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8.
Categories of
Prisoners
Since 1994, the PA
has detained about 400 prisoners on political grounds. Of these there are
still around 250 in detention. Reasons for detaining these prisoners vary.
The following classifies them into three categories.
a) Political
Prisoners
These individuals
are detained on the basis of a suspicion that they are members of Islamic
or leftist groups that oppose the peace process with Israel. Most of them
belong to either Hamas Islamic movement or to the Islamic Jihad. They are
usually arrested as part of a campaign of arrest carried out by the PA
following certain political events. They remain in prison for long periods
of time with no charge or trial.
Since the coming of
the PA, the PHRMG has documented five such campaigns conducted by the PA
Security Services against Hamas and al-Jihad activists:
Ø
Immediately after
taking over, the PA began its political arrest Marathon by arresting 800
people. Most of these were released after few days, while others were kept
in detention for approximately 50 days.
Ø
At the end of February
1996, about 1200 people affiliated with Islamic groups were detained in
the largest wave of arrests since the Oslo agreement. Following this
campaign, the phenomenon of torturing prisoners in the PA prisons started
to spread.
Ø
After the
assassination of Moheyeddin al-Sharif, one of the leaders of Hamas
military branch in 1998, about 40 Islamic activists from the district of
Ramallah were detained.
Ø
The year 1999
witnessed two campaigns, one in January and another in August. The later
one included the detention of 47 persons following the signing of the
Sharm (amended Wye Agreement)
Arresting political
activists normally occurs because of pressure exerted on the PA by the USA
and Israel to detain “terrorists”, since they believe that the biggest
threat to the peace process is terrorism.
b)
Prisoners of Conscience
Political arrest
also includes those political figures who criticize the PA, including
human rights activists and journalists. Such arrests, of course, lead to
wide-spread condemnation. Consequently they are usually released within
few days. In some cases however, detention continues for years. Dr.
Abdel-Aziz Rantisi, for example, was detained from 9 April 1998 to 7
February 2000 following remarks he made to the Jerusalem Post newspaper.
In November 1999, 9 well-known political personalities were detained after
they had participated in issuing a communiqué which criticized the PA and
President Arafat for the spread of corruption inside the PA.
c)
Security Prisoners
These are
individuals detained by the PA on the basis of being suspected of
collaboration with Israel. Article 16(2) of the Oslo Agreement forbids the
bringing of such individuals to trial. Consequently, they are to be
“detained for life”. Most of such prisoners are detained by the Military
Intelligence Service, headed by General Mousa Arafat. Human Rights
organizations are not permitted to visit Military Intelligence Detention
Centers, which are feared by the public. According to an Amnesty
International Report, there are approximately 250 security prisoners in PA
jails who have not been charged and who have not been brought to trial.
This state of affairs has come about because Palestinian law is flexible
with its provisions relating to the charge of “collaboration”.
PHMRG is greatly
concerned with the way in which the PA deals with the charge of
“collaboration”, as this charge has been used to tarnish the reputation of
politicians from the opposition. Moreover, officers from the Security
Services use this charge to get rid of people with whom they have had
personal disputes. Those charged with “collaboration” do not receive the
opportunity to defend themselves in a fair trial.
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