Human rights defenders under growing legal pressure in
the OPT – UN rights experts
GENEVA (16 December 2016) – Human rights activists
working in the Occupied Palestinian Territory face daily violations of some of
the most fundamental protections afforded by international human rights and
humanitarian laws, two United Nations independent experts said today.
“We have received a worrying number of complaints in
recent months regarding human rights defenders who are arrested and, in many
cases, arbitrarily detained, often apparently as a direct result of their
important work in their communities,” said the UN Special Rapporteur on the
OPT, Michael Lynk, and the UN Special Rapporteur on human rights defenders,
Michel Forst.
“Human rights work is critical to creating a just society
and maintaining peace and security. These are the goals all parties ultimately
share,” the experts stressed. “However, it appears that rights defenders are
facing ever greater challenges in the OPT.”
The Special Rapporteurs drew special attention to the cases
against Issa Amro, founder of the Hebron-based group Youth Against Settlements,
and Farid al-Atrash, a lawyer from Hebron, who were arrested due to their
participation in a peaceful protest in February of this year. Mr. Amro is
currently facing trial in an Israeli military court on 18 charges dating back
to 2010, including participation in a rally without a permit.
“This relatively unusual practice of bringing up stale
charges, which were not pursued many years ago, strongly suggests that Mr. Amro
is being unfairly targeted due to his legitimate and peaceful human rights
work,” the experts noted.
“Mr. Amro has been subject to a concerted pattern of
harassment and intimidation by the Israeli authorities aimed at inhibiting his
work as a human rights defender,” they said recalling previous warnings from UN
human rights experts. “This trial appears to form part of this same pattern.”
The two Special Rapporteurs emphasized that charges of
participation in a rally without a permit
are nearly impossible to avoid for Palestinians in the West Bank who
peacefully protest and oppose the almost 50 year-old occupation.
They noted that Israeli Military Order 101 (issued in
1967) effectively prohibits free association and assembly, in clear violation
of the basic tenets of international human rights law.
“The right of all those who are seeking hope and participation
in concrete, nonviolent action must be protected, particularly as we are seeing
the deepening entrenchment of the Israeli occupation and the accompanying human
rights violations,” they stressed.
Other cases
The Special Rapporteurs also recalled the case of Hasan
Safadi, media coordinator for Addameer human rights organization, whose
three-month administrative detention order was renewed for an additional six
months on 8 December. And the case of Salah Khawaja, a member of the Stop the
Wall Campaign, who was arrested on 26 October and remains in detention without
charges.
“We are also troubled by reports of harassment and
threats made against groups seeking to promote accountability and engage with
the International Criminal Court,” the UN experts said.
“We call on the Israeli authorities to ensure fair trial
guarantees for human rights defenders and respect their unfettered exercise of
fundamental freedoms of expression, peaceful assembly and association,” they
said.
The Special Rapporteurs will continue to follow these
cases closely and recalled their outstanding requests to visit the Occupied
Palestinian Territory at the earliest opportunity.
This statement has also been endorsed by Mr. Roland
Adjovi, Chair-Rapporteur of the Working Group on Arbitrary Detention, Mr. David
Kaye, Special Rapporteur on freedom of opinion and expression, and Mr. Maina
Kiai, Special Rapporteur on the rights to freedom of peaceful assembly and of
association.
ENDS
In 2016, the UN Human Rights Council designated Mr.
Michael Lynk (Canada) as the seventh Special Rapporteur on the situation of
human rights in the Palestinian territories occupied since 1967. The mandate
was originally established in 1993 by the then UN Commission on Human Rights.
Learn more, log on to:
http://www.ohchr.org/EN/HRBodies/SP/CountriesMandates/PS/Pages/SRPalestine.aspx
Mr. Michel Forst (France) was appointed by the Human
Rights Council as the UN Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights
defenders in 2014. Michel Forst has extensive experience on human rights issues
and particularly on the situation of human rights defenders. In particular, he
was the Director General of Amnesty International (France) and Secretary
General of the first World Summit on Human Rights Defenders in 1998. For more
information, log on to:
http://www.ohchr.org/EN/Issues/SRHRDefenders/Pages/SRHRDefendersIndex.aspx
The Special Rapporteurs are part of what is known as the
Special Procedures of the Human Rights Council. Special Procedures, the largest
body of independent experts in the UN Human Rights system, is the general name
of the Council’s independent fact-finding and monitoring mechanisms that
address either specific country situations or thematic issues in all parts of
the world. Special Procedures’ experts work on a voluntary basis; they are not
UN staff and do not receive a salary for their work. They are independent from
any government or organization and serve in their individual capacity.
UN Human Rights, country pages:
Occupied Palestinian Territories:
http://www.ohchr.org/EN/countries/MENARegion/Pages/PSIndex.aspx
For more information and media requests, please contact
Katharine Marshall (+41 (0) 22- 917-9695 / kmarshall@ohchr.org) or Kiyohiko
Hasegawa (+41 (0) 22-928-9211 / khasegawa@ohchr.org)
You can access this press release at:
http://www.ohchr.org/EN/NewsEvents/Pages/DisplayNews.aspx?NewsID=21041&LangID=E
For media inquiries related to other UN independent
experts:
Xabier Celaya, UN Human Rights – Media Unit (+41 22 917
9383 / xcelaya@ohchr.org)
For your news websites and social media: Multimedia
content & key messages relating to our news releases are available on UN
Human Rights social media channels, listed below. Please tag us using the
proper handles:
Twitter: @UNHumanRights
Facebook: unitednationshumanrights
Instagram: unitednationshumanrights
Google+: unitednationshumanrights
Youtube: unohchr
Nema komentara:
Objavi komentar