Report: Torture widespread in Palestinian jails

updated 2:48 p.m. ET July 28, 2008

SALEM, West Bank - Majdi Jabour was beaten to the point of passing out by the Fatah-allied interrogators in the West Bank who accused him of ties to rival Hamas. In Gaza, the same fate befell a Fatah supporter who was bloodied in a lockup by club-wielding Hamas security men.

Two human rights groups on Monday decried widespread mistreatment and torture in Palestinian jails — an issue taking on fresh urgency with a new round of mass arrests over the weekend in both in Hamas-run Gaza and in the Fatah-controlled West Bank.

In conversations with The Associated Press, three detainees gave similar accounts and a doctor confirmed Jabour had been badly beaten.

The Palestinian human rights group Al Haq and the U.S.-based Human Rights Watch looked at human rights violations during the past year, since the Islamic militant Hamas wrested control of Gaza from the forces of Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas of Fatah.

Large-scale arrests
In the past year, the security forces in both the West Bank and Gaza have carried out large-scale, arbitrary arrests of political opponents, the Al Haq said in an 85-page report.

More than 1,000 people were detained by each side, Al Haq estimated, even before a roundup of some 200 Fatah supporters in Gaza over the weekend, following a bombing that killed five Hamas activists. On Monday, Abbas' forces in the West Bank rounded up dozens of Hamas supporters in apparent retaliation for the Gaza sweep.

An estimated 20 percent to 30 percent of the detainees suffered torture, including severe beatings and being tied up in painful positions, said Al Haq director Shawan Jabarin, citing sworn statements from 150 detainees. He said three died in detention in Gaza and one in the West Bank.

"The use of torture is dramatically up," added Fred Abrahams, a senior researcher for Human Rights Watch, a U.S.-based group that is releasing its own report on abuse later this week.

Jabarin, the Al Haq director, said that while he had no proof of an official torture policy, he believed that political leaders were indirectly encouraging abuse by looking the other way.

Abbas' prime minister, Salam Fayyad, acknowledged "shortcomings," but said human rights violations have decreased. "I'm not defending anyone, but I can assure you that we have treated flaws and don't allow violations. The upcoming reports will be better," Fayyad said.

In Gaza, Hamas spokesman Fawzi Barhoum accused the Fayyad government of trying to destroy Hamas in the West Bank with U.S. backing. Barhoum acknowledged "mistakes" were made by the Hamas forces, but said that unlike in the West Bank, violators were increasingly punished.

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