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Mother blames Palestinian Authority for son's death
December 4, 1996
Web posted at: 8:30 p.m. EST (1330 GMT)From Jerusalem Bureau Chief Walter Rodgers
In this story:
- Access denied
- Out of control?
- 'Why was I arrested?'
- 'We have lost our voice'
- Related stories and sites
JERICHO, West Bank (CNN) -- "The (Palestinian) Authority killed my son," cried a grieving mother as plainclothes Palestinian police in Jericho, one of the West Bank's self-ruled areas, tried to prevent reporters Wednesday from witnessing her shouts of anguish and anger.
Rashid Fityani, 21, a Palestinian prisoner for the past two years, was shot 13 times by a Palestinian prison guard on Tuesday. He was the 10th Palestinian detainee killed by Yasser Arafat's security forces since the start of self-rule in the West Bank and Gaza Strip in May 1994.
A Palestinian security official said the shooting happened during a fight that broke out while Fityani tried to break out of a jail. Jibril Rajoub, Arafat's West Bank security chief, said the guard had been arrested and would be charged.
Fityani was arrested January 17, 1995, along with six other Palestinians on suspicion that they killed an activist of the Muslim militant group Hamas in July 1994 in Aqabat Jaber, a refugee camp near Jericho.
At his home, Fityani's mother, Suhaila, tried to talk to reporters, but police put their hands in front of cameras and blocked the small woman from stepping outside. Their efforts, however, could not stifle her shouts.
"They held him two years without a trial," she screamed through the doorway, her face barely visible before Arafat's plainclothes police pushed her back inside.
Reporters also said they were prevented by Palestinian police from taking pictures of Fityani's body at Jericho Hospital on Wednesday.
Jibril Rajoub, Palestinian chief of preventive security on the West Bank, would not discuss the killing on camera but told CNN that Fityani was a criminal. He added, "It's a shame he was shot."
The beating of prisoners is a routine occurrence, even for people arrested on civil charges, Palestinian human rights activist Bassam Eid told CNN.
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On Monday, Amnesty International said there has been a worrisome increase in abuses by the Palestinian Authority. The human rights group cited what it called brutal torture and an atmosphere of fear.
Khader Shakirat, previously Fityani's lawyer, criticized the Palestinian Authority for not providing protection for prisoners. "This prisoner and others have been tortured," he said.
"There is a mentality that (Palestinian) security services are beyond reproach," said Palestinian Council member Hanan Ashrawi. The council is the Palestinian legislative body.
On Tuesday, Red Cross officials who toured a prison in Gaza, another Palestinian self-rule area, saw prisoners crammed 16 to a cell.
"Why was I arrested?" asked one man peering through prison bars. "I have been here a year-and-a-half and have not been charged."
Another prisoner said: "Some of us have been here more than two years and God alone knows why." Another jailed Palestinian pleaded for a trial so he can learn why he was jailed.
Palestinian police took over Jericho and the Gaza Strip in May 1994 under an interim peace deal with Israel. After the takeover, PLO police jailed without trial several Palestinians suspected of collaborating with Israel.
Prisoners are routinely denied access to a lawyer, and family members cannot see them. Part of the problem is there is no legal tradition, no legal culture in Palestinian society. But there are 10 different security agencies policing 2.5 million people.
When CNN asked one Palestinian man why the Palestinian people no longer speak out against human-rights abuses, he replied, "Because we have lost our voice."
Reuters contributed to this report.
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