Experts analyze criticisms by fellow Palestinians that PLO leader Yasser Arafat is an autocrat who has abused human rights, condoned corruption, and ignored parliamentary procedure. A background report is followed by a panel discussion lead by Margaret Warner.

MARGARET WARNER: Yasser Arafat received a hero's welcome in 1994, when he returned to the Gaza strip after three decades in exile. He had secured what many Palestinians thought impossible--an agreement with Israel laying the groundwork for Palestinian self-rule in the West Bank and Gaza strip. Arafat remained popular.

In January 1996, voters elected Arafat President of the Palestinian authority--the governing body that rules those areas no longer under Israeli control. Also elected then were 88 members of a Palestinian legislative council--a building block for what many Palestinians hoped would be a democratic government. But in recent months, President Arafat and the Palestinian Authority have come under a barrage of criticism from an unexpected quarter--their fellow Palestinians.

Arafat's critics accuse him of permitting human rights abuses; of condoning corruption and mismanagement; and of indulging in a fundamentally undemocratic style of governing. The human rights criticism comes from Palestinian human rights advocates. They say Palestinian Authority police and intelligence forces have committed serious abuses in the name of security.

The charges include the arrest of activists simply for opposing Arafat, and the torture and killing of some Palestinian prisoners. Ordinary Palestinians have joined the protests too, as they did last summer over the death of a suspected member of an underground group. After being interrogated by security forces, the suspect had been admitted to a hospital severely beaten and covered with cigarette burns. He died from his injuries several days later. Bassem Eid, head of the Palestinian human rights monitoring group, was sharply critical at the time.

BASSEM EID, Palestinian Human Rights Advocate: We are talking about the seventh case of a Palestinian prisoner already killed in the Palestinian interrogation wings, and now I think that there is no doubt that we are talking about a policy. It's not an individual's action; it's a policy.

MARGARET WARNER: Just this week Eid held another press conference to publicize 42 cases in which he said Palestinian police had badly abused prisoners. Eid said the problem is "lack of control over the security forces," and added, "we are putting the responsibility on Mr. Arafat."

The charges of mismanagement and corruption come from some legislative councilors. They say that while many ordinary Palestinians live in grinding poverty, international donor funds are being misappropriated to subsidize opulent homes for Arafat's ministers and entourage.

They also say some ministers demand a cut of the action in return for granting lucrative government contracts. Arafat appointed an auditor to look into the charges. Last weekend, the auditor announced that $326 million of public funds had been lost to corruption and mismanagement by the Palestinian Authority.

SPOKESMAN: It is with great pleasure that I present the International Press Freedom Award for 196--1996, Daoud Kuttab.

MARGARET WARNER: Finally, charges that Arafat is engaging in autocratic rule were given new life by a recent incident involving Palestinian-American TV journalist Daoud Kuttab. Kuttab, shown here receiving an international press award in 1996, had been broadcasting live sessions of the legislative council that included discussions of alleged corruption by the Palestinian Authority. After the government jammed his broadcasts, Kuttab distributed videotapes to other independent stations.

He was arrested last week and served eight days in jail before being released yesterday. The legislative councilors have complaints too about what they say is Arafat's autocratic style. They say Arafat and his ministers regularly ignore the laws the council passes, and Arafat has stalled the most important piece of legislation yet--the so-called basic law. This interim constitution seeks to outline a separation of authority between the executive and legislative branches and would have the effect of checking some of Arafat's powers.