

Human rights activist Eyad Sarraj ordered detained for 15 more days
**Updates IFEX alert dated 12 June 1996** On 13 June 1996, psychiatrist and human rights activist Dr. Eyad Sarraj was ordered by the Palestinian State Security Court in Gaza to remain in detention for 15 more days, on grounds that he allegedly assaulted a police officer while in custody. Neither Sarraj’s family nor his attorney, […]

Human rights activist Eyad Sarraj re-arrested
**For background to previous arrest, see IFEX alert dated 24 May 1996** On 9 June 1996, Palestinian plainclothes policemen arrested Dr. Eyad Sarraj, a respected psychiatrist and head of the Palestine Independent Commission for Citizens’ Rights (PICCR) at his home in Gaza. Attorney General Khaled al-Qidra announced that Sarraj had been detained for interrogation for […]

Human rights activist Eyad Serraj thought to have been arrested for comments to paper
Dr. Eyad Serraj was once again arrested without charge on 18 May 1996. Serraj, who serves as director of the Gaza Community Mental Health Program, and Commissioner General of the Palestine Independent Commission for Citizens’ Rights (PICCR), is a well- known human rights activist in Gaza. According to Human Rights Watch, it is believed that […]

Photographer Fayez Nourredin brutally assaulted
On 13 May 1996, Fayez Nourredin, a photographer for the French news agency Agence France Presse, was detained for ten hours by the Palestinian special intelligence service in Gaza, during which he was kicked, whipped with a belt and subjected to harassment. Palestinian security officers were upset over the publication on 9 May of a […]

RSF correspondent defamed by police chief
Colonel Gibril Rajoub, chief of the Preventive Security Service (PSS) in the West Bank, has declared that Bassem Eid, the correspondent for Reporters sans frontieres (RSF) in Palestine and a researcher for the human rights defense group B’Tselem, is an “agent of the Israeli police whose goal is to attack the PSS.” Bassem Eid is […]

Two Gaza newspapers ordered closed; publishers held for questioning
Source: Palestinian Media Monitoring Centre (a project of the IFJ), Jerusalem **For background to previous incidents, see IFEX alerts dated 25 July, 10 July, 27 June, 16 May, 21 April 1995 and others** The Palestinian National Authority (PNA) ordered two opposition weeklies closed on 6 August 1995 in Gaza. Orders for the closures of the […]

Jailed “Al-Watan” Editor Sayed Abu Musameh’s family denied access
**Updates IFEX alert of 16 May** Sayed Abu Musameh, the Editor-in-Chief of the Gaza newspaper “Al-Watan”, continues to be held in jail since his arrest 13 May 1995 outside the paper’s offices. His family and others close to him have been denied access to him. Recommended Action Send appeals to PNA: asking to make public […]

Five detained “Al Istiqlal” journalists remain in detention
**Updates IFEX CH alerts dated 15 March and 28 February 1995** The IFJ reports that five of the six journalists from the weekly newspaper “Al Istiqlal” arrested in an 8 February raid remain in prison. They are: Atiyeh Abu Mansour, Khaled Sadeq, Nahed Kutkut, Muhammad Sayyad, and Zakariya Madhun. Izaddine Sharif is no longer in […]

Publisher of “Filastin” Taher Shriteh’s home raided in Gaza
Early on the morning of 13 April 1995, 20 members of Force 17, the personal guard unit of Yasser Arafat, raided the Gaza home of Taher Shriteh, publisher of the independent weekly “Filastin” and a stringer for Reuters and CBS News. They did not find Shriteh and proceeded to beat his brothers Fakher, Amer, and […]

Raid on offices of Gaza newspaper; 3 journalists detained for several hours
On 13 April 1995, officers with General Intelligence raided the Gaza offices of “Al-Watan”, a pro-Hamas weekly newspaper, and detained three journalists with the paper. The officers severely beat deputy editor Ghazi Hamad in the course of the arrest, local sources told the CPJ. Hamad, editor-in-chief Sayed Abu Musameh, and reporter Nafez al-Ji’b were held […]

Three journalists arrested
Alaa al-Masharawy, a reporter for the Jerusalem-based “Al-Quds” daily newspaper, was detained by Palestinian police on 9 April at the Erez checkpoint near the border with Israel. Also on 9 April, police arrested Muhammad Jahjouh, a freelance cameraman, at his home in the Shatti refugee camp. On 10 April, members of Military Intelligence detained cameraman […]

“Al Nahar” correspondent arrested in Gaza
Taher al-Nounou, Gaza correspondent for the East Jerusalem daily “Al Nahar”, was arrested by Palestinian police on 5 March 1995, reports RSF. He is accused of have “spread false information.” Tahar al-Nounou had written an article affirming that the 2 April explosion which killed Hamas militants could have been caused by a time bomb, a […]