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| PCHR Palestinian Centre for Human Rights PRESS RELEASE |
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Ref: 192/2004
Date: 28 December 2004
Time: 11:30 GMT
PCHR Condemns Intervention by Israeli Occupation Forces into the Election Process
PCHR strongly condemns the flagrant intervention by Israeli occupation forces (IOF) into the Palestinian elections, through continued restrictions imposed on the freedom of movement.
The campaign for the presidential election started on Saturday, 25 December 2004, and will continue until 7 January 2005; that is, 24 hours before the date of the election. As the seven candidates who will run the election of the post of the president have started their election campaigns, IOF have continued to prevent two candidates, ‘Abdul Kharim Shubair and Sayed Baraka, from traveling from the Gaza Strip to the West Bank and moving freely from one electoral constituency to another. These measures constitute a flagrant intervention into the election process, and deprive two candidates of their right of access to all electoral constituencies for campaigning.
On another level, the IOF have continued to close Rafah Terminal on the Egyptian border, the only outlet for the Gaza Strip to the outside world, since Monday morning, 13 December 2004. Thousands of Palestinians have not been able to travel back to the Gaza Strip. In addition to the serious impact of the closure of the terminal on the economic, social and health conditions of Palestinians, it may deprive thousands of Palestinians of their right to exercise to electoral right.
On Monday, 27 December 2004, IOF arrested Dr. Mustafa al-Barghouthi, a candidate for the Palestinian election, while he was campaigning in occupied Jerusalem.
These measures by IOF constitute a flagrant intervention into the Palestinian elections. Consequently, PCHR calls upon the international community to immediately intervene and exert pressure on Israel and IOF to stop arbitrary measures that disrupt the election process, including:
1. Allowing the candidates to move freely in the sixteen electoral constituencies in the Gaza Strip and the West Bank, including Jerusalem.
2. Reopening Rafah Terminal and lifting the restrictions imposed on the freedom of movement to ensure that Palestinians can exercise their right to freedom of movement in order to hold free and impartial elections.
Public Document
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PCHR, 29 Omer El Mukhtar St., El Remal, PO Box 1328 Gaza, Gaza Strip. E-mail: pchr@pchrgaza.org, Webpage http://www.pchrgaza.org
