Ramallah: The Human Rights and Democracy Media Center “SHAMS” has concluded in cooperation with the Civil Forum to Promote Good Governance in the Security Sector a two-day training course on integrity and transparency in the administration of seizures made by the Palestinian security forces. The course was attended by representatives of the Legal Unit at the Customs Police, the Police force, the General Intelligence Agency, the Military Intelligence, National Security, Preventive Security, Civil Defense, the Military Training Agency, the Military Judiciary, Political Guidance, and the Presidential Guard.
In the training, trainer Dr. Fadi Rabai’a spoke about inspection and seizure procedures in accordance with provisions of the Palestinian Penal Proceedings Law in detail by covering an introduction to the law, its objectives and contents, and the powers granted to officers who conduct seizures. He then spoke of the general provisions of judicial inspection, the definition of judicial inspection, its legal nature, the conditions that ought to be present for a proper judicial inspection, the general provisions governing penal proceedings, seizure as a concept, processes of search and investigation of crimes, the legal nature of seizures in penal proceedings, and the conditions that ought to be present for a proper seizure as stipulated in penal proceedings.
Also within the training, the lawyer Mousa Abu Dhiam spoke about retention of seizures. He discussed the procedures that take place before and during the retention process and how the seizures are handled since different types of seizures are handled differently. He then clarified that the seizures are eventually confiscated, returned to their owners, employed in some way by the state, or destroyed. Practical examples were supplied throughout.
Another speaker at the training was Mr. Ashraf Abu Hayya, who spoke about rights during arrest and arbitrary detention by discussing in detail the definition of detention, arrest warrants, and the rights of detainees as per penal proceedings.
The lawyer Newar Bdair presented a list of guidelines that law enforcement personnel must adhere to in order to protect human rights when they perform their jobs. She then discussed legal regulations pertaining to peaceful assemblies, the use of force (and its gradualism), the difference between peaceful assemblies and unlawful gatherings, and the difference between torture and misstatement. At the end of the training course, the participants recommended that more trainings pertaining to seizures made by the security forces be held and that more participants be involved. Their recommendations also included the importance of promoting trust between the security forces and citizens concerning how seizures are handled and/or destroyed, the importance of commitment by the law enforcement agencies and the security forces regarding the human rights guidelines and abstaining from torture and mistreatment, and increasing citizens’ awareness about guarantees of arrest and detention.