Ref: 72/2011

On Wednesday, 02 November 2011, the Democratic Development Unit of
the Palestinian Center for Human Rights (PCHR) organized a panel discussion on
the right to peaceful assembly under the Palestinian National Authority (PNA)
in cooperation with the National Association of Democracy and Law in Rafah in
the southern Gaza Strip.

Mr. Ahmed Srour, Executive Director of NADL, opened the meeting
that was held in NADL’s office.  The
meeting was attended by 23 of NADL’s members and volunteers.  Mahmoud Efranji, a researcher in PCHR’s
Democratic Development Unit, presented a working paper titled “the Right
to Peaceful Assembly under the PNA.” Later, there was a discussion by
participants on the concept of the freedom of peaceful assembly, international
standards and domestic laws which ensure and rgulate the freedom of peaceful
assembly.  They also discussed the
situation of the right to peaceful assembly in the past period in the Gaza
Strip and West Bank, particularly under political fragmentation.

This meeting is part of a 3-year project funded by the European
Union and Oxfam Novib, whose goal is to improve awareness and respect of human
rights in the Occupied Palestinian Territory.  Such meetings are part of persistent efforts
made by PCHR to promote democratic awareness in the Palestinian community under
the lack of the Palestinians’ confidence in the democratic process due to the
political fragmentation and its consequences.

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For more information, please contact the
Palestinian Centre for Human Rights at [email protected]
or +972-(0)8-282