The latest updates in the case of the accused in the assassination of political critic Nizar Banat
The trial session of the 14 whom are accused in the case of the assassination of the critic and political activist Nizar Banat; was held this morning, 03/07/2022, in the Military Court in Ramallah. All the accused were present, the defense attorney, a representative of Lawyers for Justice, and representatives of two other institutions, one local and one international to cover the progress of the trial. And It is worth noting that this is the first session a year after the assassination of Banat. And to expedite the completion of the trial, according to the defense attorney; He dispensed with the witness he had presented before (Major-General in Security), also he asked the court to give him a time limit, so that he and the competent authorities could bring an international expert from outside Palestine to present it as one of his evidence. The details of the expert’s name and address were not disclosed, due to the sensitivity of the expert’s name and to prevent any influence of public opinion on the expert. Then the defense attorney gave a copy of the letter in which the details of the international expert were included to the court, and asked them to reserve the letter, and include it in the trial papers without anyone viewing it. He also asked the court to assist in the procedures for bringing the international expert to Palestine, which needs time up to two months, and also for his desire to benefit from the judicial leave from 15/07/2022 until 01/09/2022. The court agreed to the defense attorney’s request that the next session be the last period for summoning witnesses from his side, thus, the next session will be on Tuesday, 06/09/2022 at 10:00 am.
The consideration of the appeal has been postponed in the case of journalist Abdul Rahman Thaher
Nablus Court of First Instance, in its appellate capacity, postpones consideration of the appeal submitted by the defense in the trial file of the journalist and satirical artist; Abdul Rahman Thaher until 08/08/2022و to appeal the decision of the Nablus Magistrate’s Court to convict journalist Thahir for defaming the authority on the grounds of his accusation of insulting the security forces “during a private, non-public conversation.” The Magistrate’s Court in Nablus had also acquitted journalist Thahir of other charges in the same file, after the aforementioned journalist was prosecuted for his journalistic work and for presenting critical political programmes.
Public opinion statement on the continuation of mass political arrests and arrests based on opinion
Lawyers for Justice group is following the mass of political arrests and arrests based on exercising constitutional rights, carried out by the executive authority, which has taken a noticeably escalating trend since the beginning of this June. The group has recorded, as part of its direct follow-up, more than 63 arrests, distributed among the cities of the occupied West Bank. For administrative detention, 4 of them are under the custody of the governor of Qalqilya, while one case was referred to the governor of Ramallah and two cases were released later. The types of the charges in these files varied between stirring up strife and racism, illegal gathering, accusations of collecting and receiving illegal funds, possession of a weapon without a license, and slander against the authority. During this period, the group has continued following up the mass arrests that followed what was known as the Beitounia carpentry case, where about twenty people were arrested regarding this case. Later on the majority of the detainees were released in this case, but some detainees were referred to the Joint Investigation Committee, or what is known as the Security Committee in Jericho. Where one of the detainees raised claims of torture in front of the judge of the Jericho Magistrate’s Court, while some lawyers present in the vicinity of the court mentioned seeing traces on the face of the detainee; lawyer Ahmed Khasib, suggesting that he was subjected to torture, before the aforementioned detainee later denied being tortured during his interrogation by the Public Prosecution in Jericho. The group also monitored the arrest and detention of 15 people among the aforementioned detainees based on “we want to live” movement in the city of Hebron, after the dispersal the demonstrators who were rejecting the exorbitant price hike in basic goods and services, 8 of them were referred to the security committee in Jericho, before all detainees were released on that case, after efforts made by the Independent Commission for Human Rights ICHR. The group also documented the exposure of the detainee Suleiman Qatash; He was later released, for being beaten by Preventive Security agents in front of the court, while he was being returned to the detention center, in addition to the aforementioned claim, during his interrogation in front the Ramallah Prosecution, that he was beaten by the aforementioned entity. Accordingly, the group confirms that all these arrests listed within the framework of political arrests on the basis of political affiliation, and all these arrests take place without the presence or presentation of any arrest warrant from the competent authorities, which is considered a violation of the Palestinian Basic Law and international human rights conventions. The group also confirms that if it is proven that any detainee has been beaten or tortured, these acts must be pursuited as it is considered a crime punishable by law, requiring the intervention of the Attorney General. And stopping the summons, out of respect for the Palestinian Basic Law, from which the political system derives its law, and the need to stop the policy of political arrest and detention based on exercising guaranteed constitutional rights. The group notes that it has documented hundreds of arrests during the period following the assassination of the late political critic Nizar Banat.
The trial of the accused in the assassination case of Nizar Banat is postponed without an official court session
In the supervisory role played by Lawyers for Justice group, by attending all the trials of the acؤused in the case of the assassination of political activist Nizar Banat from the beginning until today, the most recent updates in this case; the trial session of the accused was postponed, first from 10:00 am – as it was supposed to be held – until 02:00 pm, then it was postponed again to Sunday on 6/26/2022, without holding the official session in the Military Court in Ramallah, due to absence of defendants’ lawyer for his preoccupation in other cases.
Qalqilya Magistrate’s Court issues an acquittal in the case of Muhammad Al-Baz who is been accused of defaming the authority
The Qalqilya Magistrate’s Court decided this morning to acquit the former detainee, Muhammad Al-Baz, of the charge of defamation against the authority, in violation of Article 45 of Decree-Law No. 10 of 2018 in terms of Article 191 of Penalties No 16 to the year 60. The Preventive Security Service arrested Muhammad Al-Baz from Qalqilya governorate because of posts he wrote on his personal social media page, in which he criticizes the performance of the Palestinian Authority PLO, and in these publications he also criticizes the policy of political detention that targets those he described as respected people. He described the settlement agreements signed by the PLO as illegitimate, in addition he wrote that the authority is corrupted and accused the authority of killing Nizar Banat. After six months of prosecution, arrest and trial, the Magistrate’s Court in Qalqilya decided to declare his innocence. Accordingly, Lawyers for Justice group calls for the necessity of respecting rights, freedoms, and preserving the right to express opinion, no matter how climaxed it may be, as long as it is focused on legitimate criticism.The group also confirms that hundreds of files that were referred by city prosecutors on the same background receive acquittal verdicts at the conclusion of the trial, which requires waiting and reassessing the prosecution’s performance in the files referred to the courts or requests to extend arbitrary detentions that are arbitrarily submitted to the courts at the investigation stage. Punishing people, especially since the Public Prosecution Office exists to protect the public right, preserve rights, and freedoms, not to defend oppression and confiscation of constitutional rights enshrined by the Palestinian Basic Law. The group also stresses that the judiciary is required today to reconsider requests to extend the detention, so that the judiciary is not a haven to legitimize repression in the arrest stage, with the need also to repeal this decision by a law on cybercrime as it directly contradicts the Palestinian Basic Law and related human rightsconventions.
“We want to live”!
The Lawyers for Justice group has followed the arrest of 11 persons by the Palestinians Security Forces in the city center of Hebron in 05/06/2022, then transported 8 of them to the security committee in Jericho, regarding their participation in a popular protest against extreme high living expenses of goods and services. After the arrest of those who are mentioned, the Security Forces have referred them to the security committee center in Jericho, then they brought them back to the general prosecution in Hebron, charged with roads sabotage and illegal gathering. The general prosecution had issued a decision to extend the arrest to 48 hours to complete the investigation while some of the accused refused to sign the interrogatory in the prosecution, as some of the arrested had declared they had permission to protest based on the law. Later on June, 6th, 2022 they have been all released. Accordingly; Lawyers for Justice confirms that the dispersal of any peaceful sit-in is an assault on a constitutional right, and a clear violation of the Palestinian Basic Law, which guarantees the public freedoms of citizens within the scope of the law. The group also emphasizes that the seriousness of these measures taken by the security services, which were covered by the Public Prosecution in Hebron, negatively affect citizens’ exercise of their constitutional rights and lead to people’s reluctance to use their constitutional rights they have by law for fear of repression and/or arrest.
On World Press Freedom Day, who gives the Palestinian journalists their rights?
The World Press Freedom Day comes this year, and the accusation of “defamation against the authority” is still an attempt by the security forces in the West Bank to pursue journalistic work, arrest them for practicing their journalistic work and exercising their right to express their opinion, even if it is in opposition to the policies of the Palestinian Authority. This day comes, and journalists Alaa Al-Rimawi, Anas Hawari, and Abdul Rahman Thaher are still in continuous court sessions that have been going on for more than a year against the background of their journalistic and media work, after the three faced arbitrary detention in the prisons of the security forces, some of them for several weeks, accusing them of doing what they had to do, from a journalistic standpoint, and with all professionalism. However, while it is more appropriate to study the possibility of granting journalists the right to practice their work freely, we are approaching the approval of the draft licensing system for media institutions, which grants the government wide powers that contradict the principle of media freedoms, increases the scope of authoritarian interference in journalistic work, and contradicts the law. The Palestinian Basic Law, especially Article 27 of it, emphasizes the freedom of the visual, audio, and written media, the freedom of printing, publishing, distribution, and broadcasting, the freedom of those working in them, and the prohibition of censorship of the media, so that it is not permissible to warn, stop, confiscate, cancel or impose restrictions on them except in accordance with the law. At the same time, Palestinian journalists are living a double reality full of violations practiced by the Israeli occupation against them, in light of the absence of 15 journalists behind its bars, attacks on journalists during their coverage, breaking of their press equipment, and banning them from traveling, in an attempt to prevent their word and to mute their voices. The attempts of the occupation’s violations against journalists did not stop at the geographical borders only but also extended to the digital space through its cooperation with the administrations of social networking sites to delete all content denouncing and condemning the occupation, exposing its crimes against the Palestinian people, and restricting the access of these accounts, and even deleting them totally often. In the midst of all this, we at Lawyers for Justice condemn any act or practice that limits the freedom of the journalist in his work and prevents him from exercising his profession in the manner guaranteed by the Palestinian Basic Law, and the agreements and treaties agreed upon by the international community, which granted the journalist’s voice immunity from Every pursuit
Continuing violations of human rights and public freedoms: highlighting some current cases
As we approach the end of the first quarter of 2022, the Palestinian arena is still witnessing increasing repression of public freedoms and human rights, and union and student work, and we are still in the presence of arbitrary detention without any legal justification.Recently, the most prominent violation was through firing live bullets and using weapons during the arrest process of activist and political critic Mohammed Amr on Tuesday, April 19, 2022, without presenting a legal arrest warrant. .Children were also not spared from arbitrary arrest. Shaddad Amro from Hebron, 17 years old, is still being held by the intelligence service without being brought before any legal body, in clear violation of the rules of criminal trials, and the 16-year-old child Izz al-Din Shakhshir from Nablus is in custody. Political arrest and accusation!While universities are approaching the elections of their student councils, the democratic electoral atmosphere in which the Palestinian arena celebrates, the security services are pursuing union work by arresting university students for their student activity inside the university corridors, the last of whom was the student Baraa Ghazal from Hebron University, who was arrested on Sunday, April 17, 2022, On the background of his student work.Meanwhile, Lawyers for Justice continues to arrest school teacher Ahmed Abu Fara for the fifth consecutive day on a political charge, and the Hebron Magistrate’s Court has issued an extension against him for 7 days pending investigation, and Youssef Kamil from Jenin, whose detention has been ongoing since March 31, 2022, and he received two extensions, the last one was for 15 days on April 17, 2022, on a political charge.Violation of public freedoms is not the only title in the series of violations but rather exceeded them to violations of legal procedures, such as not presenting the legal arrest warrant during the arrest process, and attaching charges that were not related to the investigation’s progress, but rather in order to obtain an extension decision from the court judge.The Lawyers for Justice is following with concern these continuous violations of basic human freedoms, which coincide with allegations of torture and ill-treatment that political detainees say they were subjected to during their detention at the security apparatus in cell conditions unfit for human life.Lawyers for Justice calls for immediate and rapid action to put an end to these violations, and protect human rights defenders and activists and renews its call for the immediate release of political detainees and human rights defenders
Lawyers for Justice denounce labor day deduction for striking teachers
Alarmingly, the Ministry of Education issues a decision to deduct one working day for teachers who went on a partial strike in protest of the failure to pay their salaries in full, in a move that is a violation of their right to peaceful expression guaranteed in the Palestinian Basic Law. The peaceful strike is a form of expression that is guaranteed in the Palestinian Basic Law, specifically Article 19 of it, which states: “Freedom of opinion is not violated, and every person has the right to express and publish his opinion verbally, in writing, or other means of expression or art, subject to the provisions of Law.” Simply, Article (1) of Decree-Law No. (11) of 2017 guarantees the right to strike for civil servants, to demand their rights, or as an expression of their rejection of decisions and actions taken against them. Lawyers for Justice denounces the persistent attempts to harass teachers in their strike and seeks to single out the Palestinian teacher by assigning direct penalties to each teacher separately, because of their refusal decision, and the peaceful demand for rights. Lawyers for Justice calls on government agencies to protect the right of teachers to strike peacefully, to ensure that they follow their human rights demands, and to stress the importance of ensuring the protection and protection of public freedoms, and not committing any human rights violations or claimants
Extending the detention of political critic Mohammed Amr for 24 hours
After the security forces fired live bullets and used weapons during his arrest, the Public Prosecution extended the detention of activist and political critic Mohammad Amr from Dura in Hebron for 24 hours, with allegations against him of “resisting security men.” At the same time, the security forces released his son, Shaddad Amr, without presenting him to the court. That is, in detention pending by the agency for more than 24 hours, in violation of the rules of a criminal trial, legal procedures, and fair trial guarantees. Lawyers for Justice renews its call for the immediate release of Mohammed Amr, ensuring his safety and health, and holding those responsible for using weapons and firing live bullets at his home to account.