Ref: 75/2012

On Monday, 24 September 2012, PCHR will
receive a delegation from the International Association of Democratic Lawyers
(IADL).  This delegation is comprised of
21 lawyers from IADL’s Executive Committee, which decided to hold its annual
meetings this year in the Gaza Strip, as an expression of solidarity with the
Palestinian people and in protest against the human rights violations perpetrated
by the Israeli Occupation Forces, including the closure and collective
punishment measures imposed on the Gaza Strip. 

The IADL, which was founded in 1946, is a
non-governmental organization with consultative status at the UN Economic,
Social and Cultural Council and UNESCO. 
IADL members include lawyers throughout the world and a number of
national and regional associations and unions. 
Its goals include, inter alia: ensuring cooperation amongst lawyers throughout the world in
the field of democratic practice; encouraging respect for, and maintenance of,
international peace and security; promoting the independence of peoples and
protesting any restrictions on such independence; defending human rights and
democratic liberties; struggling for the rule of law and the independence of
the judiciary and the legal profession; defending peoples’ rights of
development and equality. 

PCHR has arranged the visit program for
this international delegation, which will stay in Gaza until Saturday, 29
September 2012.  In addition to the 2
days of meetingsfor the IADL Executive Committee, the program visit includes a
series of challenging activities, which will serve as an opportunity to learn
more about the current situation in the Gaza Strip and the challenges facing
its population. 

These activities include a number of
meetings with government officials, Palestinian civil society and human rights
organizations, political factions and professors and students of the faculties
of law in Palestinian universities.  The
program visit will also include a field tour to various areas in the Gaza Strip,
so that the delegation can learn more about the living conditions of the
Palestinian population under the violations of their rights being perpetrated
by the Israeli Occupation Forces. 
Members of the delegation will also participate in a seminar organized
by PCHR on 27 September 2012 titled “Accountability of Violations of
International Law in the Occupied Palestinian Territory.”

It is worth noting that Mr. RajiSourani,
Director of PCHR, is a member of the IADL Executive Committee.  He will participate in the Executive
Committee’s meetings to be held in Gaza.