Annual Report - Palestinian Center for Human Rights

On 1 August 2005, unknown assailants threw a hand grenade at the house of the
Attorney-General, Mr. Hussein Abu Asi, in Gaza City. He was in the house at the
time. The explosion led to damage to the wall of the house but no injuries were
sustained.
On 2 August 2005, unknown assailants detonated an explosive device in front of the
house of Chief Justice Zuheir Sourani, near Shifa Hospital in Gaza City. The entrance
to the house was partially destroyed and the windows of nearby houses were
damaged. The Chief Justice’s family was inside the house at the time but no one was
injured.
Kidnapping of Internationals
PCHR condemns the increase in kidnappings of internationals in the Gaza Strip,
particularly in light of the absence of any substantive action by the PNA to confront
this new phenomenon, including the failure by the Attorney-General to investigate
these crimes and bring the perpetrators to justice. PCHR’s documentation indicates
that the number of kidnappings of internationals during the past year was 18. All of
the victims were subsequently released. However, the continuation of this
phenomenon is a stark example of the internal security chaos and disregard for the
rule of law in the Gaza Strip, which is taking place alongside little serious effort by
the authorities to pursue the perpetrators of these crimes. It is noted that the
perpetrators of past kidnappings have not been brought to justice, despite their
identities being known. Furthermore, the Centre has evidence indicating that the PNA
has fulfilled the demands of kidnappers in some cases.
Kidnapping internationals has had a negative effect on the Palestinian people and their
cause. In addition, it has deprived the Gaza Strip of people who had previously been
providing invaluable services to the Palestinian people, including workers in
international organizations such as the UN and ICRC, humanitarian and relief
organizations, journalists and human rights activists. These crimes serve to fulfill
what the Israeli occupation has been trying to do for years: to prevent or restrict the
entry of internationals into the Gaza Strip, in order to ensure that there are no
witnesses of the Israeli war crimes against civilians.
Attacks on Institutions, Governmental Buildings and NGO Offices
A number of governmental buildings, NGO offices and offices of international
missions came under the attack of Palestinian gunmen during 2005. The PNA and its
security branches themselves started to feel the impact of their own reluctance to
enforce the rule of law and take any deterrent action against the perpetrators of public
order crimes. In a very clear example, gunmen stormed the Gaza Central Prison
building on 10 February 2005. The building is the headquarters of security forces in
the center of Gaza City. The attackers, who fired heavily into the air, passed through
the perimeter guard and reached the prison holding cells. They killed two prisoners:
Tha’er Mustafa Jouda, 35, and Jihad Subhi El-Masar’I, 30. Both were being detained
for murders committed against family members of the assailants. They took a third
prisoner, Salman Abu Yousef, 26, and took him to the central part of the Gaza Strip,
where they killed him. Five policemen were injured in the attack. The police
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