Prisoners in Palestinian jails in Gaza and the West Bank are subject to torture and inhumane treatment, according to a new report.
Al-Haq, a Palestinian human rights organization, on Monday released a report that documents and analyzes arbitrary arrests, acts of torture and other cruel treatment or punishment against individuals in the West Bank and Gaza by Palestinian security or military agencies and personnel.
“Torturing Each Other: The Widespread Practices of Arbitrary Detention and Torture in the Palestinian Territory,” found that arrests and detention, carried out by both the Fatah-run Palestinian Authority in the West Bank and the ruling Hamas authority in the Gaza Strip, were routinely implemented for political reasons and ends.
The report states that most arrests in Gaza and the West Bank, estimated at more than 1,000 on each side, are carried out for political reasons and not for valid security or criminal reasons. The report came out after a weekend in which Fatah forces detained more than 50 Hamas supoprters following the arrest by Hamas of dozens of Fatah supporters who planted bombs that killed five Hamas terrorists.
Victims testified that they were subject to whippings, beatings, humiliation, death threats, solitary confinement, shackling and blindfolding, exposure, lack of hygiene and sleep deprivation among other things.
Three prisoners have died in detention in Gaza, and one in the West Bank in the last year, according to the Al-Haq report.
