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By Maha Abdul Hadi
RAMALLAH, Palestine (IslamOnline) – The deterioration
of human rights in Palestine has reached “dangerous levels,” according to
the 1999 annual report of the Palestinian Independent Commission for Citizens
Rights. The semi-governmental commission documented 332 human rights
violations committed by the Palestinian Authority (PA). “The deterioration was documented in all three
governmental branches: executive, legislative and judicial,” according to
PICCR director Ali Jirbawi. The PA’s violations ranged from violating the right to
life to violating individual freedoms, privacy and movement. “Most of the
violations are committed for political reasons,” Jirbawi said, “and have
no legal basis.” For instance, the head of a major political party, the
Islamic Salvation Party, was arrested for several hours because of a statement
put out by the party against the draconian State Security Courts – military
tribunals that try civilians with no proper defense and no appeal procedure. The report also found that the law allows public
gatherings, even those unsupportive of the government, but the security forces
do not. “The main problem is that the executive branch is
willing to put its own political interests above the law, even if this
violates people’s rights and freedoms,” the report said. In the report, there were 156 documented cases of
torture, four death sentences (one of which was carried out), more than 150
new political prisoners, three deaths in detention, seven dead civilians
killed by the “mishandling” of weapons by security forces, eight
journalists imprisoned in the line of the their work, one person banned from
traveling because of expressing his opinion, and two people placed under house
arrest. Many of the violations were eerily reminiscent of Israeli
human rights abuses of Palestinians. The report found that most arrests take place by security
forces without any legal procedure or any consultation with the district
attorney’s office. The report noted that many other violations go
undocumented out of fear.
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