Ref: 77/2022Date: 15 June 2022Time: 09:30 GMT The Palestinian Centre for Human Rights (PCHR) follows up with deep concern the recurrence of regrettable attacks at An-Najah University on Tuesday, 14 June 2022, where the university security officers and gunmen dressed in civilian clothes used excessive force against the university students when the latter tried to enter the university to organize a protest.PCHR strongly condemns the excessive use of force and shooting against the protesting university students and calls upon the public prosecution to open an investigation and bring those involved in the violence to justice. Also, PCHR stresses each person’s right to freedom of peaceful assembly, whether inside or outside the university, as long as the protest does not jeopardize the rights of the others in the educational process. Additionally, PCHR strongly denounces the intervention of gunmen dressed in civilian clothes in the dispersal of the sit-in, constituting a breach of security, accountability, and popular control over the security services’ role.According to PCHR’s follow-up, on Tuesday morning, clashes erupted between a group of students and the university security during a protest organized in the university campus, where the university security used excessive force to disperse the protesters jointly with gunmen in civilian clothes believed to be university-affiliated security officers. Moreover, the university security officers assaulted Dr. Naser al-Deen al-Sha’er, member of the University teaching staff, while he was trying to settle the dispute and stop the security’s assault on the students.A university female student (A. A.) said that about 30 university security officers assaulted and pepper-sprayed male and female students who organized a sit-in in the university campus. They also beat and dragged some of the students and forced them out of the university.  She added that one of the security officers attacked her and pepper-sprayed her face, causing severe suffocation.According to an official statement issued by An-Najah university’s Public Relations Department, the university expressed its regret over the abovementioned events and affirmed that the university administration allowed the Islamic Bloc to organize two sit-ins inside the university without any problems, and that it had dismissed the violators. The statement added that on Tuesday noon, the Islamic Bloc called for a sit-in that had ended quietly and peacefully, and the university administration met with a group of them to hear their demands, but the administration was surprised with persons who are not students at the university and the students who were dismissed due to the recent events raiding the university campus. This broke out a quarrel at the university outside gates, resulting in the injury of students and security officers.The regrettable events started when a hand-to- hand fight that included shooting took place between security officers in civilian clothes and a group of An-Najah university’s students, who were organizing a protest in the university last Wednesday, 08 June 2022 upon calls from the Islamic Bloc after the University summoned on 07 June the Islamic Bloc representative in the university and ordered him to leave the university.  In the meantime, the security officers assaulted journalist Laith Ja’arah, a cameraman for JMedia and smashed his camera, broadcast device and camera tripod while he was covering a press conference organized by the Islamic Bloc to speak about the university’s policy against the students’ blocs.   Accordingly, on 12 June 2022, the university dismissed 15 persons, including 5 students from the Islamic Bloc, 5 students from Al-Shabiba movement, and 5 university security officers.PCHR emphasizes that the right to peaceful assembly is a fundamental right that is guaranteed by the Palestinian Basic Law in Article 26 and has become an obligation of the State of Palestine according to Article (21) of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Right that Palestine has acceded to since 2014; thus, PCHR stresses that the university security and security services should respect citizens’ rights and freedoms.PCHR is severely concerned over security services’ attempts to suppress freedoms in the Gaza Strip and the West Bank and emphasizes that security services’ dominance over political and civil rights seriously undermines the attempts to revive democracy in Palestine.PCHR stresses the importance of promoting accountability to curb security services’ violations of law and calls upon the Public Prosecution to open an investigation into the incident, publish the results and bring those involved in violence and excessive use of force to justice.