Ref: 41/2015
Date: 9 July 2015
Time: 11:30 GMT

On 07 June 2015, the Palestinian Council of Ministers approved the amended Non-Profit Companies Regulation No. 3 of 2010, which included new serious restrictions on the activities of non-profit companies and their freedom of practicing activities and independence. The decision made the Council of Ministers a reference to identify the sources of funds and destination of expenses for these institutions.

The Palestinian Center for Human Rights (PCHR) stresses it position rejecting this decision that constitutes a serious interference with the work of community-based organizations and a clear violation of their independency and privacy, and thus a violation of the Palestinian Authority’s obligations under article 22 of the International Covenant on Political and Civil Rights that ensures the right to form associations.

The Council of Ministers issued the Non-Profit Companies Regulation in 2010 in an arbitrary step in which the competent institutions were not involved. This step impacted on the content and provisions of the regulation itself in a way undermining the right and making it as a gift from the Ministry of Economy.

It should be noted that the government that approved the abovementioned regulation acted under the political split, and therefore the government of unity should have reconsidered the regulation and avoid the flaws in it instead of approving it and even adding to its arbitrariness.

PCHR addressed this decision in a special report on the right to form associations that was issued in May 2013 titled “Impact of the Palestinian Authority’s Division on the Role of Associations and their Legal Organization”. The report unveiled the flaws of the decision and its negative impacts on the role of the Palestinian civil society when applied.

The latest amendment undermines the civil society’s role to monitor the authority’s role, observe the deviation of its officials or its inability to meet the public needs and work on putting an end to this deviation or that failure.

PCHR closely follows up the governmental decisions on the right to form associations and confirms that:

1. The Palestinian authority hand an international obligation to respect the right to form associations after the State of Palestine had signed the International Covenant on Political and Civil rights and the International Covenant on Economic, social and Cultural Right.
2. The civil society’s duty is not to implement the government’s plans, but rather to enhance the popular observation over the feasibility of these plans, to monitor the equitable distribution of wealth and to bridge the gaps in the existing system sometimes. Therefore, the government has no right in any way to interfere with the nature of associations’ activities, expenses, projects, or activities aiming to direct expenses to the public interest. Furthermore, identifying the public interest is not limited to the government.
3. Community-based organizations have the ability to comprehend the public needs in a way that can sometimes exceed the ability of the government itself due to their constant communication with the public and their focus on details more deeply. Thus, allegations of any governmental body that it should be a custodian to identify projects which the society needs is improper;
4. The Palestinian Council of Ministers’ attempt to oblige associations to be committed to the government’s development plan is astonishing as the government did not engage the civil society in preparing that plan. Moreover, the claim that the aforementioned plan will achieve the public interest remains a mere allegation, especially in the absence of any form of popular observation over the government’s performance due to the absence of the legislative council since the Palestinian division in 2007; and
5. The civil society cannot fulfil the role entrusted to it without enjoying its rights to existence, independency and privacy.

Based on its strong belief in the importance of the civil society in any democratic transformation in Palestine, PCHR:

1. Calls for abolishing the last amendment issued by the Council of Ministers concerning non-profit companies, and points out that the non-profit companies regulation must be in harmony with the international standards and must be reconsidered in cooperation with relevant community-based organizations;
2. Encourages the civil society to raise joint work to the highest levels in order to confront the ongoing attempts made by the Palestinian Authority in the West Bank and Gaza Strip to contain the civil society and marginalize its role;
3. Calls for abolishing all decisions and laws relevant to associations that were issued during the division period; and
4. Calls for engaging community-based organizations in any laws or decisions concerning the organization or work of these organizations.