International Community Should Take Action On Palestinians Held Without Trial

KUALA LUMPUR, June 8 (Bernama) -- The Palestinian government has urged the international community to take action towards "an end", and not merely condemn the torture, detention without trial and other abuses highlighted by Amnesty International in its report titled "Starved of justice: Palestinians detained without trial by Israel". The director of the Palestinian National Authority's Government Media Centre, Dr Ghassan Khatib, said the report had exposed the human rights abuses inflicted by Israelis against Palestinian prisoners. "It (the report) requires immediate and practical steps to implement its recommendations, the most important of which is to release the prisoners immediately or to give them a fair trial," he said in a statement issued by the Palestinian embassy here Friday. Amnesty International is a global movement covering over 150 countries and territories, with more than three million supporters, members and activists who campaign to end grave abuses of human rights. "Amnesty has made it clear to the world that Israel violates international laws and agreements with impunity. As this report states, Israel is already violating its agreement to end the recent hunger strike launched by Palestinian prisoners," Dr Khatib pointed out. He stressed that the torture of Palestinian prisoners should cause outrage even among those who support Israel. "Israel can continue these shameful practices only as long as it feels safe from any serious international action calling it to account. This impunity must end," he asserted. Dr Khatib emphasised that the abuse of prisoners is even worse than that described in the report, which did not address in detail all the violations against Palestinian prisoners that went contrary to international conventions and laws on protecting the rights of prisoners of war. "But we welcome this clear statement that Israel uses detention without trial to prevent Palestinians from exercising their right to peaceful protest against the illegal occupation of Palestinian land," he added. Amnesty International has called on the Israeli government to either release the Palestinians it holds in custody without charge, under long-standing administrative detention laws, or charge and try them promptly and fairly. --BERNAMA