Ref: 95/2010 

The
Palestinian Centre for Human Rights (PCHR) condemns obstructing the work of a
media crew of al-Quds Satellite Channel in Hebron by the Palestinian police and
General Intelligence Service (GIS) on Friday, 08 October 2010, while covering
the funeral procession of Ma’moun al-Natsha, who had been killed by IOF. This measure constitutes an abuse of the
right to freedom of opinion and expression and press freedoms ensured under the
constitution and international human rights standards. 

According
to investigations conducted by PCHR and the testimony of Akram al-Natsha,
Correspondent of al-Quds Satellite Channel, at approximately 11:45 on Friday,
08 October 2010, a
police officer traveling in a police vehicle stopped a crew of the channel,
while making technical preparations for live broadcasting near al-Rabat Mosque
in the north of Hebron of the funeral procession of Ma’moun al-Natsha by IOF on
Friday morning. The crew was comprised
of: Akram al-Natsha, a correspondent; Ma’moun Fansha, a broadcasting engineer;
and ‘Abdul Ghani Natsha, a cameraman. The officer asked members of the crew to show their press cards, and he
then ordered them to stop broadcasting and accompany him to a police
station. There, police officers
confiscated mobile phones of members of the crew and detained them in a room. An hour later, a GIS officer arrived and
transported them to the GIS headquarter in Hebron. They were detained in a room. An hour later, a GIS officer arrived and
informed them that there was a mistake and that they were not wanted by the GIS,
so he released them. 

PCHR
condemns obstruction of the work of al-Quds Satellite Channel’s crew, and:

1) Expresses concerns
over continued abuses of the right to freedom of opinion and expression and press freedoms, and emphasizes that it is
necessary to provide protection to journalists, and to take measures to allow
them to work freely, upholding the right to freedom of opinion and expression
and press freedoms;

2) Stresses that the
right to freedom of opinion and expression is ensured under the Palestinian
Basic Law and international human rights instruments; and

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