Ref: 14/2021

Date: 24 February 2021

Director of the Palestinian Centre for Human Rights (PCHR), lawyer Raji Sourani,  received on Wednesday, 24 February 2021, a delegation from the Switzerland Representative Office to the Palestinian Authority that included diplomatic attaché, Edouard Laurent, the Programme Manager at Swiss Development and Cooperation (SDC) in Ramallah, Simone G. Di Stefano, and SDC Gaza Program Manager, Hussam Manna.

The meeting addressed the human rights situation in the occupied Palestinian territory (oPt).  Sourani briefed the delegation on the reality of the Israeli violations, particularly the illegal and inhuman closure imposed on the Gaza Strip for 14 years and its disastrous impact on Palestinian civilians, including the increase in poverty and unemployment rates.

Sourani discussed with the delegation the latest developments relevant to the International Criminal Court (ICC) and the Pre-Trial Chamber’s decision on the Court’s territorial jurisdiction extending to the territories occupied by Israel since 1967; he also highlighted that this decision, which was widely welcomed by PCHR and other human rights organizations, revived the hopes of Palestinian victims in accessing justice after decades of Israeli denial.

Sourani stressed the importance of the support of Switzerland and the international community for the ICC and its role in protecting human rights in the oPt and putting an end to the inherent impunity enjoyed by perpetrators of international war crimes.

During the meeting, Sourani tackled the Palestinian elections and PCHR’s welcoming of the presidential decree to hold parliamentary, presidency and National Council elections consecutively.  Sourani pointed out that the Palestinian leadership has serious political will to hold the elections, hoping it would pave the way for ending the division, restoring democracy, and building Palestinian institutions. Sourani called upon Switzerland and the international community to support the Palestinian general elections and to put pressure on Israel to refrain from any measures that might hinder the electoral process, stressing the need for lifting the Israeli closure on the Gaza Strip, ensuring the right to freedom of movement between the West Bank and the Gaza Strip for candidates in the elections and refraining from threatening some candidates as has happened before. Sournai also stressed that the participation of occupied East Jerusalem in the elections is a core issue, in terms of Jerusalemites’ ability to stand as candidates or vote.