Ref: 37/2011

The Palestinian Center for Human Rights (PCHR)
condemns the dispersion of a spontaneous peaceful assembly of dozens of
Palestinian civilians and the detention of a number of these civilians by the
Palestinian police yesterday.

According to investigations conducted by PCHR,
at approximately 20:00 on Wednesday, 27 April 2011, dozens of Palestinian
civilians, including women, spontaneously gathered in the Unknown Soldier Yard,
in support for reconciliation efforts between Fatah and Hamas movements
declared in the Egyptian capital (Cairo) declared on the same day. At approximately 20:30, 4 police vehicles
arrived at the area, and immediately many police officers, some of whom were
wearing civilian clothes, stepped down. They violently beat, insulated and chased the participants. They also arrested 5 of the participants,
including Mr. Jamal Farawana, a defender of prisoners’ rights, who was
violently beaten, and Mr. Talal Abi Zarifa, a leader of the Democratic Front
for the Liberation of Palestine. The
detainees were transported to the headquarters of the Police Investigation
Bureau in Ansar security compound in the west of Gaza City. The detainees were held in a room for half an
hour, and they were then released without being interrogated. 

In light of the above:

1. PCHR
calls upon the government in Gaza to seriously investigate attacking, beating
and arresting participants in the peaceful assembly in the Unknown Soldier
Yard, especially as such attacks by security services have been recurred.

2. PCHR
emphasizes that the right to peaceful assembly is ensured under the Palestinian
Basic Law and international human rights standards.

3. PCHR
calls upon Palestinian security services to respect international human rights
standards, the Palestinian Basic Law and other relevant laws.