Ref: 9/2010

The Palestinian Centre for Human
Rights (PCHR) has apologized for not participating in the supervision of
elections of the Palestinian Journalists’ Syndicate scheduled to be held on 05
February 2010. Mr. Raji Sourani,
Director of PCHR, sent this apology in the form of a letter, in response to an
invitation previously sent by the Journalists’ Syndicate asking PCHR to
participate in the supervision of the Syndicate’s elections.

PCHR explained in its letter that it
had followed the developments in the Journalists’ Syndicate over the past
years. The Centre is still observing the
latest developments and arguments with regard to the Syndicate, including
problems related to membership and the right to vote, as well as the impact of
the internal fragmentation and political crisis on the Syndicate.

PCHR stressed that it strongly
supports conducting these long-awaited elections. However, it stressed that these elections
should be transparent and should represent all journalists. This step should be considered the basic
foundation of the Syndicate, so that it does not only represent and serve
journalists, but also constitutes a basic component of Palestinian civil
society, helping in the resolution of our national questions.

PCHR clarified that it would not be
able to participate in the supervision of elections because supervision is part
of a more comprehensive process and a series of procedures, which were not
observed by the Centre. PCHR added that
it has closely followed the reactions towards elections in the Palestinian
Journalists’ Syndicate and the stance of the International Federation of
Journalists, which calls for deferring elections for some time. PCHR expresses its hope that the Journalists’
Syndicate gives consideration to calls from inside and outside the journalists’
Union for deferring elections; in addition to beginning to conduct real reform,
including reconsidering its membership system.

PCHR stressed that it is ready to
use its experience in the field of elections in order to contribute to the
efforts exerted for this purpose.