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.