AOHR CALLS FOR HALTING POLITICAL ARRESTS IN WEST BANK

London, 20 Jumadil Awwal 1436/11 March 2015 (MINA) – The Arab Organization for Human Rights (AOHR) called on the Palestinian Authority (PA) to immediately stop its “politically-motivated” arrest policy and to release all political detainees held in its jails.

The London-based organization stressed, in its statement issued Monday, the need to implement the PLO central council’s recent decisions, holding PA chairman Mahmoud Abbas fully responsible over the political detainees’ life and safety.

The statements made by PA security spokesman to justify the recent political arrests are not true and cannot be a good reason to make a citizen’s arrest, The Palestinian Information Center (PIC) quoted by Mi’raj Islamic News Agency (MINA) as reporting.

The AOHR stated that these brutal arrests flagrantly violate the Palestinian Basic Law that clearly prevents any citizen’s arrest for his political positions.

“Political arrest policy constitutes an obstacle in the way of the national reconciliation and deepens the existing gap between the concerned parties.”

Earlier Sunday, a large-scale political arrest campaign has been waged at a late night hour by PA security forces against Hamas’s supporters and members in West Bank cities and towns.

40 pro-Hamas citizens were detained during the campaign after violently storming their homes across the West Bank.

Elderly persons, university students, academics, and social activists were among the detainees.

The AOHR pointed out that the arrest campaign came few days after the PLO Central Council’s decision to halt security coordination with Israel.

The PA, which has its headquarters in Ramallah, has regularly detained Hamas supporters and members, including MPs, over the past few years.(T/P008/P3)

Mi’raj Islamic News Agency (MINA)