Ref: 83/2010

The Palestinian Center for Human Rights (PCHR) is gravely
concerned over the unjustified intervention of the Ministry of Interior into
public freedoms, closing a number of tourist places in Gaza City, imposing
restrictions on their work and arresting one of these places’ owners under the
pretext of gender mixture and non-compliance with the Islamic customs. PCHR calls upon the government
in Gaza to take all necessary measures to ensure and respect public freedoms
which are constitutionally guaranteed under relevant international standards.

According to investigations conducted by PCHR, during
September 2010, the Ministry of Interior in Gaza closed a number of resorts,
including cafés and restaurants, in Gaza City under various pretexts, and
imposed restrictions on their work. The
Orient House Hotel and Restaurant, Gaza Sky Restaurant and Café, Crazy Water
Park and al-Sammak Restaurant were among the ones that were closed. They are all located on the beach in the west
of Gaza City.

In his testimony to PCHR, Ahmed al-Yazji, Director of the
Orient House Hotel (previously known as the Beach), said that, in the last week
of Ramadan, the Ministry of Interior had sent them a notice banning any parties
without obtaining prior permission from the Palestinian police. Al-Yazji added:

“We obtained the license from
the police to hold a party on Sunday, 12 September 2010. During the party, eight armed persons wearing
civilian clothes came and introduced themselves as members of the General Investigation
Bureau (GIB). They moved among the customers
and found a lady smoking hubly bubbly. As a result, they prevented her from smoking although her husband was
accompanying her. They confiscated my ID
card and requested me to refer to al-‘Abbas police station. At approximately 15:15 on Tuesday, 14
September 2010, I went to al-‘Abbas police station to take my ID card, but they
requested me to sign an oath (obliging me to abide by the closure decision,
which was issued by the Chief of the Palestinian Police, for three days
starting on Wednesday, 15 September 2010, due to violating our Islamic customs
and Palestinian traditions). When I refused
to sign the oath, they threatened to detain me. So, I signed and left without
taking my ID card.”

Earlier, at approximately 21:00, on Tuesday 7 September 2010, a force of the GIB
broke into al-Sammak Restaurant in the west of Gaza City, where a cultural
evening for the Film Club was held. The
force asked to stop the cultural evening’s activities and requested the attendees
to leave immediately although the organizers had informed the GIB members of obtaining
a license in advance. The restaurant’s owner,
Mo’een Abu al-Khair, stated to PCHR:

“I intervened to know the
reason of preventing the cultural evening. The GIB members told me that it was mixed and they are against gender mixture. They asked me about my name and career, and
then requested me to go with them. They
transported me to Ansar security compound in the west of Gaza City and
imprisoned me until the next day after beating me. Before I was released, they forced me to sign
an oath obliging me to show commitment to the law and public order and to pay
10,000 NIS in case of breach.”

In another testimony, one of those who are responsible for
Gaza Sky Restaurant said:

“At approximately 23:30, on Wednesday
1 September 2010, a
person in civilian clothes and riding a motorbike came and introduces himself
as a member of the GIB. He informed us
of the decision closing the restaurant for three days starting on 2 September
2010 and that we had to abide by the decision. On the following day, I headed to the GIB office to find out the reason
of closure. The officer said that the
restaurant had held a party on 22 July 2010, where the party was mixed and
hubly bubbly was served for women. On 4
September 2010, I went again to the GIB office, but they asked me to sign an
oath obliging me to abide to (non-mixture, not to serve hubly bubbly to women
and to pay 12,000 NIS in case of breach) although they were previously informed
that there is a section for families and another one for men.”

In the same context, on 5 September 2010, the Attorney
General in Gaza issued a decision closing Crazy Water Park for 21 days, as the
police and a force of the GIB headed on the same day to the Park and closed
it. When the Park’s director contacted
governmental bodies, he was informed that the reason of closure was for digging
an artesian water well in the Park without obtaining an official license in
advance. The Palestinian police and GIB
went to the Crazy Water Park on 19 August 2010 and informed them of the
decision issued by the Minister of Interior to close the Park for three days.  The Park’s director went to GIB office to know
the reason of closure, and then he was forced to sign an oath to abide to (non-mixture,
not to serve hubly bubbly to women and to pay 10,000 NIS in case of
breach).”

PCHR is gravely concerned over the unjustified intervention
into public freedoms through closing a number of resorts in Gaza City and
imposing restrictions on their work, and:

1) Calls upon the government in Gaza to take all necessary
measures to ensure and respect public freedoms which are constitutionally
guaranteed under the relevant international standards;

2) Believes that intervention of GIB and moving around resorts
is unacceptable, unjustified, makes these resorts infamous and scares customers
to be infamous as they visit such places. It further stresses that such places are private ones and they can only
be searched with a permission from the Attorney General and according to the
law. PCHR also stresses the rule stating
that the person is innocent until he is proved to be guilty under legal
measures and just trial, and that not all persons are suspected in the eyes
those who are responsible for law enforcement until these persons are proved to
be innocent;

3) Believes that using loose words (mixture, customs and
traditions) to restrict work in such resorts constitutes a violation of public
freedoms, and that the relationship between the government and civilians is
governed by the rule of law and the laws in force in the Palestinian Authority
which organize punishments for each violation or crime, and that such measures
violate the laws in force, which must be implemented in accordance with the
constitution.

4) Emphasizes that private meetings and similar parties, which
are held in closed places, are not included in the Act on Public Meetings # 12
of 1998, and they can be held without the presence of police officers according
to article 26/5 of the Basic Law which states that “Private meetings can
be held without the presence of police officers as long as they are held in
accordance with the law.”