Palestinian factional strife fuelling abuses — Amnesty

LONDON, Oct 24 (KUNA) — Interfactional fighting between Hamas and Fatah forces in Gaza Strip earlier this year left 350 Palestinians dead and has been followed by further serious abuses in the strip and the West Bank, Amnesty International said.
Amnesty, in a 57-page report entitled “Occupied Palestinian Territories: Torn apart by factional strife,” published here on Wednesday, accuses Hamas of resorting increasingly to arbitrary detentions and torture since it took power last June in the Gaza Strip, and of allowing its forces to attack and assault peaceful demonstrators as well as journalists reporting on their protests.
In the West Bank, the report blames security forces loyal to Palestinian Authority (PA) President Mahmoud Abbas of arbitrarily detaining hundreds of Hamas supporters and of failing to take action against Fatah militants responsible for abductions, arson and other attacks.
“The leaders of both the PA and Hamas must take immediate steps to break the cycle of impunity that continues to fuel abuses, including arbitrary detentions, abductions, torture and ill-treatment by their forces,” said Malcolm Smart, Amnesty International’s Middle East Programme Director.
“The ongoing factional struggle between Fatah and Hamas is having a dire effect on the lives of Palestinians, especially in the Gaza Strip, compounding and exacerbating the human rights and humanitarian crisis caused by Israeli military campaigns and blockades,” he added.
The report called for the establishment of an independent commission of experts to investigate human rights abuses committed by both parties since the beginning of 2006 and for the leaders on both sides to commit to implementing its recommendations.
According to the report, Palestinian interfactional fighting in the Gaza Strip reached unprecedented levels during the past year, culminating in June 2007 when Hamas seized control of PA security institutions in the territory.
It argued that both PA and Hamas security forces and armed groups displayed a flagrant disregard for the safety of the civilian population by launching indiscriminate attacks and reckless gun battles in residential neighbourhoods.
This left civilians virtually trapped like prisoners in their own homes while dozens of unarmed bystanders who were not involved in the confrontations, including children, were caught in the line of fire.
Rival security forces whose responsibility it was to uphold and enforce the law, and to protect the population, betrayed this responsibility and instead acted as partisans, in concert with armed groups that serve as their proxy militias, and themselves broke the laws and committed gross abuses with complete impunity, the report continued.
Meanwhile, in the West Bank, human rights abuses by PA security forces are also rife, though much less well publicized, as the international community is seemingly unwilling to rock the boat ahead of the forthcoming US-convened conference aimed at resuscitating the long-stalled peace talks between the Israeli government and the PA emergency government.
Hundreds of Hamas supporters or presumed sympathizers have been arrested and arbitrarily detained by PA security forces, violations of legal detention procedures are routine and reports of torture or other ill-treatment are becoming more frequent, Amnesty said.
Detainees are held in sites not authorized by law for this purpose and security forces frequently ignore orders the judges orders to release detainees for lack of evidence.
The PA emergency government has failed to hold to account Fatah gunmen who abducted Hamas supporters and burned down their houses, businesses and charity organizations suspected of links to Hamas in the West Bank, even though the perpetrators of these attacks were often known in their communities and acted in full view of the security forces, Amnesty concluded. (end) he.rk KUNA 241017 Oct 07NNNN

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