PRESS RELEASE

Released @ 12:00 hours GMT, 29^th October, 1998

Human Rights First

The Palestinian Centre for Human Rights (PCHR) expresses its deep concern about the prospects of an escalation in human rights violations in the Occupied Palestinian Territories (OPT). This concern comes in the aftermath of the signing of the ‘Wye River Memorandum’ on October 23^rd 1998 by the Palestinian President, Yasser Arafat, Israeli Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu and the American President, Bill Clinton. PCHR believes that the security arrangements in this memorandum imply a great potential for an increase in human rights violations in the Occupied Palestinian Territories.

For the first time, the government of the United States will be a full partner in the different phases of implementing this Memorandum. Thus, the US will participate with the Palestinian Authority in a Palestinian work plan to ensure “the systematic and effective combat of terrorist organisations and their infrastructure.” Joint Palestinian-American and Palestinian-Israeli-American committees will be formed in order to examine, assess and guide measures taken by the Palestinian Authority (PA). Accordingly, PCHR believes that the Government of the US will be a full partner in any human rights violations perpetrated in the Occupied Palestinian Territories (OPT) as far as the security obligations are concerned.

PCHR warns of the negative consequences of this agreement, which may cast its shadow dramatically on the human rights situation in the OPT. Once again, human rights may be neglected for the sake of a promised peace and better security for Israel. PCHR stresses that sacrificing human rights in accordance with the previous interim agreements has never yet achieve either a just peace or security. The core issue here is that the concept of security from an Israeli point of view completely ignored the security needs of the Palestinian people and severely contradicts international standards of human rights. Thus, after more than four years of signing the first Palestinian–Isreali interim agreement of May 1994, and after more than three years since the signing of the second agreement of September 1995, human rights violations in the OPT have continued. The Palestinian citizens in the OPT have not felt any better off, neither in terms of security for their land nor for their personal safety. The Palestinian land continues to be confiscated for the sake of settlement expansion and the establishment of bypass roads for settlers. Tens of Palestinians have been killed at the hands of Israeli soldiers and settlers, whether in the form of extra judicial killings and assassinations (even in areas under Palestinian full jurisdiction), or in cases in which the excessive use of deadly force was proven to have been carried out by Israeli soldiers, in situations that posed no threat to their lives. Moreover, Israeli Authorities continue to impose collective punishment against the Palestinian people in the OPT through its policy of closure, in violation of the international humanitarian laws , especially the IVth Geneva Convention of 1949 and other human rights covenants.

On the Palestinian level, the government of Israel and the American administration have continued to exert pressure over the Palestinian Authority, demanding that the PA perpetrates human rights violations in areas under its jurisdiction, as part of its obligations towards the security of Israel. Under the pretext of combatting violence and undermining the infrastructure of “terrorist groups”, both the US and Israel have encouraged the PA to take illegal measures during the last four years against Palestinian opposition. Such measures which have been blessed by the US and Israel, include inter alia:

1. The formation of state security courts by the PA. Such courts contradict international standards for fair trial and lack the due process in accordance with civil courts.
2. Illegal massive waves of arrests. Since 1994, hundreds of Palestinian civilians have been arrested by Palestinian Security Forces for prolonged terms without charges and trials. A number of those prisoners have been held for more than three years.
3. The closure of licensed civil institutions by the PA. Such institutions are well known for their Islamic orientation, but they conduct their activities in accordance with the rule of law and provide vital charitable, educational, social, sports and religious services for the community.
4. The imposition of restrictions on the freedom of expression. Under the slogan of combatting violence, both the US and Israel continue to demand that the PA takes effective measures that restrict citizens’ basic rights to the freedom of expression and press. It has never been clear however, where the borders of the terms “incitement to violence” and the “citizens’ right to express their political opinions” lie.

In the light of the Wye River Memorandum, PCHR expresses its deep concern about the security arrangements and warns of further possible violations of Palestinian civil and political rights, bearing in mind the vague meaning of the concept of security and measures that could be taken to prevent “incitement to violence”. Taking into consideration the old-new reading for the concept of Israeli security, which prevailed in all the interim agreements, PCHR warns about a dramatic escalation in human rights violations, especially in the following aspects:

1. Bringing leaders of the Islamic opposition before state security courts.
2. The closure of Islamic oriented civil institutions which are licensed by the PA.
3. The imposition of additional restrictions on the freedom of expression and press including the closure of newspapers and magazines of the Islamic opposition.
4. The intensification of a massive wave of arrests of leaders, members and supporters of the Islamic opposition.

PCHR considers the government of the US as a full partner in any possible human rights violation perpetrated in areas under Palestinian jurisdiction in accordance with the new security arrangements. PCHR calls upon the PA to act in conformity with the rule of law and to refrain from arresting civilians for their political affiliation and to guarantee the right to the freedom of expression. Finally, PCHR calls upon the international community for effective intervention to monitor the situation in the OPT and to prevent human rights from being sacrificed once again for the sake of security.