Ref: 50/2011 

The Palestinian Center for Human Rights (PCHR) condemns the
Palestinian police’s prevention of the “Youth Mobility and Palestinian
Reconciliation” conference, which was scheduled to be held in Rashad al-Shawa
Cultural Center in Gaza City. The police
used force to disperse the participants and arrested a number of them. PCHR calls for stopping the unjustified
intervention of the Ministry of Interior and it security services into public
liberties, and respecting the right to organize private and public meetings
ensured under the Palestinian Basic Law and relevant international standards.

According to investigations conducted by PCHR and the testimonies
of eyewitnesses, at approximately 10:00 on Tuesday, 31 May 2011, dozens of
young men and women headed to Rashad al-Sahwa Cultural Center in the west of
Gaza City to participate in the “Youth Mobility and Palestinian Reconciliation”
conference, but they were surprised by the deployment of many members of the
police, the general investigation bureau and the female police in the vicinity
of and at the entrance of the center. The security personnel attacked the young men and women using
clubs. They violently beat a young man
who attempted to photograph the dispersion of the gathering by the police using
his mobile phone. The police arrested
this young man together with another five ones and transported them to the
nearby al-Abbas police station. The detainees
were interrogated about the activities and organizers of the conference, and
were released later after being forced to sign an oath to “abide to the law and
morals and come to the police once they are summoned,” according to the
testimony of one of the released detainees. 

It is worth noting that the 15 March Youth Coalition organized the
conference in cooperation with the Palestinian Planning Center of the Palestine
Liberation Organization. The conference
was supposed to be held in Rashad al-Shawa Cultural Center at 11:00 on Tuesday,
31 May 2011. 

In light of the above:

1) PCHR
calls for stopping the unjustified interventions by security bodies and the
Ministry of Interior into public liberties and the right to organize public and
private meetings which is legally and constitutionally ensured. 

2) PCHR
emphasizes that private meetings and likewise, conference and festivals, are
organized in closed places and are not subject to the provisions of the Public
Meetings Law No. 12 of 1998. Private meetings can be held without the presence of
police, according to article 26(5) of the Basic Law, which provides that
“private meetings shall be held without the presence of police officers,
and public meetings and gatherings shall be held within the scope of the
law.” 

3) PCHR
calls upon Palestinian security services to respect international human rights
standards, the Palestinian Basic Law and relevant laws.