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On Wednesday,
July 3, the Palestinian Preventative Security Service in
Gaza seized Mr. Haidar Ghanem, age 39, father of two
children, and is interrogating him on claims of
collaboration. Mr. Ghanem, who is a resident of Rafah, is a field researcher
for B’Tselem, an Israeli human rights center that monitors
Israeli crimes in the Occupied Territories and is
traditionally supportive and sympathetic to the Palestinian
people.
The detainment of
Mr. Ghanem is in grave violation of human rights law due to
the lack of an arrest order, lack of official charges, lack
of evidence, and lack of access to a lawyer for Mr. Ghanem.
PHRMG demands that the Palestinian Authority
immediately make evidence available as to what grounds Mr.
Ghanem is detained upon, as well as immediately allow him to
meet his lawyer and representatives of B’Tselem.
PHRMG also reminds the Palestinian Authority that Mr.
Ghanem, as all individuals, is innocent until proven
otherwise, and is entitled to a fair trial free of coercion.
Of serious
concern is the repeated occurrence of Palestinians suspected
of collaboration being sentenced to death by “kangaroo”
trials or vigilante crimes where a defendant is literally
dragged out of a courtroom and murdered in the street.
PHRMG reminds the Palestinian Authority that it is
responsible for the safety of all people detained in its
custody.
The illegal
arrest and detainment of Mr. Ghanem adds to former such
violations by the Palestinian Authority. It is the exact opposite of what the Palestinian people want,
especially at this time of new hopes for reform and
transparency within their government.
PHRMG calls on
all activists to contact the Palestinian Interior Minister
to demand that Mr. Ghanem be questioned without torture and
that he be given a fair trial in accordance with
international law. Please
contact:
Abd el Razik
Yihya
Ministry of the
Interior
Palestinian
Authority
Fax:
+972-2-240-0668 |
