Monday, August 13, 2007

LEBANON: 'Army Torturing Palestinian Refugees'

BADDAWI CAMP, Northern Lebanon, Aug 13 (IPS) - Palestinians displaced by the fighting at the northern Lebanese refugee camp Nahr al-Bared have accused the Lebanese Army of torturing and abusing civilians.

"As the fighting between the Sunni Islamist group Fatah al-Islam and the Lebanese army enters its 12th week, thousands of Nahr al-Bared residents have sought refuge in the nearby Baddawi camp. Many give detailed descriptions of days spent in detention under harsh interrogation......

The Shahed Palestinian Centre for Human Rights, based in Beirut, has documented over 50 cases of torture of Nahr al-Bared residents. Its director, Mahmoud al-Hanafi, told IPS that the army has systematically ignored human rights in its battle with Fatah al-Islam, and called upon both the Army and Fatah al-Islam to respect the Fourth Geneva Convention, which governs the treatment of civilians during wartime......

In one incident recounted by displaced locals in Baddawi, and documented by the Shahed centre, Nahr al-Bared resident Nayef Salah Saleh attempted to drive a van with 25 civilians out of the camp. Witnesses claim that Army snipers shot and killed Saleh, causing the van to lose control and come to a stop.....

Since the fighting in the north began, hundreds of Palestinians claim to have been arrested and beaten at Army checkpoints throughout the country. One Palestinian aid worker from Tripoli in Lebanon, who spoke anonymously to IPS, said that "about ten soldiers beat me up at a checkpoint because I was joking with a friend."

Others, like Ahmad Hazbour, a former Nahr al-Bared resident, claimed that they were beaten and verbally abused at checkpoints and then detained......."

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