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PRESS RELEASES 2000
Jerusalem, March 23, 2000
PHRMG Annual Report
1999 - Over 300 political prisoners in PA jails
The PHRMG Annual Report 1999 is now available in English.
The Palestinian Authority (PA) is detaining more than 300
political prisoners. 250 of these have been detained for
more than one year without any charge or trial. The PHRMG
Annual Report 1999 brings a list of names of political
prisoners in PA prisons.
Case of the year:
While the Palestinian Authority celebrated 11 years of
independence on November 15 1999, Farouk Abu-Hassan
celebrated 5 years in a Palestinian prison without charge or
trial
In 1999, 15 Palestinians were brought before the State
Security Court. Four of them received death sentences. Since
the establishment of the PA, we have seen 27 capital
sentences, three of them already executed, one in 1999. We
protest against the practice of death sentences in the
Palestinian judicial system. We demand the Palestinian
Legislative Council (PLC) to legislate a new law to prevent
the execution of capital sentence judgments.
Civilians are still brought before the military courts.
PHRMG strongly protests against the procedures of the
Palestinian high military court. We demand a fair trial for
all these prisoners, their sentences by the military courts
annulled and their cases brought before civilian courts.
Torture is still a big problem in Palestinian prisons. In
1999 we had two deaths in custody: Mohammad Eshreiteh (34),
married with eight children and Mahmoud al-Bajjali (33),
married with 3 three children. The PA refused to provide the
families with the autopsy reports upon request.
Since the establishment of the PA, 22 have died in
Palestinian custody. 1999 saw two prisoners dying due to
torture and severe neglect.
PHRMG strongly protests against the practice of not
releasing autopsy reports or medical reports of prisoners
who die in Palestinian custody. The families of the deceased
have the right to receive autopsy reports and any medical
evidence collected. Further, we call upon the Palestinian
Authority to establish a forensic department totally
independent from the Ministry of Justice, the Ministry of
Prisoners Affairs and the Palestinian police and security
forces.
The PHRMG Annual Report 1999 deals with the following
issues:
Political arrest, the Palestinian judicial system, capital
sentence, torture in Palestinian prisons, weapons misuse,
health, the Palestinian media and academic freedom at
Palestinian universities.
The PHRMG Annual Report 1999 is now available in English.
For more information, and to order the report, contact the
PHRMG office: Tel: 972 2 6262463, 972 2 6263886 Fax: 972 2
6262378, E-mail: admin@phrmg.org
http://www.phrmg.org
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