PALESTINIAN AUTHORITIES have begun a rare military trial of security officers accused of torturing a Hamas suspect to death at a time of an intensifying crackdown in the West Bank against the Islamist movement.
Haitham Amr (33), a nurse, was arrested by the Palestinian intelligence services, led by the Fatah political faction, at his home near Hebron in the occupied West Bank in June. Four days later, he was dead, his body showing extensive injuries, including damage near the kidneys. He had been suspected of membership of the armed wing of Hamas, the rival Palestinian faction.
He was the fourth prisoner to die in Palestinian custody in the West Bank this year. All were suspected of involvement with Hamas, none was charged and, apart from Amr’s case, there have been no official investigations.
In another high-profile case last year, a Hamas preacher, Majd Barghouti, was tortured to death.
The investigation of Amr’s death sheds light on the often violent internal confrontation in the West Bank between the Fatah-dominated Palestinian security forces and their enemies from Hamas, which won the last elections and now rules over Gaza.
Many Hamas supporters have been arrested, and some have been killed.
Last month, Mahmoud Abbas, the Palestinian president and Fatah leader, sacked the Hamas-supporting mayor of Qalqilya and his 15-member council.
While the Palestinian Authority says it is tackling terrorism, some Palestinians fear a slide into a police state. – ( Guardianservice)