The European Union must pressure the Palestinian Authority to change its policy on human rights
Arab Organisation for Human Rights in the UK (AOHR UK) condemns the arrest of the political activist Nizar Banat from his home on Tusday night 19/11/2020 in the occupied city of Hebron by the Palestinian security services.
It is worth mentioning that this is not the first time that Banat has been pursued and arrested.
The security services arrested Banat after he posted a video on his page on social media expressing his opinion, in which he criticized the resume of relations between the Palestinian Authority and the occupation state.
AOHR UK highlighted that the security services’ arrest of the political activist Nizar Banat confirms that the security services continue to pursue activists in favour of the occupation. This comes in light of the return of security cooperation with the occupation entity and the lack of judicial authority to oversee the practices of the Palestinian security services.
AOHR UK stresses that this arrest is a flagrant violation of the national and international laws which guarantee the right to freedom of opinion and expression, however, under these repressive security services and in absence of monitoring, these laws are meaningless.
AOHR UK holds the Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and his Prime Minister responsible for the safety of the activist Nizar Banat. It calls for his immediate release and for urgent investigations to be opened into all violations he went through, and for those responsible to be held accountable.
Despite all the calls and appeals, the authority of Ramallah did not take any steps to stop or limit the violations of these services against citizens who are living under the brutal occupation.
AOHR UK called on the European Union, the main funder of the security services, to take the necessary measures to control these services and end political arrests.
