The Palestinian Authority and Hamas routinely torture human rights activists, women, LGBT persons, political opponents, so-called “collaborators,” and Palestinians who sell land to Jews, the non-governmental group UN Watch charged Thursday.
The Geneva-based human rights organization made its criticism in a
major new report to the UN Committee Against Torture, which will meet next week for two days, on July 19-20, to consider Palestinian compliance with the UN convention against torture and other cruel forms of punishment. The UN panel
published the submission on its website.
“Evidence continues to emerge of widespread torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment of detainees held in Palestinian custody in the West Bank and Gaza,” said Hillel Neuer, executive director of UN Watch.
UN Watch representatives will present the report to the 10-member committee during a private briefing with human rights groups on July 18, one day before the experts are set to grill a delegation from the Palestinian Authority for the first time since it signed the treaty in 2014.
While the PA is expected to tout how it has fulfilled its promises, UN Watch said the PA’s
67-page response—submitted to the committee four years late—seeks to absolve Palestinian actors of responsibility for complying with the treaty’s prohibitions against torture, and instead points the finger at Israel to deflect attention from the PA’s own record, the actual subject of the UN review.
According to UN Watch legal advisor Dina Rovner, the Palestinian submission “contains no data on the pervasiveness of torture under the PA and Hamas, or on any practical measures implemented to prevent torture by security forces during interrogation, nor does it offer any information on individual cases of torture, justice for victims, or actions to address underlying causes of violations.”
(full article online)
GENEVA, July 14, 2022 — The Palestinian Authority and Hamas routinely torture human rights activists, women, LGBT persons, political opponents, so-called “collaborators,” and Palestinians who sell land to Jews, the non-governmental group UN Watch charged Thursday. The Geneva-based human rights...
unwatch.org