| Submit your comments on this article |
| Israel-Palestine-Jordan |
| Fayyad concedes PA tortured Hamas detainees |
| 2010-01-05 |
| [Ma'an] Caretaker Prime Minister Salam Fayyad implicitly admitted in a report published on Sunday that Palestinian Authority security forces have tortured Hamas detainees over the past two years. An Associated Press report on the subject, citing interviews with Hamas inmates, rights activists, Hamas officials and Fayyad himself, said that most torture had ended in October. Fayyad's comments, however, amounted to the first time a senior PA official conceded that abuses were committed by the security forces, many of which are trained by the US, Russia, and other world powers. Fayyad claimed a "dramatic change for the better" in West Bank prisons and said that 43 officers had been jailed, fired or demoted for abusing prisoners. The prime minister denied that torture was ever official policy but admitted past "excesses" that he said stemmed from a flawed culture of revenge. Some of the torture described in the AP report includes prisoners being "beaten with clubs and cables." The report also said that abuse had been so severe that, since 2007, eight detainees have died in jails in the West Bank and 15 in Hamas-controlled Gaza. Fayyad's concession was also the first time a PA official had publicly confirmed that Hamas members are arrested based on their political affiliation alone. The AP report notes that "Security forces often arrest Hamas activists and hold them for lengthy periods without charge." Fayyad himself has repeatedly denied that the PA jails people for political reasons. In an interview with Ma'an in July, he said all inmates in PA prisons were held in accordance with court orders. In a speech in Ramallah in August, Fayyad said everyone in the PA's jails "have violated the law in one way or another." At its weekly meeting on Monday, Fayyad's cabinet vowed on Monday to continue reforms it says have eliminated the use of torture in PA prisons. In a statement summarizing the meeting, the ministers reaffirmed Fayyad's comments to the AP. "Security institutions will continue in their efforts to enforce the rule of law in accordance with human rights," the cabinet said. "The Council [of ministers] gave its full commitment to the security establishment's emphasis on standards and principles of human rights in their work and continuation of the process of accountability on the basis of international standards in this regard," it added. |
| Posted by:Fred |
| #4 Poor Mr. Sullivan. He was so respected, once. |
| Posted by: trailing wife 2010-01-05 13:36 |
| #3 "It's sort of a hobby." |
| Posted by: mojo 2010-01-05 11:30 |
| #2 Has Andy Sullivan been notified? |
| Posted by: Spot 2010-01-05 08:01 |
| #1 TORTURE ALERT Quick, get the UN involved. Where is the outcry? Where are the liberal tools? Not a f'ing word. More liberal hypocrisy in action. |
| Posted by: Mike Hunt 2010-01-05 00:44 |