Amnesty: Gravest abuses against the Palestinian population are taking place behind closed doors
Palestine-Israel, Politics, 4/11/2002

Here are some unedited content of reports from Amnesty International on Israel's aggressions against the Palestinian population. Amnesty International says:

Condemning this morning's attack on a civilian bus in Haifa, Amnesty International reiterated today that even the gravest human rights abuses do not justify the deliberate retaliation targeting of civilians.

"The feeling of despair on the part of the Palestinian population at the appalling abuses they are suffering must not lead to further victimization of civilians," the organization added.

According to reports received by Amnesty International, since the suicide bombing this morning every town in the West Bank and Gaza Strip has been blocked off. Even Qalqiliya and Tulkarem, from where the Israeli Defence Forces were supposed to have withdrawn, are surrounded by tanks and effectively cut off from the outside world.

Reports suggest that 200 people may have been killed in Jenin. Wanton destruction of houses is continuing and ambulances are still not allowed to move freely in Jenin, Nablus and most areas of the West Bank.

"We fear that the gravest abuses against the Palestinian population are taking place behind closed doors as humanitarian agencies and the media are being barred access to most of the Occupied Territories," Amnesty International said.

"Families whose relatives have been arrested often do not know if they are alive or dead. Reports of human rights abuses including extrajudicial executions cannot be verified," the organization added, renewing its call for human rights monitors to be immediately deployed in the region.

"Reports keep coming in about unlawful killings, especially from Jenin and Nablus where the Israeli Defence Forces have reportedly killed scores of Palestinians using tank rounds and missiles from Apache helicopters," the organization said.

"The refugee camp in Jenin, housing some 14,000 people and the old city of Nablus are in a state of siege - with ordinary people in the greatest danger."

"Ambulance movement continues to be impeded or prohibited. We have reports of a body in Nablus which has lain decomposing on the street for several days as anyone who tries to collect it is targeted. We have many eyewitness reports of people said to have been left to bleed to death as ambulances and medical personnel were impeded access," Amnesty International continued.

Houses and infrastructure have been destroyed and in many places food is running low. In Tulkarem and Qalqiliya, where an IDF withdrawal is said to have taken place, tanks reportedly maintain a ring round the city, barring all access. Mass arrests have taken place, sparking fears of torture.

"In this situation we reiterate that respect for human rights must be central to any discussion. No peace, no cease-fire can be durable unless it is based on the human rights of all. As a first sign of concrete commitment, international observers must be deployed in the region," Amnesty International said.

"Moreover, all transfers of the arms used to abuse human rights should be immediately suspended and Israeli military units implicated in human rights abuses should be barred from receiving military assistance or training from other countries," Amnesty International added, addressing its call specifically to the USA as Israel's main supplier of military aid.

Amnesty International stressed its condemnation of deliberate targeting of civilians by Palestinian armed groups but said that no abuses could justify Israel's gross violations of human rights and humanitarian law.

"The international community cannot turn its back on the suffering of thousands of men, women and children both on the Palestinian and the Israeli side," the organization concluded. "Human rights observers may be a means to save the lives of both Palestinians and Israelis."

Amnesty International is concerned for the safety of more than one thousand Palestinians detained by Israeli Defence Forces (IDF), during the past week in refugee camps and towns in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip. Some Palestinians have been reportedly tortured by being beaten or held for prolonged periods in painful positions. All detainees are reportedly being held in conditions which amount to cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment. A Military Order has just been issued denying access of detainees to lawyers.

Detainees are being held at a number of IDF military camps and settlements, but the IDF will not reveal the names of those they have arrested and where they are located. In violation of international human rights treaties, such the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) and the Convention against Torture or Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment, to which Israel is a State party, detainees have been held in conditions which constitute cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment. Those arrested and released have also reported being threatened and beaten by members of the IDF who detained them. They have been handcuffed for extended periods of time, and sometimes denied food, water and permission to use the toilet. Despite the cold nights, many detainees and sleeping on cold slabs and most spent the first night without being provided with a blanket.

Under international standards, any person who is arrested, detained or imprisoned has the right to inform, or have the authorities notify, their family or friends. The information must include the fact of their arrest or detention and the place where they are being kept in custody. The families of the detainees, have not received such information and do not know whether their relatives are dead or alive, following unconfirmed reports that some Palestinians taken by the IDF were extrajudicially executed.

BACKGROUND INFORMATION

Since 29 March, the IDF reoccupied the town of Ramallah and other towns, including Qalqiliya, Tulkarem and Jenin. Tanks and snipers have been used in clashes between the IDF and Palestinian armed groups. Civilians have been unlawfully killed and there have been reports of extrajudicial executions. The destruction of communications systems, curfews on residents and the closure of centres to journalists and other external observers, has meant that the truth or falsity of such reports cannot be investigated.

Ambulances have been shot at and medical workers and journalists targeted. Many residents fear leaving their homes at any time, even when curfews are not in force as shots have also been fired at people in the street. The IDF has occupied houses, forcing the occupants to stay for days in one or two rooms. The IDF have wantonly damaged houses, cars and buildings, including apartments they have occupied and there have been reports of looting. The offices of human rights organizations have been forcibly entered by the IDF, who have ransacked filing cabinets and smashed computers.

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