Palestine
11.05.00
Urgent Interventions
Palestine Autonomous Areas: ongoing threats
THE OBSERVATORY - URGENT APPEAL
New information
PAL 003 / 0005 / OBS 035.01
Threats
Palestine Autonomous Areas
11th May 2000
The Observatory for the Protection of Human Rights Defenders, a joint programme of the FIDH and the OMCT, requests your URGENT intervention with the Palestinian Authorities on the following situation.
New information :
The Observatory was informed by the Palestinian Centre for Human Rights (PCHR), a member of FIDH, and by the Palestinian Society for the Protection for Human Rights and the Environment (LAW), a member of both the FIDH and OMCT, that on 10th May 2000, the Acting Council of the Palestinian Bar Association sent a notice to 31 lawyers informing them that their names have been « transferred from the list of practising lawyers to the list of non practising lawyers », thus depriving them of their right to appear before Palestinian courts and to practice their profession.
Mr. Raji Sourani, director of the PCHR, Iyad Al Alami, Hanna Matar, Ashraf Nasralla, Ibrahim Sourani and Fouad Tarazi, members of the PCHR, and one member of the Women’s Legal and Social Counselling Centre, Hanan Al Bakri are among those lawyers targeted by this measure.
It seems that this measure is aimed at neutralising the activity of human rights defender lawyers, who, notably, regularly file complaints with the High Court for crimes of torture, aiming essentially at members of the police and security services.
Human rights organisations and their lawyers have, traditionally, always worked together with the Bar Association to defend and actively promote the rule of law, human rights and democracy, on both the Israeli and the Palestinian agendas. The Bar Association has always considered their activity as complementing its own work.
The Observatory, condemns this decision whose judicial foundation, according to Palestinian NGOs, seems questionable, and which was taken on the very last day of the legal period of the Acting Council’s mandate. The Council was nominated by President Arafat three years ago, and failed to prepare fair elections for its succession, which, according to the law, had to take place before 9th May 2000.
This decision constitutes a grave violation against the freedom of action of human rights defenders in Palestine and is a blatant violation of the Declaration on Human Rights Defenders, adopted by the General Assembly of the United Nations on 9th December 1998; this guarantees in article 9.3 c that « in the exercise of human rights and fundamental freedoms, including the promotion and protection of human rights as referred to in the present Declaration, everyone has the right, individually and in association with others, to offer and provide professionally qualified legal assistance or other relevant advice and assistance in defending human rights and fundamental freedoms ».
This decision also contradicts the Basic principles on the Role of Lawyers, adopted by the Eighth United Nations Congress on the Prevention of Crime and the Treatment of Offenders, in September 1990, which guarantee that « Lawyers like other citizens are entitled to freedom of expression, belief, association and assembly. In particular, they shall have the right to take part in public discussion of matters concerning the law, the administration of justice and the promotion and protection of human rights and to join or form local , national or international organisations, and attend their meetings, without suffering professional restrictions by reason of their lawful action or their membership in a lawful organisation ».
Brief reminder of the facts :
The Observatory had been informed by LAW of threats made against lawyer and general director of LAW, Khader Shkirat.
According to the information received, Mr. Shkirat stated that Brigadier General Tawfeeq Al Tirawi, the chief of General Intelligence in the northern districts, had met the Deputy Head of the Bar Council and asked him to dismiss Mr. Shkirat from the Bar. The deputy head rejected the request and advised Al Tirawi to file any complaint that he may have against Mr. Shkirat with the Bar. A lawyer working for one of the Palestinian security services was brought in to testify that Mr. Shkirat had not previously practiced law.
This pressure came within the framework of a reform of the Bar Association whose adoption had given rise to harsh criticism as a result of its non-conformity with democratic rules and principles.
On Thursday 27 April, it was reported that Mr Shkirat told the Al Risale newspaper that the ‘Lawyers for Change’ coalition was formulated in an attempt to reverse the deterioration of status of the legal profession. He mentioned the weakness and reticence of the Bar Association Council and speculated that the problem may lie in the fact that many Bar members also work for the security forces. In response, the Deputy Head of the Bar Council threatened, before a group of Assembly members, to shoot Mr. Shkirat in the middle of Ramallah if he did not remain silent. When challenged by Mr. Shkirat, the deputy head tried to dismiss the threat as a joke, but Mr. Shkirat viewed his threat as serious and dangerous.
On Saturday 6th May, the Bar’s General Assembly met in a particularly tense atmosphere. The next day, the Al Hayat Al Jadida newspaper published a statement by the Head of the Palestinian Bar Association to the effect that any director of an NGO should not be allowed to be a member of the Bar Association at the same time.
Action Requested :
Please write to the Palestinian authorities urging that they :
i.- ensure the full freedom of action of human rights defenders in Palestine and notably their right to offer judicial assistance to victims of human rights violations, in conformity with article 9.3.c of the Declaration on Human Rights Defenders adopted by the General Assembly of the United Nations on December 9th 1998; with this aim, ensure that the above mentioned lawyers and human rights defenders be reintegrated in the list of practising lawyers of the Bar association.
ii. abide by all provisions of the Declaration on Human Rights Defenders and more particularly article 1 which provides that "Everyone has the right, individually and in association with others, to promote and to strive for the protection and realisation of human rights and fundamental freedoms at the national and international levels".
iii. more generally abide by the provisions of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the regional and international covenants.
Please write to the Appointed Head of the Bar Association and the Minister of Justice urging that he adopts all necessary measures, so that the lawyers and human rights defenders above mentioned be reintegrated in the list of practising lawyers of the Bar Association.
Addresses :
Yasser Arafat, President of the Palestinian Authority, Abu Khadra Building, Omar al-Mukhtar Street, Gaza, via Israel. Fax : + 972 7 2822 365/6 ( if voice, say «fax, please»).
Freih Abu Meddein, Palestinian Authority, Minister of Justice, Abu Khadra Building, Omar al-al-Mukhtar Street, Gaza, via Israel. Fax : +972 7 286 7109/ 282 0265
Qadura Fares, Chair, PLC Parliamentary Monitoring Committee, Fax: ++972 2 298 7629
Abdelraham Abu Nasser, Appointed Head of the Bar Association, Fax: ++972 2 295 20 10 / 284 92 11
Paris - Geneva, 11th May 2000
Kindly inform us of any action undertaken quoting the code number of this appeal in your reply.
The Observatory, a joint FIDH and OMCT venture, is dedicated to the protection of Human Rights Defenders and aims to offer them concrete support in their time of need.
To contact the Observatory, call the Emergency line : Fax : 33 (0) 1 55 80 83 92
Tel FIDH 33 (0) 1 43 55 20 11 OMCT + 4122 809 49 39
E.Mail :observatoire@iprolink.ch
New information
PAL 003 / 0005 / OBS 035.01
Threats
Palestine Autonomous Areas
11th May 2000
The Observatory for the Protection of Human Rights Defenders, a joint programme of the FIDH and the OMCT, requests your URGENT intervention with the Palestinian Authorities on the following situation.
New information :
The Observatory was informed by the Palestinian Centre for Human Rights (PCHR), a member of FIDH, and by the Palestinian Society for the Protection for Human Rights and the Environment (LAW), a member of both the FIDH and OMCT, that on 10th May 2000, the Acting Council of the Palestinian Bar Association sent a notice to 31 lawyers informing them that their names have been « transferred from the list of practising lawyers to the list of non practising lawyers », thus depriving them of their right to appear before Palestinian courts and to practice their profession.
Mr. Raji Sourani, director of the PCHR, Iyad Al Alami, Hanna Matar, Ashraf Nasralla, Ibrahim Sourani and Fouad Tarazi, members of the PCHR, and one member of the Women’s Legal and Social Counselling Centre, Hanan Al Bakri are among those lawyers targeted by this measure.
It seems that this measure is aimed at neutralising the activity of human rights defender lawyers, who, notably, regularly file complaints with the High Court for crimes of torture, aiming essentially at members of the police and security services.
Human rights organisations and their lawyers have, traditionally, always worked together with the Bar Association to defend and actively promote the rule of law, human rights and democracy, on both the Israeli and the Palestinian agendas. The Bar Association has always considered their activity as complementing its own work.
The Observatory, condemns this decision whose judicial foundation, according to Palestinian NGOs, seems questionable, and which was taken on the very last day of the legal period of the Acting Council’s mandate. The Council was nominated by President Arafat three years ago, and failed to prepare fair elections for its succession, which, according to the law, had to take place before 9th May 2000.
This decision constitutes a grave violation against the freedom of action of human rights defenders in Palestine and is a blatant violation of the Declaration on Human Rights Defenders, adopted by the General Assembly of the United Nations on 9th December 1998; this guarantees in article 9.3 c that « in the exercise of human rights and fundamental freedoms, including the promotion and protection of human rights as referred to in the present Declaration, everyone has the right, individually and in association with others, to offer and provide professionally qualified legal assistance or other relevant advice and assistance in defending human rights and fundamental freedoms ».
This decision also contradicts the Basic principles on the Role of Lawyers, adopted by the Eighth United Nations Congress on the Prevention of Crime and the Treatment of Offenders, in September 1990, which guarantee that « Lawyers like other citizens are entitled to freedom of expression, belief, association and assembly. In particular, they shall have the right to take part in public discussion of matters concerning the law, the administration of justice and the promotion and protection of human rights and to join or form local , national or international organisations, and attend their meetings, without suffering professional restrictions by reason of their lawful action or their membership in a lawful organisation ».
Brief reminder of the facts :
The Observatory had been informed by LAW of threats made against lawyer and general director of LAW, Khader Shkirat.
According to the information received, Mr. Shkirat stated that Brigadier General Tawfeeq Al Tirawi, the chief of General Intelligence in the northern districts, had met the Deputy Head of the Bar Council and asked him to dismiss Mr. Shkirat from the Bar. The deputy head rejected the request and advised Al Tirawi to file any complaint that he may have against Mr. Shkirat with the Bar. A lawyer working for one of the Palestinian security services was brought in to testify that Mr. Shkirat had not previously practiced law.
This pressure came within the framework of a reform of the Bar Association whose adoption had given rise to harsh criticism as a result of its non-conformity with democratic rules and principles.
On Thursday 27 April, it was reported that Mr Shkirat told the Al Risale newspaper that the ‘Lawyers for Change’ coalition was formulated in an attempt to reverse the deterioration of status of the legal profession. He mentioned the weakness and reticence of the Bar Association Council and speculated that the problem may lie in the fact that many Bar members also work for the security forces. In response, the Deputy Head of the Bar Council threatened, before a group of Assembly members, to shoot Mr. Shkirat in the middle of Ramallah if he did not remain silent. When challenged by Mr. Shkirat, the deputy head tried to dismiss the threat as a joke, but Mr. Shkirat viewed his threat as serious and dangerous.
On Saturday 6th May, the Bar’s General Assembly met in a particularly tense atmosphere. The next day, the Al Hayat Al Jadida newspaper published a statement by the Head of the Palestinian Bar Association to the effect that any director of an NGO should not be allowed to be a member of the Bar Association at the same time.
Action Requested :
Please write to the Palestinian authorities urging that they :
i.- ensure the full freedom of action of human rights defenders in Palestine and notably their right to offer judicial assistance to victims of human rights violations, in conformity with article 9.3.c of the Declaration on Human Rights Defenders adopted by the General Assembly of the United Nations on December 9th 1998; with this aim, ensure that the above mentioned lawyers and human rights defenders be reintegrated in the list of practising lawyers of the Bar association.
ii. abide by all provisions of the Declaration on Human Rights Defenders and more particularly article 1 which provides that "Everyone has the right, individually and in association with others, to promote and to strive for the protection and realisation of human rights and fundamental freedoms at the national and international levels".
iii. more generally abide by the provisions of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the regional and international covenants.
Please write to the Appointed Head of the Bar Association and the Minister of Justice urging that he adopts all necessary measures, so that the lawyers and human rights defenders above mentioned be reintegrated in the list of practising lawyers of the Bar Association.
Addresses :
Yasser Arafat, President of the Palestinian Authority, Abu Khadra Building, Omar al-Mukhtar Street, Gaza, via Israel. Fax : + 972 7 2822 365/6 ( if voice, say «fax, please»).
Freih Abu Meddein, Palestinian Authority, Minister of Justice, Abu Khadra Building, Omar al-al-Mukhtar Street, Gaza, via Israel. Fax : +972 7 286 7109/ 282 0265
Qadura Fares, Chair, PLC Parliamentary Monitoring Committee, Fax: ++972 2 298 7629
Abdelraham Abu Nasser, Appointed Head of the Bar Association, Fax: ++972 2 295 20 10 / 284 92 11
Paris - Geneva, 11th May 2000
Kindly inform us of any action undertaken quoting the code number of this appeal in your reply.
The Observatory, a joint FIDH and OMCT venture, is dedicated to the protection of Human Rights Defenders and aims to offer them concrete support in their time of need.
To contact the Observatory, call the Emergency line : Fax : 33 (0) 1 55 80 83 92
Tel FIDH 33 (0) 1 43 55 20 11 OMCT + 4122 809 49 39
E.Mail :observatoire@iprolink.ch