May 20, 2010
PCHR Receives Delegations from the Austrian and Norwegian Representative Offices to PNA
PCHR Receives Delegations from the Austrian and Norwegian Representative Offices to PNA

Ref: 55/2010


On 20 May 2010, the Palestinian
Centre for Human Rights (PCHR) received a delegation from the Austrian
Representative Office to the Palestinian National Authority (PNA) in PCHR’s
head offices in Gaza City. The Austrian
delegation included: Oscar Wustinger, Head of Mission, the Austrian
Representative Office to PNA; Lydia Saadat, Head of the Department for
Development Co-operation, Programming and Planning Asia, Mediterranean, Middle
East and Central America; Wolfgang Lapuh, Desk Manager, Middle East, the
Federal Ministry for European and International Affairs; and Sami Abu Sultan, a
member of the Austrian Representative Office in Gaza. 


 

Members of the delegation met with
Hamdi Shaqqura, Deputy Director of PCHR for Program Affairs, and Muna al-Shawa,
Director of PCHR Women’s Rights Unit. In
the meeting, human rights conditions in the Occupied Palestinian Territory
(OPT) in general and in the Gaza Strip in particular were reviewed in
detail. PCHR’s representatives talked
about the deterioration of living conditions of the civilian population as a
result of the escalation of continued and systematic Israeli violations of
Palestinian rights. 

 

PCHR noted during the meeting that
the civilian population has continued to suffer due to continued deprival of
their right to practice their life normally. PCHR noted that 16 months following the Israeli offensive on the Gaza
Strip, due to the continued siege imposed on the Gaza Strip and the ban imposed
on the delivery of construction materials to the Gaza Strip, the civilian
population in Gaza remains unable to reconstruct homes and establishments that
were destroyed during the latest Israeli offensive. 

 

Further, PCHR’s representatives
reviewed the internal Palestinian situation, including the ongoing Palestinian
fragmentation, and its consequences. The
meeting summarized the current conditions prevailing in the Gaza Strip and the
West Bank and covered attacks and violations committed against public rights
and freedoms, noting that the majority of these attacks and violations are the
result of the ongoing fragmentation. 

 

PCHR concluded the meeting by
stressing that it is necessary that the international community take action in
order to put an end to continued Israeli violations committed against
Palestinian civilians and their property, and in order to provide necessary
protection to the Palestinian population. 

 

Also on 20 May 2010, PCHR received a
delegation from the Norwegian Representative Office to PNA. The delegation included: Espen Evjenth
Lindbæck, Counsellor; and Olav Heian-Engdal, Second Secretary. Members of the delegation met with Hamdi
Shaqqura, who talked about human rights developments in the West Bank and the
Gaza Strip and reviewed the most significant Israeli violations committed
against Palestinian civilians and their property. 

The meeting especially focused on
the consequences of the Israeli siege that has been imposed on the Gaza Strip
for years and the tragic impacts of restrictions imposed by Israel on the
movement of persons and goods from and to the Gaza Strip, on the different
aspects of Palestinian civilians’ life. 

 

PCHR also explained its position
from the organization of general, legislative and municipal elections,
stressing that national reconciliation must be achieved in order to create the
environment necessary for the organization of democratic and fair
elections. 

 

With regard to the recent implementation
by the government in Gaza of death sentences against three Palestinians, PCHR
talked about its position rejecting the death penalty which is one of the
cruelest punishments, and which does not constitute a deterrent for crimes.