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Prosecution did not submit a bill of indictment against them. Although the
Government in Gaza does not admit that it has political prisoners, it makes
charges against them under the law, such as disturbing the relationship between
the factions. When reading the charge against the accused, it shall be noted in
the bill of indictment that the defendant contacted Ramallah (Government in
Ramallah), or that he divulged information about people of this Government, or
other charges. Despite these charges, ICHR regards these persons as political
detainees. On the other hand, since they are civilians, the arrest procedures are
illegal and arbitrary, and what applies to civilians also applies to military
personnel who are referred to these courts for committing, according to the
Military Prosecution, crimes against the law. These charges are not crimes
punishable by any Palestinian law, but are for the coverage of political arrests
and their justification.
One example is a complaint by Hani Ismail Mahmoud Mousa, 42, from Gaza,
demanding a retrial before a competent regular court, for being a civilian tried
before the military court and sentenced on 04/01/2008 on charges of
involvement with killing. Another complaint was submitted by the family of
Mohammad Abdul Rasoul Hamid, 24, from Gaza, demanding the Interior Ministry
investigate his detention by the Internal Security Service due to political
background, and terminate his trial before the military justice for being a civilian.
In addition to the lack of judicial overseeing by the Higher Judicial Council or
instructions from the Government to prevent the arrest of civilians or military
personnel on political or criminal charges by a decision of the military court, and
due to the illegality of presenting civilians before the military judiciary, it was
indispensable to have an overseeing commission which enables defendants to
refute these proceedings in order to curb any abuse of power by the military
courts. The Government in the Gaza Strip has not issued any instructions
demanding the military courts to not bring political civilians or militaries before
the military judiciary, but it went beyond that. It considered these detainees
were not politicians, but were accused with criminal charges, in addition to the
lack of judicial overseeing by the judicial authority in the Gaza Strip. This court did
not accept cases submitted to it demanding the release of detainees being held
by the military justice, especially of civilians. It considered them as detainees
being held by a competent authority through refutation by some lawyers in the
detention decisions issued by the Military Judicial Commission. Therefore, this is
a negative indicator showing that there are no real guarantees ensuring the right
of citizens to litigation and freedom from infringements.
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