Human Rights Watch expressed deep concern that the Israeli-Palestinian security accord being negotiated in Wye Mills, Maryland, may encourage Palestinian human rights violations.
The provisions of the Israeli-Palestinian security accord reportedly require the Palestinian Authority to take steps, unilaterally and in coordination with Israel, to destroy "terrorist infrastructures," and to extradite to Israel Palestinians suspected of violent attacks. The accord also includes U.S. participation in designing counter-terrorism strategies and monitoring their implementation.
"The Palestinian Authority's human rights record is already deplorable," said Hanny Megally, executive director of Human Rights Watch's Middle East and North Africa Division. "The U.S. doesn't condemn these violations now -- will the U.S. condemn violations once it is formally part of the process that creates them?"
Human Rights Watch has documented serious human rights violations by the Palestinian Authority, including arbitrary arrest, detention without charge or trial, torture, and grossly unfair trials. In many cases these violations have occurred in the aftermath of anti-Israeli violence, and reflect in part U.S. and Israeli pressure on the Palestinian Authority to crack down on militant Palestinian groups.
Human Rights Watch also expressed concern over Israel's demand that the Palestinian Authority extradite approximately thirty-six Palestinians that the Israeli government suspects of terrorist activities. Israel's interrogation procedures have been recognized by the United Nations to violate the Convention against Torture and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights.
The Convention against Torture specifically prohibits states from extraditing a person to another state where there are substantial grounds for believing he would be in danger of torture. "If these suspects were in U.S. custody, it would be illegal under international law for the U.S. to extradite them to Israel," Megally said. "The U.S. should not call upon another government to commit human rights violations."
Both Israel and the U.S. have ratified the Convention against Torture and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, and the Palestinian Authority has indicated its willingness to sign once it becomes eligible to do so.
