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VII. Recommendations

The Palestinian authorities in the West Bank and Gaza, as well as their international donors and supporters, should take active steps to eliminate the serious human rights abuses documented in this report, such as torture, arbitrary arrests and due process violations.

Human Rights Watch calls on the Palestinian authorities in the West Bank to implement the following recommendations:

Regarding Torture

Issue clear and public instructions to all members of the security forces, and make clear that violators will be punished to the fullest extent of the law;
Initiate prompt and impartial investigations into all credible reports of torture or deaths of detainees. Discipline or prosecute as appropriate all individuals, regardless of rank, found responsible for the torture or death of detainees. This includes individuals who carried out such abuse or ordered such abuses, and commanding officers who knew or should have known of such acts but failed to prevent those acts or punish the perpetrators;
Conduct autopsies for every person who dies in the custody of any agency of the state, and make those reports publicly available;
Instruct all interrogators, medical personnel, and other staff coming into contact with detainees under interrogation to wear badges bearing their name and/or identification number;
Compensate victims of torture, ill-treatment and arbitrary detention adequately and speedily.

Regarding arbitrary arrest

Immediately release, or charge with recognizable criminal offenses, all those currently held without charge;
Ensure all detainees are brought before a civilian court to review the legality and necessity of their detention, with the power to order their release;
End the practice of ordering detainees to sign political oaths or pledges to stop legitimate political activity.

Regarding due process violations

Release all detainees who, after their arrest, were not promptly informed of the reason for their arrest or given access to a lawyer, as required by law;
Release all detainees still in detention who were not brought before a prosecutor within 24 hours or before a judge within 72 hours, as required by law;
Release without delay all detainees whose release has been ordered by a court.

Regarding detention facilities

Allow unimpeded access for monitors of the Independent Commission for Human Rights (formerly the Palestinian Independent Commission for Citizens’ Rights) to all places of detention;
Facilitate access to all places of detention for Palestinian nongovernmental organizations with a mandate to monitor such facilities.

Regarding impunity and accountability

Condemn publicly and at a high-level acts of torture, illegal detention, and other abusive practices by Palestinian security forces in the West Bank;
Conduct prompt, thorough, and impartial investigations into credible allegations of human rights abuses, and make the findings public;
Provide training to all security and law enforcement agents in international human rights standards and in domestic law, and hold all forces accountable for deviations from these standards. These standards include the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, the Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment, and the U.N. Code of Conduct for Law Enforcement Officials.

Regarding judicial institutions

Cease the boycott of judicial institutions in the Gaza Strip.

Human Rights Watch calls on the Palestinian authorities in the Gaza Strip to implement the following recommendations:

Regarding Torture

Issue clear and public instructions to all members of the security forces prohibiting torture, and make clear that violators will be punished to the fullest extent of the law;
Initiate prompt and impartial investigations into all credible reports of torture or deaths of detainees since June 2007. Discipline or prosecute as appropriate all individuals, regardless of rank, found responsible for the torture or death of detainees. This includes individuals who committed or ordered such abuses as well as commanding officers who knew or should have known of such acts but failed to prevent them or punish the perpetrators;
Conduct autopsies for every person who dies in custody of any agency of the state, and make those reports publicly available;
Instruct all interrogators, medical personnel, and other staff coming into contact with detainees under interrogation to wear badges bearing their name and/or identification number;
Compensate victims of torture, ill-treatment and arbitrary detention adequately and speedily.

Regarding arbitrary arrest

Immediately release or charge with recognizable criminal offenses all those currently held without charge;
Ensure all detainees are brought before a civilian court to review the legality and necessity of their detention, with the power to order their release;
End the practice of ordering detainees to sign political oaths or pledges to stop legitimate political activity.

Regarding due process violations

Release all detainees still in custody who, after their arrest, were not promptly informed of the reason for their arrest or given access to a lawyer, as required by law;
Release all detainees still in custody who were not brought before a prosecutor within 24 hours and a judge within 72 hours, as required by law;
Release all detainees still in custody where a court has ordered their release.

Regarding detention facilities

Allow unimpeded access for monitors of the Independent Commission for Human Rights (formerly the Palestinian Independent Commission for Citizens’ Rights) to all places of detention;
Facilitate access to all places of detention for Palestinian nongovernmental organizations with a mandate to monitor such facilities.

Regarding impunity and accountability

Condemn publicly and at a high-level acts of torture, illegal detention and other abusive practices when committed by Palestinian security forces in the Gaza Strip;
Conduct prompt, thorough and impartial investigations into credible allegations of human rights abuses and make the findings public;
Provide training to all security and law enforcement agents in international human rights standards and in domestic law and hold all forces accountable for deviations from these standards. These standards include the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, the Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment, and the U.N. Code of Conduct for Law Enforcement Officials.

Regarding judicial institutions

Abolish the unlawfully constituted Higher Judicial Council, established in September 2007, and reinstate the Higher Justice Council that existed before;

Ensure the separation of the judiciary from the executive in practice as well as in law.

Human Rights Watch calls on the Fatah and Hamas authorities and the Permanent Observer Mission of Palestine to the United Nations to:

Request the Special Rapporteur on torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment to urgently conduct a fact finding mission to places of detention in Gaza and the West Bank, and publish a report from the mission, including recommendations for the prevention of torture;
Request that the mandate of the Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the Palestinian territories occupied since 1967 be amended to include any violation of human rights or international humanitarian law in those territories.

Human Rights Watch calls on the Human Rights Council to:

Support both a fact finding mission to Gaza and the West Bank by the Special Rapportuer on torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment and an amendment to the mandate of the Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the Palestinian territories occupied since 1967 to include any violation of human rights or international humanitarian law in those territories.

Human Rights Watch calls on international donors to the West Bank security forces to:

Insist that security services receiving funding and training remain politically neutral;
Promote legislative and judicial oversight of the security services. Balance force capacity with civilian oversight and control;
Closely monitor all assistance to ensure that security forces strictly observe human rights standards;
Cease providing aid to units that are implicated in serious violations of human rights;
Refuse any sale or transfer of weapons to any unit or commander where there are credible allegations of human rights abuses;
Provide human rights training, or insist that such training is provided, as an integral part of all capacity building and training projects for security forces. Such training should include a strong component designed to stop the use of torture and other cruel, inhuman, and degrading treatment for purposes of interrogation or punishment;
Condition aid and assistance to concrete benchmarks, such as:

Verifiable reductions in the numbers of persons who are arbitrarily arrested or detained;
Verifiable elimination of torture or maltreatment in detention;
Verifiable reductions in due process violations reported by detainees (such as failure to inform the accused of the charges, failure to provide access to a lawyer and failure to bring defendants before prosecutors and judges within the legally mandated periods).

Human Rights Watch calls on Members of the Quartet (US, EU, Russia and the UN) and donors to the West Bank authorities to:

Use the influence that comes with financial assistance and political support to urge publicly and privately that the Ramallah authorities address the human rights abuses documented in this report and implement the recommendations;
Publicly criticize human rights violations committed by West Bank security forces;
Promote independent human rights groups with a monitoring capacity and an independent judiciary with the capacity to function effectively.

Human Rights Watch calls on international donors to and supporters of Gaza security forces to:

Use the influence that comes with financial assistance and political support to urge publicly and privately that the Hamas addresses the human rights abuses documented in this report and implements the recommendations;
Publicly criticize human rights violations committed by Gaza security forces;
Promote independent human rights groups with monitoring capacity and an independent judiciary with the capacity to function effectively;
Promote security services that remain politically neutral;
Promote legislative and judicial oversight of the security services. Balance force capacity with civilian oversight and control;
Closely monitor all assistance to ensure that the security forces strictly observe human rights standards;
Refuse aid to units that are implicated in serious violations of human rights;
Cease the sale or transfer of weapons to any unit or commander where there are credible allegations of human rights abuses;
Provide human rights training, or insist that such training is provided, as an integral part of all capacity building and training projects for security forces. Such training should include a strong component designed to stop the use of torture and other cruel, inhuman, and degrading treatment for purposes of interrogation or punishment;
Condition aid and assistance to concrete benchmarks, such as:

Verifiable reductions in the numbers of persons who are arbitrarily arrested or detained;
Verifiable elimination of torture or maltreatment in detention;
Verifiable reductions in due process violations reported by detainees (such as failure to inform the accused of the charges, failure to provide access to a lawyer and failure to bring defendants before prosecutors and judges within the legally mandated periods).

July 2008

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