Middle East: Palestinians 'routinely Torture' Rival Detainees

Palestinians detained by Fatah and Hamas, the two main factions in the West Bank and Gaza, face routine abuse and torture, according to two leading human rights organisations in reports published this week.

Al-Haq, an independent Palestinian human rights group, said yesterday that more than 1,000 people have been detained by each side within the past year. An estimated 20%-30% 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. It said mistreatment had led to three deaths in Gaza and one in the West Bank.

Al-Haq blamed Hamas's Executive Force and the group's armed wing, the Izz-al-Din al-Qassam Brigades, for most of the abuses in Gaza. It said the Palestinian president, Mahmoud Abbas's Preventive Security Force and General Intelligence Service were the main culprits in the West Bank.

Meanwhile, Human Rights Watch makes similar allegations in a 113-page report due out tomorrow. "The use of torture is dramatically up," said Fred Abrahams, a senior researcher for the group. The report found detainees in Gaza were held for shorter periods than those in the West Bank but the abuse was more intense. Human Rights Watch takes particular issue with western governments for not paying enough attention to systematic abuses by forces under the Palestinian Authority, which they support, and for not conditioning their funding on reforms.

"The international community has pledged $8bn [£4bn] to the Palestinian Authority in the West Bank and that gives them a heavy responsibility to make sure the security forces don't use torture and respect human rights," said Abrahams.

Gordon Brown announced a multimillion-pound increase in aid to the PA security forces during his visit to the region last week. The bulk of Britain's aid goes to the Palestinian civil police and the Presidential Guard but the new money will include a course for training commanders from all six services, including those criticised for abuse. A spokesman for Britain's Department for International Development said: "No British official has witnessed human rights abuses in Palestinian detention facilities, nor have they been directly provided with evidence. However, we take NGO and media reports of violations in Palestinian facilities very seriously. We will raise specific incidents with the Palestinian Authority where appropriate."

The charges from the human rights groups come as a new wave of arrests swept through the Palestinian territories with President Abbas's security forces seizing around 75 Hamas supporters overnight and early yesterday in the West Bank city of Nablus. They include Hafez Shaheen, the acting mayor, as well as local councillors and teachers and students at al-Najah University. Another 70 were arrested in Tulkarem, and villages near Qalqilya and Ramallah.

The detentions follow the arrest by Hamas of nearly 200 Fatah officials and activists in Gaza after a bomb killed five Hamas militants and a girl in Gaza on Friday.

Both organisations stepped up their arrests of each other's supporters after Hamas took control of Gaza in June last year. President Abbas then banned all Hamas activity in the West Bank. Each side has also banned newspapers and TV stations.

Meanwhile, Ehud Olmert, the Israeli prime minister, backed away yesterday from a target date for a peace deal announced at the US-hosted Annapolis peace conference last November.

"There is no practical chance of reaching a comprehensive understanding on Jerusalem" during 2008, Olmert told a closed-door meeting of a Knesset committee, according to an official present.