Lawyers for Justice

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About us

Establishment: The group was launched on March 15, 2011, as a personal initiative by human rights activist and lawyer, and then later was joint with a group of  Human Rights Activists, and Active Lawyers from all over the Historical Palestine.

Background and Founding

The group was founded as an individual initiative in the wake of peaceful demonstrations in the West Bank and Gaza Strip calling for an end to the Palestinian internal political division. The establishment came in response to a wave of arrests targeting participants in sit-ins and peaceful demonstrations. The initiative then expanded to cover human rights violations related to the exercise of constitutional rights guaranteed under the Palestinian Basic Law, such as freedom of opinion and expression, the right to peaceful assembly, freedom of political belief and party affiliation, and other constitutional rights. In addition, the group provides legal support to prisoners in Israeli detention, as well as to marginalized communities subjected to attacks by occupation forces and settlers, including Bedouin communities and villages surrounding settlement outposts.

Vision

Lawyers for Justice believes that respect for rights and public freedoms is the foundation for building a democratic society that protects constitutional rights and freedoms. The group aspires to achieve justice, equality, and human dignity by adhering to genuine human rights principles. It views this commitment as an essential step toward justice, accountability, and the prevention of violations.
In this context, the group also prioritizes the documentation of human rights violations suffered by Palestinians under the policy of collective punishment imposed by Israeli occupation authorities—policies that have expanded since the escalation of military aggression in Gaza in October 2023. This includes violations against prisoners such as torture, starvation, and denial of fair trial guarantees, amid the exclusion of the Geneva Conventions from being applied to civilians and detainees. The group also documents and raises awareness of violations faced by marginalized populations, particularly Bedouin communities and villages exposed to intensified attacks in both Gaza and the West Bank since late 2023.

Mission

Lawyers for Justice seeks to defend human rights and fundamental freedoms, while promoting justice and equality in Palestinian society. To this end, the group provides legal consultations, represents individuals before Palestinian courts, and documents human rights violations with a focus on fair trial guarantees. It also builds partnerships with local and international civil society organizations to spread legal awareness and foster a human rights culture. Moreover, the group works to activate legal accountability and prosecution mechanisms to ensure respect for human rights.
Over the past five years, the group has relied on strategic litigation and strengthened rapid intervention mechanisms for advocacy and human rights support.

Objectives

Aligned with its vision and mission, the group aims to:

  1. Protect fundamental rights and freedoms: Promote and safeguard individual civil, political, economic, social, and cultural rights as enshrined in the Palestinian Basic Law and relevant international covenants.
  2. Accountability and prosecution: Activate mechanisms to hold perpetrators of human rights violations accountable, including those abusing authority, obstructing judicial rulings, or violating due process.
  3. Cooperate with civil society: Strengthen engagement with local and international organizations to expand outreach, raise awareness, and enhance international cooperation.
  4. Monitor Israeli military courts: Implement monitoring programs in Israeli military courts, especially in administrative detention cases, to ensure fair trial guarantees and respect for detainees’ rights.
  5. Document violations against prisoners: Document Israeli violations against Palestinian prisoners, particularly former detainees, including cases of torture, malnutrition, medical neglect, solitary confinement, and other abuses.
  6. Document settlement-related violations: Record violations resulting from Israeli settlement expansion, including settler violence, forced displacement, land confiscation, and settler colonial practices in the West Bank.

Target Groups

  1. Palestinians whose constitutional rights are violated, including cases of arbitrary arrest, torture, or abuse linked to freedom of expression and peaceful assembly.
  2. Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails.
  3. Human rights defenders, including journalists, unionists, students, political detainees, civil society activists, and digital activists.
  4. Communities affected by Israeli settlement expansion and forced displacement caused by land confiscations, settler and military violence.

Activities and Projects

Over the years, Lawyers for Justice has implemented diverse legal and human rights activities, including field monitoring, court representation, and documentation of violations against activists, journalists, and digital rights defenders. Highlights include:

  • Defense of free expression: Monitoring and defending activists arrested by both Palestinian Authority security forces and Israeli forces for protesting against the Gaza war and genocide since October 2023. Thousands of Palestinians, including activists previously detained by the PA, were targeted. The group documented torture, ill-treatment, and violations in administrative detention, including deaths of over 70 detainees due to starvation, torture, or medical neglect (as documented by the Palestinian Prisoners’ Affairs Commission).
  • Documentation of settler and occupation violence: Monitoring violations against Bedouin communities and villages, including violent attacks, forced displacement, livestock slaughter, property destruction, and even killings.
  • International legal pursuit: Initiating cases before European human rights courts in cooperation with international partners, based on documented testimonies.
  • Research and reporting: Producing specialized reports on Bedouin rights violations and forced displacement, including documented testimonies.
  • Annual and thematic reports: Issuing the 2024 Annual Report, as well as specialized reports on violations against journalists, unionists, and activists.
  • Legal analysis of legislation: Producing a critical review of the Cybercrime Law (with Swiss representation support), highlighting its misuse to suppress freedoms and providing recommendations for amendment.
  • UN Shadow Reports: Partnering with Human Rights Watch to submit shadow reports to UN treaty bodies (CAT, ICCPR, ICESCR), documenting repression of union freedoms, torture, and other violations. The group also participated in 2023 Geneva sessions reviewing Palestinian compliance.
  • Legal aid services: Providing hundreds of written legal consultations (2024–2025), representing cases in courts, and submitting reports to local and international human rights bodies.
  • International advocacy tours: Conducting rights-based missions in Europe and North America, leading to partnerships with institutions such as the Messina Bar Association (Italy) and Arci Foundation (Sicily), as well as outreach to Arab and Muslim diaspora communities.
  • Ongoing projects: Preparing reports on Bedouin identity protection, monitoring Israeli military courts (especially administrative detention and journalist cases), and delivering legal services to displaced populations in northern West Bank communities attacked in 2024–2025.

Networks and Partnerships

The group maintains an extensive network of local and international partners dedicated to documenting and combating violations, including: Human Rights Watch, Front Line Defenders, American Bar Association, Amnesty International, the Swiss, Dutch, and German Representations, UNDP, the European Union, OHCHR/Ramallah, Euro-Med Human Rights Monitor, and Cospe/Italy.

Geographic Scope

Lawyers for Justice operates primarily in the West Bank, including Bedouin and marginalized communities, while maintaining strong ties with international organizations to internationalize Palestinian human rights issues and enhance accountability.