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| Al-Haq: PA Military Courts might lead to "authoritarian regime" |
| 2008-09-04 |
| Ma'an -- The Palestinian human rights organization Al-Haq urged the Palestinian Authority (PA) on Wednesday to end the use of military courts in trials of civilians in order to stop a dangerous slide towards authoritarianism. In a statement sent to journalists, the organization said these uses of the Military Judiciary "might lead towards an authoritarian regime, at the expenses of the fundamental rights and freedoms of Palestinians, the rule of law and the independency of the judiciary." "Several calls and statements have been sent to the Palestinian president and prime minister as well as the Ministry of Justice and general prosecution, to stop military judiciary intervention in the civil judiciary. Despite this, the military judiciary still violates and intervene in civil judiciary jurisdiction," said Al-Haq Director Sha'wan Jabarin during a press conference at Ramattan News Agency in the West Bank city of Ramallah. The organization specifically called for the implementation of 28 August ruling by the Palestinian High Court of Justice dictating that the the Military Attorney General and Military Judiciary have no jurisdiction over civilians Despite this decision, on 30 August 2008, the Military Attorney General and the Military Judiciary brought Mu'ayyad Yousef Atiyyeh Assaf, a civilian detained by the Palestinian Military Intelligence agency, before a military court in the West Bank town of Salfit. Jabarin said ther trial of Assaf, and the use of the Military Judiciary in civilian cases in general, are violations of Article 101, Paragraph 2 of the Palestinian Basic Law. An advisor to Al-Haq, Nasser Ar-Rayyis said that 280 Palestinians are currently imprisoned by the PA in the West Bank because of their political affiliation and another 100 are detained by the de facto government in the Gaza Strip. |
| Posted by:Fred |