Ref: 98/2009

Date: 13 August 2009

Time: 12:30 GMT

PCHR Expresses Concern Over Statement by Governmental Source in Gaza against Independent Commission of Human Rights

The Palestinian Centre for Human Rights (PCHR) expresses its concern regarding statements made by the Government in Gaza against the Independent Commission of Human Rights. These statements imply a threat to the Commission and its work in the Gaza Strip.  PCHR calls for the cessation of the government’s campaign, which was launched in response to the Commission’s criticisms of security services in Gaza, and calls upon the Government to investigate such criticism and handle it in the context of the law.

In a workshop it organized in Gaza City on Tuesday evening, 11 August 2009, the Commission called for its lawyers to be allowed to visit detainees held by the Internal Security Service and to reveal the places of their detention.  The Commission called also for the immediate release of political prisoners and to compensate and rehabilitate victims of torture.  It is worth noting that human rights organizations had already criticized the government for preventing their lawyers from visiting clients, as can be seen in a press release issued by PCHR on 12 July 2009.

In response, the Ministry of Interior in Gaza issued a press statement on the same day considering the Commission’s positions as non-neutral, and accusing it of dual treatment with regard to cases in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip.  The Ministry also considered the Commission’s position as a political security escalation rather than a legal one. 

In the same context, the Ministry of Information in Gaza issued a press release on Wednesday, 12 August 2009, rejecting the Commission’s “accusations” and demanding that the Commission withdraw “such accusations.  It also demanded that the Ministry of Interior take legal action against the Commission.  The press release also stated that the Ministry should consider boycotting the Commission “because it has proven on several occasions that it is not independent and not neutral in many situations.” The Ministry demanded the Commission “move back to the right legal work” and warned it and others of “moving away from the legal methodology in dealing with the Palestinian situation,” which implies a threat to all human rights organizations. 

In light of the above:

1.      PCHR calls upon the Government in Gaza to stop the campaign against the Independent Commission of Human Rights and to take all necessary steps to protect it and ensure the continuation of its work and activities without restrictions. 

2.      PCHR calls upon the Government in Gaza to take the positions of human rights organizations, including the Commission, seriously, to investigate acts that motivate such positions and to publish the results of investigations.

3.      PCHR stresses that criticism by human rights organizations of the performance of the Government and the agenda of security services in Gaza doe not mean turning a blind eye of the performance of the Government and security services in the West Bank, and confirms that human rights organizations, including the Independent Commission of Human Rights, are mandated to criticize all violations of human rights, whether they occur in the West Bank or Gaza.