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With the establishment of the first
Palestinian Authority, new hopes sprung to life within
Palestinians, hoping to be treated fairly and with dignity,
after years of suffering under the Israeli occupation.
Surely those who fought for peace and the establishment of
an independent authority would be treated with respect and
appreciation on behalf of the Palestinian people.
Unfortunately, quite the opposite came
to be true. Farouk Abu-Hassan is a man who bears an example
of the cruel injustices conducted by the Palestinian
Authority. Mr. Abu-Hassan was imprisoned by the Israelis
for 13 years between 1972-1985 for writing a letter with
others from prison to Egyptian President Sadat regarding
Palestinian rights and congratulating him on his peace
initiative. In November 1994, under suspicious
circumstances, Mr. Abu-Hassan was taken late at night from
his home by the military intelligence of the Palestinian
Authority. He is still, to this day, in jail under the
Palestinian Authority. The charge against him is the letter
he wrote to President Sadat.
Mr. Abu-Hassan has a wife and three
children, who for at times, have been prohibited from seeing
him for up to 18 months. Mr. Abu-Hassan has been tortured
during interrogation by the hands of the Palestinian
Authority. His lawyer quit his case because the Palestinian
Military Intelligence Service (MIS) would not cooperate with
him on the case. At one point, Abu-Hassan’s wife was
tricked into paying the MIS 8,500 Jordanian dinars when
promised her husband would then be released in 10 days
because he was innocent. His wife managed to come up with
this sum and did pay, but it ended up in vain because her
husband was never released. Mrs. Abu-Hassan tried earnestly
several times to meet with President Arafat, but he never
granted her an opportunity to meet with him.
Farouk Abu- Hassan is still, to this
day, imprisoned in Gaza, with no specific charge or trial.
In December 2000, there was a decision to release him, but
this was denied by Mousa Arafat.
It is the hope of PHRMG, that with a
new Palestinian Parliament and a new Prime Minister, that
Farouk Abu-Hassan will be released from this unjust
imprisonment and that such cases as his will not happen
again under the new Palestinian government. The Palestinian
people have suffered enough injustice and it is shameful to
keep perpetrating it upon their own people. PHRMG hopes
that the parliament and prime minister will ensure true
freedom, transparency, and justice for all Palestinians.
The director of PHRMG, Bassem Eid, has
written a letter to Prime Minister Mahmoud Abass (Abu Mazen)
and the Minister of Justice Mr. Abdul Karim Abu-Salah to
make him aware of the situation of Farouk Abu-Hassan and
appeal for his immediate release.
Palestinian Human Rights Monitoring
Group (PHRMG)
The PHRMG is a Palestinian, independent, non-governmental
organization working to end human rights violations
committed against Palestinians in the West Bank, Gaza Strip,
and East Jerusalem, regardless of those responsible. The
members of the Monitoring Group believe that the strength of
democracy and civil society in Palestinian society will be
determined by the Palestinian people, through their defense
or neglect of human rights.
Ragheb Nashashibi Street 5
Sheikh Jarrah-Jerusalem
P.O. Box 19918
East Jerusalem 91198
admin@phrmg.org
www.phrmg.org
Tel. 972-2-582-3372/3
Fax. 972-2-582-3385 |
