A Police State without a State
[ 26/02/2008 - 12:23 AM ]
Signs of torture on Barghouthi's legs
Comment by Khalid Amayreh in Ramallah
A government that murders its political opponents, by way of torture or
assassination, and then tries to cover up the crime, or mitigate its gravity,
is a criminal government, pure and simple.
As Palestinian citizens, we are worried that the Ramallah-based
government is effectively becoming just another Arab police state, to be added
to the other 22 other police states in the Arab world. But there is a very a
conspicuous difference, because in our case, the Palestinian "state" is
obviously a police state without a state.
Two weeks ago, the Palestinian General Intelligence, also known as
Mukhabarat, arrested, reportedly in a brutal manner, eight people from the
village of Kober near Ramallah. Among the detainees was the imam of the local
mosque, Majd al Barghouthi, 45, and father to eight children. The main charge
leveled against him was related to a firearm he allegedly was hiding somewhere.
Al-Barghouthi denied that he possessed or knew of any firearm.
For eight successive days, al-Barghouthi was subjected to harsh physical
torture, including severe beating, burns, sleep deprivation, and the so-called
hooding technique, virtually the same types of torture employed by Israeli
domestic intelligence apparatus, the Shin Beth, against Palestinian inmates.
On Wednesday, 20 February, al-Barghouthi lost consciousness and was
unceremoniously taken to a hospital in Ramallah. The treating doctor told the
Mukhabarat agents that the man was in critical condition and that he needed
urgent hospitalization.
However, the Mukhabarat agents didn't heed the doctor's advice, and
decided to take him back to the torture chamber.
On Friday, 22 February, al Barghouthi died, reportedly during an extended
torture session.
According to inmates, who were being held in a neighboring chamber, he
cried out for help for several hours to no avail, and then his voice got
weaker and weaker, until he died.
Following his death, Mukhabarat officials as well as some PA and Fatah
spokespersons switched into the "damage-control mode," claiming that the man
had been ill and that he had had a heart problem.
His family and relatives have vehemently denied that he had had any
serious health problems. They insist that their son was simply murdered by the
ruthless Mukhabarat apparatus.
This writer has had the opportunity to observe the body of the victim and
can testify that the man had indeed been subjected to extremely savage and
beating, strangulation, and administration of electrical burns.
Dozens of physicians, journalists, lawmakers and ordinary people have
seen with their own eyes the extent of the torture the victim had undergone.
These are not allegations, but facts.
Now, the ball is undoubtedly in Mahmoud Abbas's court. As President of
the Palestinian Authority, he is legally and morally responsible for what
happened.
The Palestinian people expect him to behave and act, not like a head of
the Fatah organization, but as President of all Palestinians. This is indeed
the ultimate test of the credibility of Mr. Abbas, and if, God forbids, he
fails this test, he won't be taken seriously ever after.
This means that he must order a truly neutral and professional inquiry
commission to look into what exactly happened and establish the truth within a
reasonable period of time.
The Palestinian people must be assured that there will be no foul-play
and no whitewashing and no cover-up. After all, we are not a group of imbeciles
and simpletons whom the so-called "government" can easily deceive and
bamboozle. In the final analysis, the raison d'etre of any government is to
serve the people, not kill them.
Indeed, if it turns out that al-Barghouthi died as a result of torture,
which is very likely, the PA chairman and his government must have the courage
to address the Palestinian people and tell them the truth, the whole truth, and
nothing but the truth, about what happened.
And then, we, the people of Palestine, will expect his Excellency, to
immediately fire the Head of the General Intelligence, Mr. Tawfiq al Tirawi,
for violating the law which prohibits the practice of torture and for being
instrumental to a homicide.
We will also expect him to prosecute the person or persons directly and
indirectly involved in the death of al-Barghouthi.
But there are certain tasks Abbas doesn't have to wait for the results
of the investigation to carry them out.
President Abbas should immediately instruct all his security agencies to
stop the employment of torture in their dungeons and interrogation chambers. It
is really a disgrace that while we complain about the rampant use of torture by
Israel, we ourselves are using it against our own people, against ourselves.
Shame on us.
More to the point, Abbas should issue a timely decree outlawing all
political arrests, that is arresting people because of their political views.
This decree should make it sufficiently clear to all these young and mostly
uneducated or undereducated security cadres that they are not above the law and
that they will be punished severely if they indulge in torture again.
I know we can't possibly bring al-Barghouthi back to life. However, for
the sake of his family and friends and the Palestinian people as a whole, we
can prevent the recurrence of this crime. But this is only if we have the will
to do what is right.
Finally, a word to the European Union and other donors who are keeping
the PA afloat.
You are not completely innocent of this crime. You know well the men who
may have killed the victim receive their salaries from you. You are their
bankrollers.
And I am sure that the European peoples you represent don't accept that
their tax-payer money is used to effect serious human rights violations,
including the right to life, of the Palestinian people.
Hence, it is extremely important that you make all your financial aid to
the PA conditional upon its observance of human rights in the occupied
territories.
I am not even alluding to the American role in this macabre quagmire in
the West Bank for obvious reasons, for the US, which practices renditions and
torture, is part of the problem.
I am addressing the Europeans, especially the European parliament,
because they still have a semblance of civility and decency.
Hence, the hope that the EU will tell the Ramallah government to stop it
now.
(end)
<<images_News_2008_02_26_barghouthi-signs-of-torture_300_0.jpg>>
<<Top_Page.gif>>
