Ref:
61/2012

On
04 July 2012, Deputy Director for Program Affairs of the Palestinian Centre for
Human Rights’ (PCHR), Hamdi Shaqqura, received Mr. Gilles Cerutti, Human Rights
and IHL Adviser at the Representative Office of Switzerland to the Palesttinian
Authority, in PCHR’s head office in Gaza City.

This
visit is part of frequent visits by staff members from the Swiss Federal Department
of Foreign Affairs to PCHR in order to review the human rights in the occupied
Palestinian territory (oPt), particularly in the Gaza Strip.  The meeting discussed the human rights
situation in the oPt and of the most prominent Israeli violations and policies
against Palestinian civilians and their property in the West Bank and the Gaza
Strip.

Also
on 04 July, Shaqqura received Mr. Stephen Mccloskey, Director of the Center for
Global Education. The Center for Global Education is an Irish organization with
whom PCHR has strong cooperation and coordination relationships.  The meeting addressed the human rights situation
and the unprecedented deterioration in the Gaza Strip, especially the denial of
economic and social rights.

On
03 July 2012, PCHR received Mrs. Maria Bjernevi, Consul of Development
Cooperation at the Consulate General of Sweden in Jerusalem in her last visit
to the Gaza Strip, and the new Consul of Development Cooperation, Mr. Frederik
Westerholm.  Mrs. Bjernevi and Mr.
Westerholm met with PCHR Director Mr. Raji Sourani, Director of PCHR, and with
Mr. Shaqurra.  During the meeting, PCHR’s
work and activities and PCHR’s different units were introduced to the new
Consul. PCHR’s representatives appreciated the support provided by Mrs.
Bjernevi to Palestinian civil society organizations and hoped for continued
cooperation with the Consulate General of Sweden in the era of the new Consul.  In addition, the meeting addressed the
conditions of the Palestinian civilians in view of the increasing Israeli
violations in the oPt.  Iin particular,
the meeting focused on the measures taken by the Israeli authorities at the
level of the ongoing closure imposed on the Gaza Strip and the impacts of the
closure that prevent Palestinian civilians from enjoying their rights which are
guaranteed under international human rights instruments.