The Ministry of Interior in Gaza released 12 political prisoners of Fateh members and supporters on Monday, 8 September 2008 as a goodwill gesture.
This step comes under an agreement to end political detention in Gaza and the West Bank through the National Committee to End the Political Detention—a mechanism agreed upon by Fateh and Hamas.
Prisoners were released from al-Sarayah prison in the presence of the Committee representatives at around 16:00 on Monday evening.
Al Mezan Center welcomes the release of Fateh political prisoners and asserts that it is a step in the right direction.
The Palestinian National Authority in the West Bank must take a similar step and release political prisoners of Hamas, in order to enhance trust between the two parties and end political detention, which mainly engulfs activists and supporters of both movements and involves the public in the OPT.
Al Mezan Center reiterates that an agreement to end political detention can be an important step towards the resolution of many problems arising from the political divide and bringing the current situation to an end by reunifying the political regime and the Palestinian people.
The Center emphasizes that political detention is a crime forbidden by both the international standards of human rights and Palestinian law.
Practicing political detention does harm to both parties and simultaneously undermines the society.
It adds to the status of lawlessness and takes part in deteriorating the human rights conditions.
Al Mezan Center for Human Rights calls the two governments in Gaza and the West Bank to release all political prisoners immediately.
This cannot be delayed because it corrects an illegal situation, to say the least.
The Center affirms that a comprehensive national dialogue and ending the acute political divide are necessary for restoring the Palestinian political regime and the Palestinian cause as a cause of a people burdened with illegal, prolonged occupation, and struggling for their legitimate national rights.
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