"There is a widespread fear among victims of torture and other cruel,
inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment in both the West Bank and Gaza
Strip to speak out about their experiences due to the threat they feel of
exposing themselves to further arbitrary detention and ill-treatment," the
report said.
Palestinian detainees were said to have been subject to severe beatings,
whipping, sleep deprivation, prolonged interrogation and standing in
uncomfortable
positions for long periods. The report also cited cases in which PA and
Hamas interrogators threatened to kill and torture detainees and subject
them to
extreme cold. Since July 2007, three detainees died in the Gaza Strip and
one in the West Bank.
"During detention periods, degradation of human dignity and cruel
treatment, including revilement, humiliation and beating, have transformed
from an individual pattern of behavior into a common trend exercised by PA
security agencies in the West Bank and by the Executive Force and Izzedin
Kassam Brigades in the Gaza Strip," the report said.
The report said arbitrary detention has dropped sharply in the West Bank
and Gaza Strip since May 2008. Still, Al Haq, which did not explain the
decline, said both Hamas and the PA continued to routinely arrest members of
opposition movements.
"In the West Bank, PA security agencies arrested persons suspected of
affiliation with the Hamas movement as well as those suspected of enlisting
with the Executive Force," the report said. "In contrast, security forces
reporting to the de facto Hamas authority in the Gaza Strip, as well as the
Izzedin Kassam Brigades, detained members of the Fatah movement on the sole
basis of such membership."
"The majority of arrests in the West Bank and Gaza Strip are politically
motivated," Al Haq said. "Detention has rarely been carried out for valid
criminal or security reasons."
Al Haq urged the PA judiciary system to supervise detention, prevent
abuse and facilitate external monitoring. The Hamas regime has already
suspended
the duties of the PA attorney general in the Gaza Strip.
"Despite the numerous and painful precedents, persons responsible for
committing such crimes have never been brought to justice," the report said.
