Ref: 62/2015

Date: 6 October 2015

Time: 13:00 GMT

On Monday, 5 October 2015, security services in Gaza arrested a number of journalists and subjected them to degrading treatment because they covered an event organized by activists at Bin Marwan Cemetery in Gaza City, claiming that the event was not licensed. The Palestinian Center for Human Rights (PCHR) expresses concern for these measures and continued restrictions on press freedom, and stresses that such events do not need special permits and media coverage of them can never be considered a crime.

According to investigations conducted by PCHR, on Monday, 5 October 2015, a number of journalists headed to Bin Marwan Cemetery near al-Shujaiya neighborhood in the east of Gaza City to cover an event organized there by a number of activists. Following the end of the event, the police arrived at the area and arrested nine journalists. The journalists were insulted and interrogated, their equipment was mishandled and media files were deleted from their cameras and mobile phones by police officers.

One of the journalists who were detained by the police stated to PCHR:

“At 09:30 on Monday, I headed to Bin Marwan Cemetery to cover the event. I was accompanied by two colleagues. When we finished filming the event, and while we were exiting the cemetery, we were surprised by a white vehicleand a number of armed persons wearing plain clothes stepped out of it. They requested us to accompany them. We told them that we are journalists, but they insisted to take us with them. One of them took my mobile phone and pushed me into the vehicle. One of my colleagues refused to accompany them, so one of the armed persons pointed his gun at him. We suggestedto follow them by our car and they agreed. We arrived at the police investigation office in al-Shujaiya neighborhood where we found other journalists; we were nine journalists in total. We met with the investigation officer who claimed that ‘the event was not licensed and the area is a closed security zone’. We were then questioned regarding how we received the invitation. They deleted all footages we had taken and humiliated and insulted us. We were released later. We contacted the Governmental Media Office and our cameras were returned to us after all media files were deleted from their memories”.

PCHR condemns the detention of journalists on the ground of their work and stresses the following:

1. Meetings in general do not need a license from the Ministry of Interior, but a notice must be sent to the police if a meeting is organized in a public place with the presence of more than 50 persons, only for the purpose of traffic organization.
2. A journalist may not be arrested or questioned for covering an event even if it is illegal, and any claim otherwise is against the legal logic, as a journalist cannot act as a security official demanding organizers of events to show their licenses.
3. Verbal insults of detainees constitute a form of inhuman and degrading treatment that is criminalized under the international and domestic laws.
4. A person may not be arrested or taken by force unless he/she is charged and an arrest warrant is issued against him/her or he is caught committing a crime, and any other arrest constitutes an infringement of security powers.
5. Access to public places is open in principle to all people, and the authority must clearly determine such places which it considers as security areas.

PCHR calls of maintaining press freedoms and respecting the journalistic work, and:

1. Calls upon the Attorney General to open an investigation into the police’s attack and illegal detention of journalists;
2. Calls upon security services in Gaza to respect the journalistic work and comply with the law and due process.