Ref: 92/2008

Date: 26 October 2008

Time: 13:30 GMT

IOF Prevent 100 International Academics and Human Rights Activists from Entering Gaza

The Palestinian Center for Human Rights (PCHR) condemns the decision taken by the Israeli Occupation Forces (IOF) to prevent some 100 international academics and human rights activists from entering Gaza in order to participate in an international conference in Gaza City on 27 -28 October.  The conference has been organised by the Gaza Community Mental Health Program (GCMHP), in cooperation with the World Health Organization (WHO). The Palestinian Centre for Human Rights regards the IOF decision as another clear example of collective punishment imposed against the 1.7 million Palestinian civilians of the Gaza Strip.

This thematic conference focuses on the illegal IOF siege of the Gaza Strip, and its affects on the mental health of the population of Gaza. GCMHP and WHO submitted the names and relevant details of some 100 international delegates, including academics, physicians, researchers, human rights activists and representatives of civil society organization from all over the world, to the IOF. These submissions were made more than one month ago, giving the IOF more than sufficient time to process the applications.

PCHR views the IOF decision to prevent the delegates from entering Gaza to participate in this important conference as a violation of the inherent right to freedom of movement, as well as a violation of the right to academic freedom, the right to acquire knowledge, the right to freedom of expression and cultural rights. Preventing these delegates from attending the conference further reinforces the chronic international isolation of Gaza. The delegates had been invited to attend the conference in order for them to be better informed about the continuing isolation of Gaza, the mental health consequences of such isolation, and the deteriorating humanitarian situation across the Gaza Strip.

PCHR calls upon the international community, including the High Contracting Parties to the (1949) Fourth Geneva Convention, to urgently intervene to ensure that IOF honour their obligation to allow internationals to enter the Gaza Strip, to ensure that IOF stop all measures of collective punishment against the population of the Gaza Strip, and to pressurize IOF to lift the siege being imposed on the entire Palestinian civilian population.