizens within the scope of the law. The group also emphasizes that the seriousness of these measures taken by the security services, which were covered by the Public Prosecution in Hebron, negatively affect citizens’ exercise of their constitutional rights and lead to people’s reluctance to use their constitutional rights they have by law for fear of repression and/or arrest.