PRESS RELEASE
GAZA SEMINAR ON HUMAN RIGHTS TO OPEN SATURDAY
Ref: 48/99
Date: 30 April, 1999
Tomorrow, Saturday May 1, 1999, the Gaza Seminar on Human Rights will open at Al-Quds International Hotel in Gaza City. The seminar is organized in partnership between the Palestinian Centre for Human Rights (PCHR) and the International Federation of Human Rights (FIDH). The seminar is part of the Euro-Mediterranean Partnership: Strengthening Civil Society in the South and East Mediterranean Region.
The timing of the seminar coincides with the formal date of May 4 which marks the end of the interim period in the Occupied Palestinian Territories as designated in the Oslo peace accords. Issues of human rights and international humanitarian law will be major subjects of discussion in the seminar, which is hoped to provide an opportunity for Palestinians to compare international examples to the Palestinian case. Part of the discussion will be devoted to issues regarding the universality and indivisibility of human rights, the legal consequences of a declaration of Palestinian statehood, and the upcoming conference of the High Contracting Parties to the Fourth Geneva Convention to be convened in Geneva on July 15. Participants will also discuss the European role in protecting the human rights of the Palestinians and Europe’s role in implementing the Fourth Geneva Convention in the Occupied Palestinian Territories. Other issues such as the role of government to safeguard the independence of the judiciary and the rule of law in the interim period will be discussed from a comparative perspective. And finally, participants will discuss the role of human rights organizations in the interim period.
More than 200 Palestinian experts, lawyers, judges, and representatives of human rights organizations were invited to participate in the seminar. A number of international experts and representatives of human rights organizations affiliated with the FIDH will also attend.
The opening session of the seminar tomorrow evening will be addressed by Palestinian Minister of Justice Freih Abu Meddein, PCHR Director Raji Sourani, and FIDH President Patrick Baudouin. The seminar will run through May 4.
For More Information Contact:
Palestinian Center for Human Rights
Tel/Fax: (+) 9727 2824776 / 2823725
E-mail: pchr@trendline.co.il, Web page: www.pchrgaza.org
