PA daily reports on cases of torture committed by the PA and on calls to investigate them
“Dr. Ahmed Harb, the Commissioner-General of the Independent Commission for Human Rights, met with [PA] Minister of the Interior Said Abu-Ali to discuss issues relating to the cases of torture and abuse against individuals detained by the [Palestinian] Preventive Security Forces in Bethlehem, and the issue of the sit-down strike of the students of the Islamic [student] group at Birzeit University, following the [police’s] summoning of several students from the Islamic [student] group on grounds of their political affiliation…
Harb reviewed the cases of torture that had occurred at the [PA] Preventive Security Forces headquarters in Bethlehem, and explained that most of these [torture] cases and abuses – which included beatings, Shabah (a method of torture in which the detainee is hung by his hands), humiliations, threats and the application of pressure to sensitive body parts – occurred at the detention center of the Preventive Security Forces in Bethlehem.
In addition, several torture and abuse cases were committed by the Bethlehem Police Force; all the complainants had been arrested in the wake of the events that occurred in the Bethlehem district last January [2013], and the murder of police officer Naser Othman Brewish at the Tekoa police station, [also] in the Bethlehem district. Harb emphasized the importance of imposing criminal penalties – and not merely internal disciplinary measures – on perpetrators of torture and abuse, in cases in which the charges against them are confirmed.
Furthermore, he emphasized the urgency of publishing the results of the investigative committees, in order to put an end to rumors, and [underscored] that the PA must assume responsibility for these incidents.
Regarding the sit-down strike of the students at Birzeit University following their summoning by the Security Forces, Harb asserted that summons must not be issued arbitrarily, as they disrupt the lives of the citizens and affect the students’ ability to continue their course of studies. Furthermore, he underscored [the need] to reemphasize the previous directives banning the summoning of students on grounds of their political affiliation or student activity.”
Harb reviewed the cases of torture that had occurred at the [PA] Preventive Security Forces headquarters in Bethlehem, and explained that most of these [torture] cases and abuses – which included beatings, Shabah (a method of torture in which the detainee is hung by his hands), humiliations, threats and the application of pressure to sensitive body parts – occurred at the detention center of the Preventive Security Forces in Bethlehem.
In addition, several torture and abuse cases were committed by the Bethlehem Police Force; all the complainants had been arrested in the wake of the events that occurred in the Bethlehem district last January [2013], and the murder of police officer Naser Othman Brewish at the Tekoa police station, [also] in the Bethlehem district. Harb emphasized the importance of imposing criminal penalties – and not merely internal disciplinary measures – on perpetrators of torture and abuse, in cases in which the charges against them are confirmed.
Furthermore, he emphasized the urgency of publishing the results of the investigative committees, in order to put an end to rumors, and [underscored] that the PA must assume responsibility for these incidents.
Regarding the sit-down strike of the students at Birzeit University following their summoning by the Security Forces, Harb asserted that summons must not be issued arbitrarily, as they disrupt the lives of the citizens and affect the students’ ability to continue their course of studies. Furthermore, he underscored [the need] to reemphasize the previous directives banning the summoning of students on grounds of their political affiliation or student activity.”