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Jerusalem, November 15, 1999
While
the Palestinian Authority today celebrates 11 years of
independence, Farouk Abu-Hassan celebrates 5 years in a
Palestinian prison without charge or trial .
The municipality of
Ramallah organised today a central celebration marking the
Declaration of Independence, with military, scouts and mass
parades, speeches and festivities.
At the same time in Gaza
prison, Farouk Abu-Hassan celebrates his 5th year
of imprisonment without being charged or put before a trial.
Abu-Hassan was arrested by
the Palestinian Intelligence Service on November 8, 1994.
The reason for the arrest was a letter signed by Abu-Hassan
and others, addressed to President Sadat of Egypt, in
1981.
In the letter, Abu-Hassan
congratulates President Sadat on his initiative of peace
agreement with Israel in 1977. This happened while the rest
of the Arab world opposed the idea of peace.
Quote from Abu-Hassan’s
letter:
“Our movement
refuses wars and violence, and acts against them. We believe
that working for a comprehensive peace in the region will
put an end to the conflict between the two peoples (the
Palestinians and the Israelis). We believe in the method of
negotiations and discussion to reach an agreement between
the two peoples. We consider this to be a perfect way to
solve our problems”.
13 years later, long after
the PLO and PA itself embraced the idea of peace and
negotiations, Abu-Hassan was arrested on basis of the same
letter.
Farouk Abu-Hassan was kept
in prison for three months before he was questioned. He
reported to his wife that he was tortured. His wife was told
to pay the Security Forces 8500 JD (appr. $ 12.000) to get
him released, which she did. He was, however, never
released.
Today he has spent 5 years
in Gaza prison based on his letter. He was never questioned
about other matters. No legal procedures were followed in
his case. No applicable laws implemented. No lawyer has been
allowed to meet Farouk.
Farouk from Gaza is 45
years, married with three children. His health is weak, as
he spent 13 years of a life sentence in an Israeli prison
from 1972-1985, and suffers from a bullet wound from the
times of the Intifada.
On this day where the
Palestinian Authority celebrates themselves on 11 years of
independence, The Palestinian Human Rights Monitoring Group
(PHRMG) would like to bring attention to this and other
cases of severe human rights violations being carried out by
the Palestinian Authority:
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220 political prisoners
and 250 security prisoners (accused of collaborating with
Israel, or land dealing) are being held in Palestinian
prisons, none of them presented with any charges or trial
for one year
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Hundreds of Palestinians
have been tortured during their detention by the various
Palestinian security forces
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20 Palestinians have died
in custody since the establishment of the PA
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26 Palestinians have been
sentenced to death since the establishment of the PA
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3 of them were executed
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50 serious violations
against journalists and media in general since the
establishment of the PA
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54 political prisoners got
a release order from the Palestinian High Court this year,
but none of them are released yet
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15 prisoners were
presented for the state security court in 1999, of whom 3
was sentenced to death (not executed yet)
The picture can be sent in
higher resolution.
For more information, contact the
PHRMG office: Tel: 972 2 6262463, Fax: 972 2 6262378,
E-mail:
admin@phrmg.org
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