Ref: 62/2013
Date: 10 June 2013
Date: 11:30 GMT

The Palestinian Center for Human Rights (PCHR) calls upon the Attorney General to seriously investigate the circumstances of an attack against a Palestinian citizen by a number of persons on Saturday, 8 June 2013. The Palestinian citizen in question left a conference held in Bethlehem in the north of the West Bank, in which he criticized the Palestinian Authority in the presence of the Minister of National Economy.

According to investigations conducted by PCHR, at approximately 17:00 on Saturday, 8 June 2013, Nizar Khalil Banat (34) from Hebron, was violently beaten by a number of persons after he left the Fourth National Conference to Boycott Israel, held in Bethlehem. Banat stated to PCHR that he could identify two of his attackers as having been accompanied the Minister of National Economy in the Ramallah government, Jawad al-Naji, who participated in the conference, and a third one as a journalist working for an international news agency. Banat added that Naji interrupted his intervention in which he accused the Palestinian Authority and President Mahmoud Abbas of coordination with Israel, and stated to him: “We do not want to hear howling.” Consequently, the participants demanded the Minister to apologize or leave the conference.

Banat was transported in a civilian vehicle to al-Hussein Hospital in Bethlehem, where he received medical treatment and was then released.

PCHR condemns the attack on Banat and calls upon the Attorney General to seriously investigate it and bring the perpetrators before justice. PCHR calls for a further respecting of the right to freedom of opinion and expression, as ensured under the Palestinian Basic Law and international human rights standards, and for the acceptance in society of other opinions.