Palestinian Territories: Skyline condemns security services' ongoing violations of peaceful assembly and freedom of expression and calls for the release of all detainees

Stockholm - Skyline International for Human Rights calls on the Palestinian government to immediately release all political prisoners and end escalating violations by the security services in the West Bank. These violations are manifested in the suppression of peaceful demonstrations and gatherings, the arrest of dozens of students, activists and released prisoners, and torture and degrading treatment. Skyline stresses that these practices constitute a serious violation of the relevant rules of international law.

In a statement released today (Sunday), Skyline condemns the re-arrest of dozens of people released by the security services in the West Bank. The latest incident was the re-arrest of the young man "Mohammed Direya" from Bethlehem the day before yesterday, Friday, two weeks after his release after 34 days of political detention.

"Skyline" reports that the Security Service extended the detention of the young man "Mohammed Saad" from Askar camp, northeast of Nablus, for ten days and transferred him to the so-called "Jericho Slaughterhouse". The Preventive Security Service continues to detain the young man "Yaman Faraj Bairat" from the city of Turmusaya, Ramallah, for the third consecutive day.

In this regard, Skyline confirms that the Preventive Security Service in Tubas continues to arrest "Khaled Bani Odeh", "Harith Bani Odeh", "Abdullah Bani Odeh" and "Wasim Bani Odeh" from the city of Tammun for the fourth consecutive day.

The Preventive Security Service in Qalqilya has now detained Abdullah Obaid, a student at An-Najah University, for the twelfth day in a row, and the kidnapping of Qais Shalalda, a young man from the city of Sa'ir, has continued for the fourteenth day in a row.

"Skyline" points out that the security services not only arrested the above- mentioned people, but also arrested the prisoners released by the Israeli authorities, including the former political prisoner "Faisal Al-Arouj" for the fifth consecutive day and the released prisoner "Muhammad Al-Shakhshir" from Nablus for the ninth day.

In addition, Skyline points out that on more than one occasion, Palestinian Authority security forces attacked peaceful demonstrators going to peaceful gatherings or mourning ceremonies for people killed by the Israeli army, firing tear gas canisters and suffocating dozens of them, in addition to the other injuries inflicted. This is due to the panic in which the activists and individuals found themselves.

Skyline reiterates that the information it has observed about the practices of the security services in the West Bank constitute serious and unacceptable violations of the rules of international law that guarantee freedom of opinion, expression and peaceful assembly without restriction or prosecution. It stresses that these violations have serious implications for the fundamental rights enshrined in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights.

The human rights foundation ''Skyline'' stresses that the Palestinian government's dismissive attitude toward the executive bodies' practices against freedom of opinion and expression and the lack of legal oversight over the executive bodies, as well as the failure to implement the release orders issued by the judicial authorities, are the prelude to further violations by the security forces.

At the end of the statement, Skyline calls on the Palestinian government to take urgent action to release all those arrested for political reasons or expression of opinion, to halt the relevant trials, to prevent abuses by the security services against peaceful gatherings, to investigate allegations of torture, and to hold those responsible for abuses against detainees accountable.