UN, EU condemn Palestinian Authority over activist arrests

UN ‘deeply concerned at continuing pressure on those seeking to exercise their rights to freedom of expression’.

The UN and the EU have expressed concern over a spate of arrests of activists by Palestinian security forces, as the death of a leading campaigner in custody sparked persistent protests. Demonstrators in the Israeli-occupied West Bank have demanded justice since the June death of Nizar Banat – a leading critic of the Palestinian Authority (PA) and its 86-year-old president Mahmoud Abbas – who died in custody after security forces stormed his home in the flashpoint city of Hebron and dragged him away. The UN human rights office said on Tuesday it was “deeply concerned at continuing pressure on those seeking to exercise their rights to freedom of expression and assembly in Palestine”.