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.
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