Ref: 85/2011

The Palestinian
Center for Human Rights (PCHR) is gravely concerned over increasing assaults on
public liberties in the Gaza Strip by Security Services recenetly. Such assaults have included: Repeated summons by the Internal Security Service
(ISS) of activists of the Popular Movement against Fragmentation, in addition
to questioning them after they returned from France, banning two collective
feasts for Ramadan Month in Haifa and Gallery restaurants; holding and beating
a number of members of the 15 March Youth Coalition for participating in a
protest. PCHR calls upon the Ministry of
Interior and security services in the Gaza Strip to stop these measures which
restrict public liberties, the right to freedom of opinion and expression and
the right to hold private and public meetings, which are constitutionally ensured
under Palestinian laws international standards of human rights.

According to information
and testimonies collected by PCHR, the ISS summoned activists: Iba’ Rezq
al-Bura’i, 21, from Gaza City, and Mohammed Kamal Matar, 25, from al-Twam
neighborhood west of Jabalya, when they returned from France, where they participated
in a conference of bloggers, through an official invitation from the French
Cultural Center. Additionally, another
activist, As’ad Ala’ al-Saftawi, 21, from al-Twam neighborhood east of Jabalya,
was questioned by the ISS about similar journeys.

On 28 July
2011, Iba’ al-Bura’i was interrogated by ISS officers at Rafah International
Crossing Point on the Egyptian border while she was on her way back to Gaza
from France. She was interrogated
regarding her trip, participation in the bloggers’ conference and activities in
the Popular Movement against Fragmentation. The ISS confiscated al-Bura’i’s mobile phone, iPod, external computer memory,
CDs and a personal notebook. She was also
ordered to appear in the ISS’s head office in Ansar Security Compound on 07
August 2011. Al-Bura’i headed to the
ISS’s head office on that date, where she was questioned again on her activities
in the Popular Movement and her mission in France. They also confiscated her laptop and gave her
another summon order on 09 August 2011. On that date, she went to the ISS’s head office, as she was questioned
for the third time on the same matter. She was then told that she had to wait for their call to receive her
belongings after ISS examines them.

In the same
context, on 07 August 2011, activist Mohammed Matar was summoned to appear
before the ISS in its head office in Ansar Security Compound. On the following day, Matar headed to their
head office, where his mobile phone and laptop were immediately confiscated,
and he was then subjected to questioning on traveling with al-Bura’i to France
and on his activities in the Popular Movement. Matar received another summon order on 10 August 2011. On the said date, he was detained for hours without
being questioned him and he was ordered to appear at the ISS’s head offices
again on 14 August 2011. He went there
and was questioned on the same matter. The
ISS told him that he would be detained for 48 hours for interrogation. While in detention, he was interrogated on
the same matter again and was then released in the evening on 16 August 2011,
after receiving a new summon order on 21 August 2011.

On 11 August
2011, As’ad Ala’ al-Saftawi, 21, from al-Twam neighborhood west of Jabalya,
headed to the ISS’s head office in Ansar Security Compound in Gaza City upon a
summon order he had received earlier. Al-Saftawi was questioned in regard to his activities in the Popular
Movement, his relationship with al-Bura’i and Matar, a mission to Holland,
where activists of the Popular Movement were supposed to travel, and
funds. Later, he was instructed to
appear in the ISS’s office again on 14 August 2011. Al-Saftawi appeared there
on the specified date, and he was questioned by new interrogators on the same
matters. During interrogation, he was
subjected to physical pressure and kicking for an hour, and he was then released. It should be noted that al-Saftawi and his
colleague, Mohammed al-Sheikh Yousef, were summoned and questioned last month
in regard to their travel to Egypt.

It is worth saying
that the Popular Movement against Fragmentation is a youth gathering in the
Gaza Strip that started its activities in mid-March to contribute to ending the
state of fragmentation in the Palestinian Authority.

In another
context, the Police General Investigation Department prevented organizing two
feasts for volunteers of Sharek Youth Forum in Haifa Restaurant on Wednesday,
17 August 2011, and for workers’ rights defenders in the Gallery Restaurant on
Sunday, 14 August 2011. According to
information available to PCHR, at approximately 12:00 on Wednesday, 17 August
2011, Ma’ei Bashir, 25, a volunteer in Sharek Youth Forum,[1]received
a phone call from the commander of the General Investigation Department in
al-Zahra’ town, south of Gaza City, notifying him of a decision to cancel a
collective feast for Ramadan Month that Bashir coordinated for on the same day
in Haifa Restaurant for the Forum’s volunteers. The administration of the above restaurant also received a phone call
from the General Investigation Department ordering them not to receive
participants in the feast.

The General
Investigation Department had cancelled a similar feast invited for by the Union
of Independent Workers Committee in Gallery Restaurant in the west of Gaza City
on Sunday, 14 August 2011. Jamal Abu
al-Qumsan, one of the restaurant’s owners, stated that he was summoned by a
police officer on Sunday noon. When he
went to the General Investigation Department, he was informed that the feast
was cancelled. 

On 16 August
2011, the General Investigation Department in Gaza City arrested a number of
young men who participated in a protest against actions by the Syrian regime
against Palestinian refugees and the Syrian people. The protest was organized at Palestine Square
in the center of Gaza City. At least 20
members of the 15 March Youth Coalition participated in the protest. Police officer also beat a number of young
men. Additionally, they arrested Fathi
Mahmoud Tbail, 57, Correspondent of the Palestinian News Agency (Wafa), when he
was in the area to cover the protest. Tbail was detained until 14:30 on Wednesday, 17 August 2011. During his detention, he was questioned about
his work and presence in the area, and he was forced to sign an oath not to
participate in unlicensed activities and to pay a fine of 2,000 NIS if he does
not comply with the oath. They ordered
him to refer to the General Investigation Department’s office again on Thursday
morning, 18 August 2011. Tbail went on
time and he was detained until 11:00 without being questioned. He was then released. 

A released
detainee[2]
stated to a PCHR field worker:

“They transported me to the General
Investigation Department’s office in Ansar Security Compound at 23:00. They immediately interrogated me for two
hours, during which I was violently beaten. I was released at 01:00 on the following day, after signing an oath not
to participate in unlicensed activities and to pay an amount of 3,000 if I do
not comply with the oath.”

In light of the
above:

1. PCHR expresses concerns over repeated summons by the ISS for
activists of the Popular Movement against Fragmentation and the 15 March Youth
Coalition. 

2. PCHR calls upon the Ministry of Interior and security services in
the Gaza Strip to stop such measures which restrict public liberties and the
right to freedom of opinion and expression, which are ensured under the
Palestinian laws and international human rights standards. 

3. PCHR stresses the Public Meetings Law No. 12 of 1998 is not
applicable to private meetings, conferences and celebrations organized in
closed places. Article 26-5 of the
Palestinian Basic Law stipulates: “Private meetings shall be held without the
presence of police officers, and public meetings, convoys and gathering shall
be held within the limits of the law.”

4. PCHR also calls upon Palestinian security services to respect the
international human rights standards, the Basic Law of the Palestinian National
Authority and relevant laws.