Palestinian human rights are being violated not only by Israelis but also by Palestinians themselves; that is the conclusion of the annual report of the Palestinian human rights organization The Gaza Center for Human Rights and Law.
The organization’s annual report for 2002 spoke of “an unprecedented deterioration in the maintenance of human rights in the Palestinian occupied territories since the outbreak of the Intifada [two and a half years ago].” The organization called on the international community as a whole, and specifically the countries signed on the fourth Geneva Convention, to obligate Israel to implement its side of the agreement.
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Yet alongside the Palestinian criticism towards Israel, the report revealed violation of human rights from the Palestinian side as well. It established that over the past year the democratization and development of management institutions in the Palestinian Authority [PA] have clearly failed. The PA has not sufficiently attempted to develop a judicial system, and establish the principles of the rule of the law and the separation of the three authorities: the judiciary, executive and legislature.
The organization called on the executive to honor resolutions of the judiciary. It also urged the PA not to give in to ongoing external pressures, which it sees as the main factor behind the violation of human rights by the PA, especially political arrests. The organization is demanding the abolition of martial courts, and the death penalty, while putting a stop to illegal detentions and ensuring the implementation of legal procedures while arresting citizens.
It’s also worth noting that an additional Palestinian human rights organization, The Palestinian Center for Human Rights published a report on May 17th this year requesting that PA Chairman Yassir Arafat not approve of the death penalty for Ghani Darwish Khalil Shakura. Shakura was accused of murder in a martial court and was sentenced to death on April 15th this year. “We have to maintain our humanity as a people,” the organization said, justifying its request, adding “the death penalty does not deter crimes as a number of death sentences were executed in the past but crimes have not stopped.”
“The case must be discussed in a civil court, because the martial court has failed to withstand the minimal standards of a fair trial,” the organization concluded.