Hamas: PA’s policy of political detentions silences critics

The Palestinian Authority is discouraging freedom of expression in the occupied West Bank through its continuous policy of political detentions, Hamas Member of Parliament Abdel-Rahman Zaidan said yesterday .

In a statement, Zaidan said: “The political detentions, which have been going on for years and sharply increased recently, are a violation of the basic law.”

He added: “Unfortunately, we are ruled by jungle law.”

Zaidan condemned the political detentions and said the political detainees are subject to severe torture, citing the detention of Hamas leader Mustafa Abu-Arra, who is a teacher and was kidnapped from school. “This is shameful,” he said.

READ: Abbas criticised for cutting salaries of Gaza employees 

The MP said the Palestinian parliament should be the top body to monitor and protect freedoms, “but it was brushed aside and recently dissolved in a clear violation of the Basic Law.”

He stressed that the dissolution of the parliament by PA President Mahmoud Abbas “ushers in a chaotic situation which is not bound to law or conventions.”

The MP called on the rights groups to “urgently” interfere and stop “the ongoing farce” of political detentions.