The Palestinian Authority's treatment of West Bank detainees has improved but rights violations remain rampant across the Palestinian territories, said the national human rights institution and reported by AFP  .

The Palestinian Independent Commission for Human Rights (ICHR) noted "positive developments" in the treatment of detainees by the Palestinian Authority in the final quarter of 2009.

"There has been a reduction in the number of complaints related to mistreatment and torture of detainees held by the different security services," the ICHR said in its annual report, released on 7 April.

“But it is too early to conclude that this phenomenon has ended," the report went on to note.
However, the group accused the Palestinian Authority of arbitrary detention and said most of those locked up in the West Bank are affiliated with the rival Hamas movement.

It also accused the Hamas government in Gaza of using "repressive measures" against detainees.

"Despite the (Hamas) government's denial of the existence of 'political prisoners' ... most of those detained by internal security are affiliated with the Fatah movement or are members of the (former) security services," it said.

In both the Gaza Strip and the West Bank the ICHR faulted Palestinian authorities for limiting freedom of expression and peaceful gatherings.

It criticised the use of military instead of civilian trials, especially in Gaza where Hamas has said it will carry out executions, and unfair restrictions on family visits and contacts with lawyers.

On 15 April, the Hamas government executed two men accused of ‘collaborating’ with Israel, according to a report by the Associated Press.

It was the first time the death penalty has been carried out in Gaza since Hamas seized power in the coastal area in 2007.

The killings were condemned by the ICHR, as well as other Palestinian and international human rights groups, including Amnesty International.

The UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay urged Hamas officials not to carry out further executions and to abolish the use of the death penalty.

“I call on Hamas to reconsider its position and exhibit respect for the international community’s firm rejection of the death penalty, to abolish its use in Gaza, and to fully uphold and promote the right to life,” she said in a statement.

Three more convicted informers remain on death row in Gaza, along with six people convicted of murder. Six other men have been sentenced to death in absentia, according to the ICHR.