Palestinian Authority accused of politically-motivated arrests

The Palestinian Human Rights Centre (PHRC) has called on the Palestinian Authority (PA) to take all necessary measures to guarantee its commitment to provisions of Palestinian law and to stop its practice of political arrests, Quds Press reported.

The PHRC said in its weekly statement on Sunday that it is “feeling worried regarding the wide PA arrest campaign in the West Bank, which [has] targeted tens of Hamas supporters.”

Based on the PHRC investigation, the PA security services arrested 148 Palestinians on Thursday and Friday accused of being affiliated to Hamas, the PA’s rival political movement in Gaza.

Quds Press reporter Khaldoun Al-Mazloum, activist Abdullah Yassin, and the Director of Yatta Charity in Hebron Fadl Musa were among those arrested by the PA security services.

According to the PHRC, this is the second arrest campaign orchestrated by the PA against Hamas supporters in 2015. The first was in March, when the PA arrested 32 Palestinians accused of affiliation to Hamas.

On 20 February 1999, the Palestinian High Court of Justice banned the practice of political arrests in the territories. The PRHC called on all PA executive authorities to follow the rule of law and put an end to such illegal political arrests.