Amnesty: Palestinian authorities launched deliberate campaign of repression on peaceful protesters

The Palestinian authorities in the occupied West Bank have launched a chilling campaign of repression cracking down on peaceful protests with unlawful force, targeting journalists, civil society activists, and lawyers with arbitrary arrests and torturing detainees, said Amnesty International on Wednesday.

On the evening of 5 July, Palestinian security forces detained at least 15 people, including protesters, journalists and a lawyer, after violently dispersing a peaceful gathering in front of the Ballou’ police station in Ramallah.

People were protesting against the PA’s killing and assassination of activist Nizar Banat and the PA forces brutally crackdown and arrest of protesters and activists.

“Over the past two weeks, Palestinian authorities have launched a deliberate campaign of repression, clamping down on peaceful protesters and carrying out arbitrary arrests in an attempt to instil a climate of fear and crush dissent,” said Saleh Higazi, Deputy Director for the Middle East and North Africa at Amnesty International.

Amnesty said that President Mahmoud Abbas must order “an immediate end to this chilling crackdown and ensure that police and other members of the security forces are held accountable for these human rights violations.”

“This must start with a thorough, independent and impartial investigation into the death of Nizar Banat, allegedly after being tortured, and the violent repression by Palestinian forces in the aftermath,” it said.

Amnesty Pointed out that the Preliminary autopsy results indicate Nizar Banat suffered injuries and bruising to many areas of his body, including “binding marks on the wrists and rib fractures”, according to the Independent Commission for Human Rights, Palestine’s ombudsman.

“This pattern of injury indicates he is likely to have been beaten in custody,” Amnesty said.

“Police dispersed the gathering with wanton force beating protesters, dragging them on the ground, spraying them with pepper spray and pulling their hair,” Amnesty said, referring to the evening of 5 July, when the PA arrested at least 15 people.

Shawan Jabarin, director of the human rights organization Al-Haq, witnessed the attack. He told Amnesty International: “I saw police officers brutally attack men and women there without any reason except that they were peacefully protesting the detention of their family members and colleagues. An older person, a father of a detainee, was sprayed with pepper spray on his face; women were pulled on the ground from their hair. I saw one journalist pulled towards the police station by police officers and get severely beaten on the head and body with batons. It was one of the ugliest, most shameful scenes.”

Police first tried to persuade protesters to leave the area without providing any legitimate reason to disperse the protest. When they refused, a police vehicle arrived and announced that they had 10 minutes to leave the area. Shortly afterwards, dozens of police officers in riot gear holding shields, batons and pepper spray rushed towards the protesters and began attacking them.

Hind Shrayedeh was among those protesting outside the police station with her three children after she heard that her husband, Ubai Aboudi, the director of Bisan Center, a research and development organization, was one of six men arrested by the police. She told Amnesty International:

“We were all standing on the pavement across from the police station. I started to chant: ‘you country of freedoms, no to political arrests’. I was the only one chanting, no one else had chanted anything else, there were no signs, and everyone was standing peacefully.”

Diala Ayash, a lawyer from Lawyers for Justice, was also detained on 5 July. She had attended the sit-in as a human rights monitor when police officers in riot gear attacked and called her name searching for her.

“When they found me, I was violently dragged towards the police station by male officers, one of whom was sexually harassing me by grabbing and hitting me on my bottom and chest,” she told Amnesty International.

Both Diala Ayash and Hind Shraydeh described how they witnessed police officers beating detained peaceful protesters on their head and bodies with batons inside the police station. At least one of them, Haitham Syaj, was hospitalized due to injuries he received.

“Now I fully understand how Nizar Banat was killed,” Hind Shraydeh said.

“Palestinian authorities must not be allowed to continue to commit abuses unchecked. EU member states, the US, and the UK must immediately halt security assistance and military aid for Palestinian security forces and police until accountability and respect for human rights is ensured,” said Saleh Higazi.

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