Allegations of torture made by political detainee Abdel-Wahhab Hamad
Lawyers for Justice denounces that the detainee Abd al-Wahhab Hamad, 21 years, from Nablus, was tortured during his detention at the Preventive Security forces, according to what he told the group’s lawyer today, Thursday, August 11, 2022. According to Hamad, he suffered a work injury in the shoulder before he got arrest. He was deliberately beaten on the place of injury, neck and head, during interrogation against a political background. During today’s court session, the Nablus Magistrate’s Court issued a decision to extend Hamad’s detention for 10 days, on the grounds of a political charge, at the request of the Public Prosecution to complete the investigation. The Preventive Security forces arrested Hamad on August 9, 2022, from his home after 1:30 at night. Lawyers for Justice is concerned about the allegations of torture made by Abdel Wahab Hamad, expresses its deep concern for his health, safety and security, makes an urgent appeal for his immediate release, and the accountability of those who beat him, and those who violated the Palestinian Basic Law and Human Rights in dealing with Hamad and the detainees Politicians with whom the group has previously documented allegations of torture.
New violations: more than 10 decisions to extend the detention of activists
Today, Sunday, July 24, 2022, the Jericho Court of First Instance extended the detention of fellow trainee lawyer Ahmed Al-Khasib, Jihad Wahdan, and Alaa Ghanem for 45 days, at the request of the Public Prosecution, and against a political background. The political detainees concluded last week with a series of extensions of their detention at the request of the Public Prosecution. The extension decisions followed up by Lawyers for Justice were as follows: – The Jericho Magistrate’s Court extended the detention of Birzeit University student Qassam Hamayel for 15 days, due to his student activity. – The Ramallah Magistrate’s Court extended the detention of Muhammad Mahmoud Sheikh, Muhammad Suleiman, Islam Arar, Anas Sahweil and Mahdi al-Rimawi for 15 days on a political ground. – The Jericho Court of First Instance extended the detention of Ahmed Harish and Munther Raheeb for 45 days on a political ground. – Ramallah Magistrate’s Court extended the detention of Muhammad Farouk Khaled for 7 days on a political ground.– The Jericho Magistrate’s Court extended Moath Saleh’s detention for 15 days. A Lawyers for Justice confirms that the charges attached to the detainees are politically motivated charges, far from any legal evidence, which was confirmed by the nature of the interrogation with the detainees, which takes a political turn. Lawyers for Justice condemns the continued detention of activists, human rights defenders, and citizens, some of whom will be close to two months after their arrest, without regard to public freedoms and the Palestinian Basic Law. The Lawyers for Justice group calls for all to stand as civil society institutions, human rights defenders and journalists, to move for the release of all detainees, and to stop the series of political arrests, which have escalated in the recent period.
The latest updates in the case of the accused in the assassination of political critic Nizar Banat
The trial session of the 14 whom are accused in the case of the assassination of the critic and political activist Nizar Banat; was held this morning, 03/07/2022, in the Military Court in Ramallah. All the accused were present, the defense attorney, a representative of Lawyers for Justice, and representatives of two other institutions, one local and one international to cover the progress of the trial. And It is worth noting that this is the first session a year after the assassination of Banat. And to expedite the completion of the trial, according to the defense attorney; He dispensed with the witness he had presented before (Major-General in Security), also he asked the court to give him a time limit, so that he and the competent authorities could bring an international expert from outside Palestine to present it as one of his evidence. The details of the expert’s name and address were not disclosed, due to the sensitivity of the expert’s name and to prevent any influence of public opinion on the expert. Then the defense attorney gave a copy of the letter in which the details of the international expert were included to the court, and asked them to reserve the letter, and include it in the trial papers without anyone viewing it. He also asked the court to assist in the procedures for bringing the international expert to Palestine, which needs time up to two months, and also for his desire to benefit from the judicial leave from 15/07/2022 until 01/09/2022. The court agreed to the defense attorney’s request that the next session be the last period for summoning witnesses from his side, thus, the next session will be on Tuesday, 06/09/2022 at 10:00 am.
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.
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.