President Abbas' recent decree is a harbinger of a coming "military dictatorship", human rights groups warn

Editorial Note: The following news reports may be summaries from original sources. They may also include corrections of Arabic names and political terminology.

Date: 10 / 07 / 2007 Time: 15:29

Gaza - Ma'an -

Two Palestinian human rights groups, the Palestinian Center for Human Rights and Al-Haq, have criticized Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas' most recent decree regarding the jurisdiction of the military judiciary during the state of emergency.

On 6 July, Abbas issued a decree giving the Palestinian Authority's military courts greater power, in the interests of "public safety and internal public security."

The PCHR considers this new decree to be "the most dangerous of a series of decrees" which Abbas has issued lately following the announcement of the state of emergency on 14 June. PCHR said, "The decree prepares for the destruction of the judicial authority and civilian life for the sake of militarizing Palestinian society."

Under the decree, the military judiciary takes over some of the mandate of the public, or civilian, judiciary. This worries many human rights groups.

The PCHR warns that the PA is heading towards becoming "a military dictatorship."

The general director of Al-Haq, Shawan Jabarin, warned that Al-Haq "views this decree with great concern as it infringes on the exercise of fundamental human rights and is in violation of provisions of the Palestinian Basic Law."

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