Ref: 59/2013
Date: 5 June 2013
Date: 11:35 GMT

The Palestinian Centre for Human Rights (PCHR) denounces the summoning of a number of activists of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP), and the beating of one of them by the Internal Security Service (ISS) and the General Investigation, in the Gaza Strip. These measures were taken in response to the distribution of two public statements by PFLP earlier this week. PCHR calls upon the government in Gaza to respect the right to the freedom of expression and opinion and the Palestinians’ right to political participation, which are guaranteed under the Palestinian constitution and international human rights standards. PCHR also calls upon the Attorney General to investigate into the beating of one of the activists while he was detained by security officers.

According to investigations conducted by PCHR and as per the testimonies of a number of released detainees, the General Investigation and ISS summoned 11 PFLP activists on Sunday and Monday, 02 and 03 June 2013, from Rafah, Khan Younis, Northern Gaza Strip, and the Central governorates. These summons came after PFLP distributed two public statements, the first was titled: “The Popular Fury and Suffering will Lead to an Unstoppable Popular Explosion,” and was distributed across the governorates of the Gaza Strip; the second was titled: “No to Murder” and was distributed in the Khan Younis governorate.

One of the released detainees, Fouad Adnan Abu-Libda, from Tal al-Soultan neighborhood in Rafah, who was detained on Sunday morning and released on Monday, 03 June 2013 said that he was interrogated several times about the identity of the authors of the statement, where it was printed, and who distributed it. He added that he was severely beaten by the investigators; he was punched, kicked and beaten with a plastic hose during interrogation sessions. As a result of these beating he was severely injured and was taken to the Kuwaiti hospital in Rafah and then transferred to Abu-Yousif al-Najar hospital.

In this context, PCHR stresses that:

1. The right to freedom of expression and opinion is constitutionally guaranteed right under Article 19 of the Palestinian Basic Law, which provides that “Freedom of opinion may not be prejudiced. Every person shall have the right to express his opinion and to circulate it orally, in written or in any form of expression or art, with due consideration to the provisions of the law;”
2. The right of political participation is guaranteed to all citizens individually or collectively according to article 26 of the Palestinian Basic Law;
3. The measures taken by ISS, including summons and interrogations, are violations of the law. Summoning is allowed only by a judicial order, and summoning on the grounds of an opinion piece constitutes a violation of the right to freedom of opinion and expression; and
4. The beating of citizens and detaining them without a court order constitute attacks on personal and public freedoms of citizens according to Article 32 of the Basic Law, which stipulates that “criminal and civil cases resulting from such violations may not be subject to any statute of limitations”.

In light of the above, PCHR:

1. Calls upon the government in Gaza to respect the constitutionally guaranteed rights to the freedom of opinion and expression, and the right to political participation;
2. Calls upon the Attorney General to open a serious investigation into the severe beating of one of the detainees by security officers; and
3. Calls upon Palestinian security services to fully comply with the Palestinian Basic Law and other relevant laws and to respect human rights