Via Hamas Cleric Tortured to Death in PA Custody:
When Hamas preacher Majd Barghouti’s body arrived at the hospital, his back was scarlet where he had been whipped with pipes. His legs were black with bruises. His wrists were sliced open and bloodied. The PA, which had been holding him in an intelligence-service prison, declared that he had died of a heart attack. Barghouti’s killing offers a rare glimpse into a subterranean war that plays out daily in the West Bank, where Fatah and Hamas vie for power. An independent Palestinian investigation released this month found evidence that torture is regularly used against political prisoners in PA facilities.
Congress last year appropriated $86 million in assistance to the PA’s security services.