January 27, 2005

 

 

Brothers against brothers – another horrific case

 

 

PHRMG is urgently drawing your attention to the killing of 36-year old mentally disordered Mohammad Murshed al-Noubani. In the middle of January 2005 al-Noubani was tortured to death by a group of Palestinian gunmen who claimed to be members of Fatah, the party of the recently elected Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas.

 

PHRMG has learned from human rights activists in the area of the disgraceful death of al-Noubani, but so far no information has appeared in the media. He was kidnapped from his village Deir Ghassaneh near Ramallah in the West Bank in January by militants of Fatah who accused al-Noubani of being a collaborator with Israel. His hands were tied to his back and he was hung naked to an olive branch. He was tortured sadistically and thereby forced to admit that he was a collaborator with the Israelis. He was beaten severely and the perpetrators extinguished cigarettes on the body of al-Noubani. After the militants tortured him for two days, they left him half dead. Al-Noubani was transferred to hospital, where he passed away.

 

Al-Noubani left behind a wife, three young children and ailing parents. His family was not only deeply hurt by the death of al-Noubani, but was also disgraced by pamphlets issued by the Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades which stated that al-Noubani was accused of being a traitor. However, shortly thereafter the Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades issued new pamphlets denying the accusation. Al-Noubani’s kids don’t want to go to school anymore, since they will be seen as children of a traitor. Moreover al-Noubani’s wife is worrying how to prove her husband’s innocence. The family of al-Noubani is refusing to bury his body in an attempt to put pressure on the Palestinian Authority to take action. PHRMG believes it is very important that the accusation of collaboration and torture of al-Noubani is investigated thoroughly that and his name is cleared.

 

This is however not the first case of killing of collaborators. According to PHRMG’s statistics 99 suspected collaborators have been murdered since the beginning of the Al-Aqsa Intifada. Besides that more than 200 Palestinians have been killed by gunfire by their Palestinian brothers.

 

PHRMG is urgently calling upon the PA and especially upon Mr. Abbas as the newly elected president to pay serious attention to the internal Palestinian chaos and killings of Palestinians by their own brothers and in particular to this specific case. Torture should be prevented at all times and it is essential that cases of torture are investigated in depth and that perpetrators are punished accordingly. The PA must put a halt to torture and killings of suspected collaborators within Palestinian society.

 

PHRMG is urging the PA to investigate the horrible death of al-Noubani and to adhere to the rule of law. What makes this case even more inhuman and tragic was that the victim was suffering from a mental disorder and it therefore be expected that he was unable to completely defend himself against allegations of collaboration with Israel.   

 

PHRMG is urging the PA and the Palestinian community to let the rule of law and respect for human rights and dignity prevail. PHRMG is hoping that with the election of the new Palestinian leadership the chaos will start to diminish and that internal Palestinian matters will be given more attention.