PA cracks down on West Bank activists
After the cease-fire in Gaza, Palestinian security services are accused of stepping up political arrests in the West Bank.
RAMALLAH, West Bank — Akram Salameh from the Beitunia district of Ramallah, in the central West Bank, received a phone call May 22 from the Palestinian Authority’s General Intelligence Service. He was told to appear at its headquarters in Ramallah the next day or his house would be raided and he would be arrested.
Salameh showed up as asked and was sent to the Joint Security Committee prison in Jericho, where he was detained for 17 days before being released on June 7.
His father, Ali Salameh, told Al-Monitor he spoke to his son by phone twice during his detention for a few minutes. The first time, two days after his arrest, Akram asked his father to send him clothes. The second time he called to check on his family, who had not been able to visit him.
Over the years Salameh was arrested several times by both Israeli and Palestinian security services. His father said, “My son suffers back pain and convulsions due to the repeated arrests by the PA. He has been subject to a torture technique known as shabeh [which involves suspension by the wrists] in previous arrests. He was also arrested by Israeli forces twice. The first time was nine years ago and the second was several months ago. At the Israeli prison, he was hit on the head by a soldier and had to have surgery.”
