Palestinian Group Suing Own Government for Torturing Dissident

Are Palestinians torturing their own? Illustrative. By Joshua Spurlock

Are Palestinians torturing their own? Illustrative. By Joshua Spurlock

The Palestinians are interested in hauling Israel before the International Criminal Court over trumped up war crimes charges, but they would be better served looking in the mirror instead. A Palestinian civil rights group has filed a $1 million lawsuit against the Palestinian Authority over claims they tortured a detained Palestinian student, according to the Ma’an News Agency.

And the student’s action that got him detained and tortured with beatings, sleep deprivation and more? Critiquing the local government on his own social media account, reported Ma’an, citing a press release from the Civil Authority for the Independence of the Judiciary Body and Rule of Law (ISTIQLAL). That group is representing the student in court.

This isn’t the first time a powerful Palestinian ruling party was accused of torture. In May, Amnesty International released a report accusing Hamas of torture and even “unlawful killings” of accused collaborators with Israel. The incidents were described as a “brutal campaign” on Amnesty’s press release on their website.

Among the persons targeted by Hamas included members of rival political group Fatah, which effectively heads the Palestinian Authority, who are themselves now being accused of torture.

(By Joshua Spurlock, www.themideastupdate.com, August 13, 2005)

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