Ref: 119/2012
Date: 6 November 2012
Time: 14:16 GMT
The Palestinian Centre for Human Rights (PCHR) strongly condemns Palestinian police’s dispersal of a women’s sit-in today in Gaza. A number of participants were subjected to violent beatings from the police, who even attempted to arrest Na’aima al-Sheikh Ali, a member of the Palestinian Legislative Council (PLC). PCHR calls upon the Palestinian government to take necessary measures to stop assaults on public liberties, and to respect the Palestinian people’s right to peaceful assembly guaranteed under the Palestinian Basic Law and international human rights standards.
According to investigations conducted by PCHR and testimonies of a number of participants, at approximately 12:00 hrs on Tuesday, 06 November 2012, dozens of activists of the General Union of Palestinian Women and women’s NGOs, including PLC member, Mrs. Na’aima al-Sheikh Ali, gathered near the eastern gate of the PLC’s premises in the west of Gaza City, calling for an end to the Palestinian division. A police force and another group from the Internal Security Service immediately reached the spot and asked the participants to leave the place. Nawal Rabah Zaqout, from the General Union of Palestinian Women, stated that she told the security officers who were present at the place that they had already submitted a notice in accordance with the law to organize the sit-in, but they did not receive any response from the competent authorities and such an abstention is considered to be a positive response according to the relevant law. Zaqout added that the police backups, who were accompanied with female police officers, started attacking the participants using sticks and clubs to disperse them and insulting them with improper names. She also stated that police officers confiscated cell phones from a number of participants who were taking photographs of the attack, and the veils of some participants were taken off. Zaqout also stated that she was beaten by one of the policemen with a gun butt and the beating continued till the police forcefully dispersed the entire gathering.
In her testimony to PCHR’s staff, Laila Abdel Malek Qarmout said, “I saw a number of police officers attacking my colleague, Fawzeya Joudah, and when I was trying to protect her, they hit me on my face and head, took off my veil, and tried to put me in a police vehicle to arrest me, but the women prevented them from doing that. The police officers also tried to arrest PLC Member Na’aima al-Sheikh Ali, who was participating in the sit-in, and put her in a police vehicle; however, Ektemal Hamad, my colleague, told them that Mrs. Na’aima is a PLC Member who enjoys immunity, so they should let her go.”
In light of the above incident, PCHR:
