Torture in Palestinian jails ‘systematic’: HRW

RAMALLAH, Palestinian Territories: The Palestinian security forces "systematically" abuse and torture opponents and critics in what could amount to crimes against humanity and undermine Palestinian accusations against Israel, Human Rights Watch said on Tuesday.

"Systematic torture as part of a government policy is a crime against humanity," Omar Shakir, HRW’s Israel-Palestine director, told AFP. The rival authorities of the Palestinian Authority (PA) and Hamas both used threats, arbitrary arrests and violent abuse, including beatings, electric shocks and stress positions, the New York-based rights group said in a report released in Ramallah in the occupied West Bank.

Both particularly focus on those allegedly affiliated with the rival faction, including protesters, dissidents, journalists and bloggers, with the aim of crushing dissent, the report said. The PA rejected the allegations, accusing Human Rights Watch of allying with the US government. Hamas did not respond to requests from AFP but told HRW they were willing to receive them in Gaza, though Israel rejected a permit request, the rights group said.

The report is likely to raise issues for governments that fund the PA’s security forces, including the United States, which has maintained security funding despite cutting aid to the Palestinians. Shakir said both sides were "systematically, arbitrarily detaining critics and torturing those in custody."

On one occasion PA security forces tied a cord around a detainee’s penis for eight hours, causing it to swell and turn blue, HRW said. The PA has limited self autonomy in the Israeli-occupied West Bank but no influence in Gaza since 2007, when Hamas expelled its forces in a near civil war.