|
Archives The
bi-monthly
publication of the PHRMG |
|
The Monitor |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Political Arrest....... What
for?
Volume 4, Issue 3: The Palestinian Human Rights Monitor
|
12. An interview with Rashid
Abu-Shibak, Deputy Chairman of the Preventive Security Service in Gaza
Strip, taken from the al-Masar Palestinian newspaper:
“It is better for the political prisoners not to go to court. We will
continue to have contact channels with Hamas”
We held this special interview with Rashid Abu-Shibak, whose family
originally comes from a village near Ashkelon, and who lived in Jabalia
refugee camp. He spent 16 years of his life in Israeli prisons and is
considered one of the key secret negotiators.
1. Q: Why did you choose to be an officer in the Preventive Security
Service?
A: I did not choose. Responsibility was delegated to me. We do not choose
our fathers.
2. Q: What is the responsibility of the Preventive Security?
A: To ensure security and stability for the Palestinian people.
3. Q: You have spent many years in Israeli prisons. How do you feel when
you place people in prison?
A: In the Palestinian Authority we have our own political system. We
are members of different organizations and institutions. I am not
convinced that there is a person who can give the people all their rights.
There is no Palestinian who likes blood. The Palestinian freedom fighters
wanted only to live in peace and security. We are still at the beginning
of the road. We still suffer under the occupiers and work hard for peace.
This does not mean that we work to protect Israel, but we do not seek to
kill the Israelis. Therefore, security responsibility is very important.
We seek to maintain two objectives:
a) There is only one authority. We should not allow any other political or
non-political power to work outside of this framework.
b) We protect our national project through our security work. No state can
live without security.
We must take security measures against any person or group that has its
own law outside the law of the Authority. This does not mean that we feel
happy when we arrest individuals, but we should differentiate between our
feelings and our national interest.
4. Q: Why do you not give political prisoners a trial?
A: All detainees in our prisons have different charges. It is for their
own interest that we do not take them to court, because if they go to
trial, they will receive long prison sentences.
5. Q: What are the limits for opinion and expression?
A: They may criticize the PA and the peace agreements, but to call for
violence in unacceptable. The PFLP, for example, calls for the complete
liberation of Palestine and we did not arrest them. But when Hamas called
for the killing of the Palestinian police, then that was against the law
and the Authority.
6. Q: If there are charges against those prisoners, why are there no
trials for them? The absence of trials gives a bad impression of the
Authority.
A: Yes there is a bad impression, but people must understand that we have
exceptional circumstances. And despite our position on Hamas, we recognize
that they are part of our people and should always have contact channels
open with them. It we take those prisoners to court, they will be judged
and then released to face the Israelis who might kill them. There were
more than 40 prisoners whose release has been ordered by the High Court,
but if we were to take them to court and present their files to the court,
they would not be released.
7. Q: You mean that you do not present their files to court?
A: No we do not, because if we did that, then confirming the charge will
be as if it was an Israeli confirmation.
8. Q: Did you discuss this issue with Hamas and the Islamic Jihad?
A: The Islamists know this issue very well. ”
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Our Profile
I
News & Events
I
The Monitor
I
Resources
I Links
I
Subscriptions
I
Home |
|
