Mass Arrests in West Bank and Gaza: Al Mezan and Al Haq Call for Halt of Illegal Arrests and Immediate Release of Victims

In a context of continued illegal actions and reactions, campaigns of extra-legal mass arrests and raids on institutions and mosques in the Gaza strip and the West Bank have occurred since Friday 24 July 2008.
Since the criminal explosion that occurred on Gaza beach which killed six people including a child girl and five Hamas activists, Hamas movement and the dismissed government in Gaza have launched a wide-scaled campaign of arrests of at least 175; all of whom are members and/or supporters of Fatah movement in the Gaza Strip.
At the same time, the Palestinian National Authority (PNA) and the security apparatuses of its care-taker government arrested more than 115 members and supporters of Hamas movement in the West Bank.
In addition, dozens of raids on non-governmental, political institutions, parliamentarian offices and mosques were also carried out in both Gaza and the West Bank.
In a step that has been viewed as a reaction to arrests and raids in Gaza, the PNA's security apparatuses in the West Bank arrested at least 115 persons who are allegedly members and/or supporters of Hamas.
At least, five mosques were raided in the West Bank.
This campaign is characterized by its arbitrariness and extra-legal conducts.
It has been viewed to be revengeful reactions rather than acts of law enforcement.
This campaign included arrests of community and opposition figures; including Professor Abdul-Sattar Qassem, professor of political sciences at the An-Najah National University in Nablus, the Deputy Mayor of Nablus, Dr.
Hafez Shaheen, and his two sons Osama and Qadri, as well as a number of religious leaders and Imams.
Four mosques were raided in Nablus.
Large numbers of the police and security personnel were deployed around the New Mosque in the town of Tulkarem to prevent possible protests by the families of those who were arrested.
According to the findings of Al Mezan and Al Haq, the arrests in West Bank were focused in the northern cities, while the Gaza Strip they were also focused in Gaza City and the north.
Arrests first started in the Gaza Strip in the evening hours of Friday, 24 July 2008, while in the West Bank they started on the next day, when the security apparatuses arrested six persons from Qabalan village near Nablus.
The campaign was extended on Sunday, 26 July 2008, when the number of arrested people in the West Bank reached over 115 people, which raises doubts that the arrests in the West Bank came as a retaliation to those in Gaza; not on the ground that the arrested persons had breached the law in any way.
Al Haq and Al Mezan observed that in the West Bank some of the security apparatuses who conducted the arrests are not authorized to carry out such assignments.
Similarly, the two organizations noticed that members of the Ezadin Al Qassam Brigades, the military wing of Hamas, were present during in arrests and raids in Gaza.
Most of those who were arrested in the West Bank had been previously arrested by the PNA security apparatuses.
Al Mezan and Al Haq view with much concern the expansions of the campaign against the non-governmental organizations and other institutions; especially as the number of raided institutions in Gaza has reached 159; including NGOs, political parties' offices, and clubs.
Al Haq and Al Mezan strongly condemn the illegal arrests and raids on institutions and mosques in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip.
The two organizations denounce the illegal, abusive manner in which this campaign, which comes in the context of the political split and conflict between Fatah and Hamas, was carried out.
Al Mezan and Al Haq are gravely concerned by the credible possibility that the arrested persons would be exposed to torture and mistreatment, as had happened previously.
Al Haq and Al Mezan therefore call on the two governments in Gaza and Ramallah to stop the campaign of arbitrary arrests, which violates the Palestinian Criminal Procedure Law and human rights standards, and to release persons who were illegally arrested immediately.
The two organizations call on the two governments to ensure adequate control over the manner in which law is enforced, and as to the identity of the persons and bodies that perform law enforcement assignments as stated in the Palestinian law.
Unauthorized armed formations must be prevented from carrying out such assignment and the illegal conducts against institutions and mosques must stop.
END Al Mezan Center for Human Rights Al Haq