Hamas: Torture of Hamas cadres in West Bank will not go unpunished

Source: PIC, 09-02-2009

KHAN YOUNIS - The Hamas Movement stated Monday that all those involved in the killing and torture of Hamas cadres and supporters in the West Bank would not escape punishment and would pay dearly sooner or later.

Hamas spokesman in Khan Younis Hammad Al-Raqb warned, in a statement received by the PIC, the PA security apparatuses in the West Bank of the consequences of their crimes against Palestinian dignitaries, resistance fighters and citizens, adding that they would be held accountable for all their repressive actions against those innocent people.

A prominent Hamas figure Mohamed Al-Haj had been declared dead Sunday evening after being subjected to excruciating torture in the preventive security jail in Jenin.
Raqb called on the West Bank people to revolt against the criminals and confront the plots intended for the liquidation of the Palestinian cause.

For his part, MP Mushir Al-Masri, the secretary-general of the Hamas parliamentary bloc, said in a press statement published today that the efforts to initiate inter-Palestinian dialog are useless in light of the ongoing political arrests in the West Bank

Regarding the Egyptian invitation of Palestinian factions to participate in dialog sessions later this month, MP Masri said that it was agreed with the Egyptian side on the formation of a committee to resolve the issue of political arrests in the West Bank before going to Cairo and sitting at the dialog table.

In a statement, the Hamas Movement in the West Bank held Ibrahim Ramadan, the director of the preventive security apparatus, directly responsible for the killing of Haj in his jails, accusing him of supervising the torture of the slain victim.

The statement refuted the PA allegations that the slain victim committed suicide in his cell, saying that everyone knows especially those ex-detainees in PA jails that these security apparatuses do not lock up the prisoners in cells before 10 to 20 days of ongoing torture in special corridors.
The statement emphasized that Hamas would not go for dialog before the release of all political prisoners in PA jails

The statement underlined that the declarations made by ex-PA chief Mahmoud Abbas or his allied institutions about the formation of committees to probe such violations are no longer useful after what has been committed by Abbas' security apparatuses against innocent people.

The statement added that Hamas rejects such investigation committees if they do not unveil the names of those involved in these crimes as a prelude to bringing them to public trials.