Lawyers for Justice and the American Bar Association issue a report on the new decree-law which amend the Code of Criminal Procedure
In a newly published presidential decree, the Palestinian Authority has dramatically revamped its Law of Criminal Procedure. While ostensibly designed to expedite procedures and update the law to reflect technological change, several provisions of the amendments run counter to the Palestinian Authority’s constitutional and international treaty commitments: they extend a broad grant of criminal immunity to public officials; they enable more frequent resort to proceedings in absentia; they abolish challenges to orders revoking pretrial release; they lower the standard of substantiation for statements of another accused; and they narrow the scope of appellate review. These aspects of the new decree-law threaten the rights of the accused and may be easily abused to stifle political activity .Lawyers for Justice group worked with the American Bar Association to analyze the new decree-law, and to identify the most important new legal risks that threaten the rights of the accused and may be easily abused to stifle political activity. To view the report, please press here
Lawyers for Justice weekly report – last week of January
On Sunday, January 23, 2022, the Magistrate Court in Nablus issued a decision to release Ahmed Yamin, Ahmed Dweikat, Ibrahim Shatara, and Muhammad Hussein on a cash bail of 200 and a personal guarantee of 3000 dinars. -On Monday, January 24, 2022, the Magistrate’s Court in Nablus issued a decision to release Musab Hanaisheh on bail of 2,000 Jordanian dinars. On Monday, January 24, 2022, the Magistrate’s Court in Nablus issued a decision to release Imad Khatatbeh on personal bail. On Monday, January 24, 2022, the Magistrate’s Court in Nablus issued a decision to release Ziad Al-Kilani, Raed Shawar, Osama Najm, and Ahmed Qutait on a personal bail of 5000 dinars. On Tuesday, January 25, 2022, the Ramallah Magistrate’s Court issued a decision to release Zuhdi Dannoun on a personal bail of 2,000 Jordanian dinars. Lawyers for Justice group is pursuing the arrest of Muhammad Nihad Abu Al-Aish from Qalqilya, who was arrested after being summoned for an interview on January 16, 2022.
More than 340 political arrests in 2021
The Palestinians welcomed 2021 with Presidential Decree No(5) to enhance public freedomsو and ensure political affiliation and action without persecution or restrictions. And legal criminalizing political detention confirming the provisions of the Palestinian Basic Law. And what the Palestinian Authority signed when it joined international agreements on human rights and freedom of opinion and expression. Despite the support and protection of freedoms that the Palestinian government emphasized since the beginning of this year to stop prosecuting any journalist or activist based on his work or political activity, 2021 recorded an escalation in human rights violations. The Lawyers for justice group monitored more than 340 arrests cases, including activists, academics, university students, journalists, and human rights defenders. As the world is welcoming the new year, 45 detainees are absent from their families; they are languishing in the prisons of the security services due to their political and student activity and their right to opinion and expression. The group documented more than 67 cases of political arrests during December in several governorates. Nablus (22 arrests) and Hebron (21) topped the list as the governorates that recorded the most cases of political arrests. Then comes Jenin Governorate (18 arrests), Ramallah and Al-Bireh (10 arrests), and Bethlehem (7 arrests). It also recorded many cases in Tubas, Tulkarm, Qalqilya, and Salfit governorates. The rate of arrests based on opinion and political affiliation increased after the postponement of the legislative elections on April 29, and the events in the Palestinian territories in May, and the assassination of opposition activist Nizar Banat on June 24 this year, and the subsequent demonstrations condemning the assassination. Moreover, in a previous report, the Lawyers for Justice group revealed that they monitored more than 200 cases of political and opinion-based arrests in the period between May \ November. Lawyers for Justice bids farewell to the year 2021, as it turns into one of the most brutal years of repression of freedoms and the rights of opinion and expression. And it is anxiously awaiting the new year, hoping to preserve and maintain the Palestinians rights of political affiliation and freedom of expression as guaranteed by the Palestinian Basic Law and the international human rights agreements to which Palestine is a party.
Lawyers for Justice: The arrest of activist Moussa Nazzal, under the custody of the governor, is against the law
In cooperation with the United Nations Human Rights Office, the Lawyers for Justice group was able to locate the place of detention of activist Musa Nazzal “Al-Sawy” in Qalqilya, where he is detained under the custody of the governor of Qalqilya.The General Intelligence Service, where he is held, has prevented the family of the detainee “Al-Sawy” from visiting him, which is a cause for concern about the conditions of his detention and his health condition.Since 7/12/2021, General Intelligence arrested “Al-Sawy” without an arrest warrant. The Lawyers for Justice group did not find any file for his case with the Public Prosecution, which means that the arrest was carried out arbitrarily and illegally.The detention under the governor’s custody violates the Palestinian Penal Procedures Law No. (3) of 2001, where Article 29 of it states that: “No one may be arrested or imprisoned except by an order from the legally competent authority”. In this case, the competent authority according to the law is the Civil Public Prosecution, as it is a competent authority in establishing and conducting criminal proceedings.Moreover, detained him for seven consecutive days without a trial violates the Palestinian Basic Law, which states in Article (12): “Anyone who is arrested or detained shall be informed of the reasons for his arrest and detention. And shall be informed promptly in a language he understands of the accusation against him, be able to contact a lawyer and be brought to trial without delay.”Today, the group appealed to the Public Prosecutor for his immediate release in light of his illegal arrest procedures.The Lawyers for Justice group affirms that they will follow up on the “Al-Sawy” case, in addition to following up on political detainees, until their freedom is guaranteed, their release, and the emptying of all political prisons.
Arbitrary Detention within a year of the state of emergency report
January 2020 report
Lawyers for Justice January 2020 report:17 cases of ‘political detention’, and 4 of the detainees raise allegations of torture and miss-treatment A contribution from “Lawyers for Justice” group in monitoring and documenting the Palestinian human rights situation, publishes this third monthly report for January 2020, on the cases it follows legally at the level of political and arbitrary detention and human rights.The following are the highlights of the group during the month of January 2020 (follow the details of the political arrests at the end of the report): Lawyers for Justice continued to monitor 17 cases of detention in the West Bank in January for political or trade union backgrounds, or against freedom of opinion and expression.2 of the political prisoners held during the month of January are university students.4 of the political detainees raised allegations of torture and miss-treatment during their arrest and / or investigation.The group’s lawyers and professors followed sixteen court hearings in cases of current and former political detainees or human rights defenders.Lawyers for Justice issued a set of press releases and urgent appeals for various cases.Lawyers for Justice has released its official website documenting cases that the group has been following in recent years, ” http://lawyers4justice.ps/ “.A political and human rights activist, a resident of Hebron, was presented to the Hebron Magistrate Court, where he is being tried on the background of his writing, which is published on the social networking site Facebook. And by a decision of the court, it was decided to give the public prosecutor a final deadline to submit all its evidence, as the session was adjourned to Wednesday 4/3/2020.The group launched an urgent appeal for the implementation of a judicial decision challenging the elections of the local authority in Al Samoua municipality, in which the group deplored the failure of the official authorities, including the Ministry of Local Government, not to implement the judicial decisions issued by the Electoral Court in Bethlehem, and then the Jerusalem Court of Appeals, the last of which is the Court of Cassation in Decision issued on 5/12/2019 in the case of vetoing No. 445/2019.Lawyers for Justice followed the session of the Political Detainee Court, Alaa Fahmi Abdel Karim Bashir, where the session was held on 15/1/2020, and she is a prisoner in the occupation prisons, who is serving a sentence of administrative detention. She is being tried before the Qalqilya Magistrate Court on charges of provoking racist prejudices. The session was postponed to 12/2.2020 as the Public Prosecution presented it .The session of the previous detainee court, Suha Badran Muhammad Dar Jbara, was held on 13/1/2020, and she is a community activist, who has been tried before the Jericho Court of First Instance since the past year. The sixteenth session, which was held on the date mentioned above, ended with a stamp of evidence between the Public Prosecution and giving a deadline to the “Lawyers for Justice “to present you have shown . Details of the political arrests the group followed in 1/2020: 1- A.B from the residents of Ramallah, a former prisoner who was arrested by the Preventive Security Service on 9/1/2020, and charged with collecting and receiving money from illegal associations, was released on 23/1/2020 after completing the sponsorship procedures that were It was issued in accordance with the decision of the Magistrate’s Court in Ramallah on 22/1/2020 and it is a judicial bail of 3000 dinars. 2- M.D from the residents of Ramallah Governorate, a former prisoner, who was arrested by the Preventive Security Service on December 24, 2019 by summoning him to the Preventive Security headquarters. The prosecution charged him with collecting and receiving funds from illegal associations. He denied the charge before the prosecution, and obtained “Lawyers For justice “on his decision to release him on 12/1/2020 with a cash guarantee of 500 dinars. 3- A.T resident of Tulkarm Governorate, arrested by the Preventive Security Service in Tulkarem on December 14, 2019, arrested on the authority of the Governor of Tulkarm. The “Lawyers for Justice” group lodged an appeal against his unlawful arrest before the Supreme Court of Justice, and a session was held for him on 12/30/2019, the session was postponed to 6/1/2020 to present the defense evidence, and they were released on 14/1/2020. 4- B.A resident of Ramallah Governorate, arrested by the General Intelligence Service on 12/12/2019, and the Public Prosecution charged him with collecting and receiving money from illegal associations, where he informed the group that he was subjected to torture and miss-treatment that he raised before the Public Prosecution, and he informed an agent The prosecutor said, “He was beaten while being interrogated. They were hooked by hands from behind, and they kept me locked.”It is noteworthy that he is still detained by the General Intelligence Service despite the issuance of a release order against him on 21/1.2020 after he deposited with his family the value of the monetary guarantee set by the court, which are one thousand Jordanian dinars. After that, he will be brought before the Public Prosecution office for possession of a weapon on 23.1.2020. 5- H.R residents of Ramallah Governorate, one of the wounded from the occupation and listed on the list of the wounded of the intifada, was arrested by the General Intelligence Service on December 22, 2019, and the prosecution charged him with collecting and receiving funds from illegal associations, but he told the Public Prosecutor’s office in the presence of “lawyers” For the sake of justice “that his investigation revolves around his political activity, and H.R raised before the Public Prosecutor allegations of torture and miss-treatment, as he said with the ghost, hanging his hands on the wall, and preventing him from showering; where he suffers from a skin disease that requires him to shower daily, and medications are not provided His own family until Monday evening, December 23, after his father was allowed to enter For medications, and in the context of the allegation of miss-treatment, H.R said that he was threatened with placing a wet pouch in
December 2019 report, Lawyers for Justice
17 cases of political detention, and 5 of the detainees raise allegations of torture and miss-treatment A contribution from the “Lawyers for Justice” group in monitoring and documenting the Palestinian human rights situation, publishes this second monthly report of December 2019, on the cases it follows legally at the level of political and arbitrary detention and human rights.The following are the highlights of the group during the month of December 2019 (follow the details of the political arrests at the end of the report):• Lawyers for Justice continued to monitor 17 cases of detention in the West Bank in December 2019 for political or trade union activity, or against the background of freedom of opinion and expression.• 6 of the detainees during the month of December are still being held by the Palestinian security services.• Two political detainees are still being held by the security services; they were detained during the previous months, the first of February 2019, and the other in the month of November 2019. The total number of those who still in detention is 8.• 4 of the political detainees during the month of December are university students.• 5 of the political detainees raised allegations of torture and miss-treatment during their arrest and / or investigation.• 5 of the political prisoners were arrested illegally on behalf of the governors during this month, without presenting them to any judicial authority.• 4 of those arrested during previous months; they were released during the month of December, after legal follow-up from the group.• “Lawyers for Justice” obtained the acquittal of the released detainee A.A. from the charges attributed to him during the first session of the trial after the prosecution presented the investigative file without providing any other evidence, while the Public Prosecution decided to save the investigative file of the released detainee A.A., because there was no Any evidence linking him to the charge.• Lawyers for justice group have followed dozens of trial sessions in cases of political detainees or human rights defenders, current and former.• “Lawyers for Justice” attended the second session of the trial of the late Israa Gharib, as part of the legal supervision of fair trial guarantees, and issued a statement of its progress.• Lawyers for Justice issued a set of press releases and urgent appeals in various cases, and launched a legal and other educational campaign on the occasion of the International Day against Violence against Women, via social media.Notes and recommendations:• The group expresses its concern about the continuation of political arrests on the background of political, trade union and student activity in the West Bank and Gaza Strip, and calls for a halt to the pursuit of university students due to their union activities.• The acquittal cases obtained by a number of detainees during the previous months due to insufficient evidence, and keeping the files of other detainees for the same reason, demonstrate the use of criminal charges by the human rights community to pursue political activists, human rights defenders and prisoners of conscience, where charges such as “collection” are used. And receive money, ”“ possession of weapons, ”“ inciting sectarian strife, ”“ vilification of power, ”and others, to cover up the real reason for the arrest.• The group recommends that an investigation be opened into the allegations of torture and miss-treatment raised by a number of detainees, a number of which have been recorded in the public prosecution records, in compliance with Articles 10 and 13 of the Palestinian Basic Law, Articles 5 and 9 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, and Articles 1, 4 and 16 of the Convention against Torture And other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment, which the State of Palestine has signed, and Articles 7, 9 and 10 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, to which the State of Palestine has acceded.• The group calls for stopping the detention of the governors, which is considered an administrative detention without a decision or judicial permission, as the Palestinian Basic Law affirmed in Article (11/2) that “it is not permissible to arrest, search, imprison or restrict his freedom with any restriction or prevent him from moving Except by a judicial order in accordance with the provisions of the law, ”and in compliance with Articles 8, 10 and 11 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, and in compliance with Articles 9/3 and 14/3 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights to which the State of Palestine joined. Details of the political arrests that the group followed in 12/2019:1. Q.F resident of Tulkarm, a university student, was arrested by the General Intelligence Service on 4/12/2019, and he was transferred to the headquarters of the General Intelligence Service in Jericho, his family did not know about his place of detention until lawyers for justice issued an urgent appeal To find out the location of his arrest after five days, and he was arrested on the authority of the governor of Tulkarm, he raised allegations of torture and miss-treatment, where he told “Lawyers for Justice” that he tortured, and that his hands were tied and hung in the door, and he was released on 11/12/2019, knowing that he was arrested because of his union activities at the university.2. A.A a resident of the Nablus governorate, arrested by the Preventive Security Service on December 11, 2019. The prosecution charged him with defamation against the authority. He denied the charge before the prosecution and said that he was arrested because of his participation in receiving one of the freed prisoners in his town. “Lawyers for Justice” on a decision of the Magistrate’s Court to release him on 12/17/2019 with 200 dinars guarantee.3. A.T resident of Tulkarm, a former prisoner in the occupation prisons, arrested by the Preventive Security Service in Tulkarm on 12/14/2019, he was arrested on the authority of the governor of Tulkarm. “Lawyers for Justice” group lodged an appeal against his illegal arrest. The project is before the Supreme Court of Justice, and
Lawyers for Justice monthly report, November 2019
About Lawyers for Justice: The idea of a group of lawyers for justice was launched in Palestine in 2011, with the vision of a number of human rights lawyers, after the emergence of the need for a new independent legal body to defend the prisoners of conscience, in light of the widespread repression of the security services, which took place in peaceful demonstrations. Demands an end to the division; in 15/3/2019In 2018, the idea was transformed into the office of Lawyers for Justice, headquartered in Ramallah, to operate throughout the West Bank, with the participation of lawyers from all legal backgrounds, active in the field of human rights, and legally followed hundreds of political arrests, Issues of freedom of opinion and expression, and issues of journalists and human rights defenders. Contributions from the Lawyers for Justice group to monitor and document the Palestinian human rights situation. This monthly report is issued on cases that you follow on political, trade union, or freedom of opinion and expression, cases pursued through the courts, or urgent appeals on human rights cases. . The following are the highlights of the Group during November 2019: In November, Lawyers for Justice followed up on 17 arrests for political, trade union or freedom of expression arrests, 13 of whom were released and 4 continued. During November, four detainees raised allegations of torture and ill-treatment before the Public Prosecution. In November, 7 university students were arrested. The group appeared before the court and prosecutor, the arrested university student (MN), who has been detained since last February, while the release of (THH), who was arrested in October 2019. The group recorded one case of non-enforcement of court decisions to release one detainee during November.(HM) presented the day after his release to the Public Prosecution, which charged him with a new charge and suspended him accordingly, without applying the release order. The group recorded a six-day detention of a university student (MA) pending the governor of Tulkarm without being brought before any judicial authority. The lawyers and professors of the group followed nearly 25 court hearings in trade union cases, freedom of opinion and expression, political detention or human rights defenders; The group obtained the journalist’s innocence (MA) on 27/11/2019, in two cases; for insufficient evidence, he was arrested on 14/10/2019, and was charged in the first case with collecting and receiving funds from illegal associations, where he reported that those the money is his salary for his journalistic work, and in the second case was accused of possessing weapons where he denied the charges. Attorneys for Justice attended the first session of the trial of the late Esraa Gharib, as part of the legal supervision of fair trial guarantees, and issued a statement of its proceedings, calling on the group to continue to proceed with the proceedings in the open manner in which the first hearing took place. Lawyers for Justice expresses concern about allegations of torture and ill-treatment by a number of political detainees, and calls upon the Attorney General to investigate these allegations; in compliance with Palestinian law and international treaties and treaties signed by the State of Palestine, and sometimes rejects unusual measures; which not allow to have a copy of the clients’ files and not allowed the team members to visit their clients especially in the General Intelligence Service in Ramallah.Lawyers for Justice reports that it has issued 19 press releases and an urgent appeal in several of the cases detailed in this report below.* Recommendations at the end of the report. Details of the Group’s work and issues it followed during November 2019: Detention on political or trade union grounds or freedom of opinion and expression: 3/11/2019 University student (NN) resident of Ni’lin / Ramallah; arrested by the General Intelligence Service and presented to the Public Prosecution on 5/11/2019 on charges of collecting and receiving funds from illegal associations and extending his detention for 24 hours. On 6/11/2019, he was presented to the Ramallah Magistrate’s Court and his detention extended for 15 days. He was released before the expiry period. He was interrogated before the General Intelligence Service about his trade union activity, and the charge against him from the Public Prosecution was only The purpose of the extension of his arrest, “according to what was raised in front of the group’s lawyer,” and raised (ai) Allegations of torture and ill-treatment, as reported that the first day of his arrest at the General Intelligence hit the investigator on his face, and hit by a security man on his face. Arrested by the Preventive Security Agency (PA) in Nablus; he was brought before the prosecution and the court on 10/11/2019 and charged with collecting and receiving funds from illegal associations, and his detention was extended for 15 days. He was released from occupation prisons and was arrested more than once by the Palestinian security services in connection with his activities as a cartoonist. He was active during the prisoners’ hunger strike background of his political activity. 7/11/2019 Arrested university student (m.kh) resident of Sa’ir / Hebron; by the General Intelligence Service, the detainee was charged with collecting and receiving money from illegal associations and obtained a release order on 14/11/2019 on bail, but The decision was not implemented, and was again presented to the Public Prosecution for another charge of possession of weapons. He is still detained on this charge. He told the group’s lawyer that his interrogation was due to his political activism inside the university. 12/11/2019 Al-Bireh university student (NT) was arrested by the General Intelligence Service and released after hours of interrogation. After his release, he told the group’s lawyer that his interrogation was about the suspicion that he and his family were political activists in Ramallah City. 12/11/2019 a university student (AH) resident of Ramallah; was arrested by the General Intelligence Service, he was released after hours of investigation, after his release he talked to the group’s lawyer that his interrogation was about suspicion of political activity. 15/11/2019 The arrest of
Between General intelligence and preventive and occupation.. Fahd Yassin scores dozens of arrests
Without an arrest warrant, with a police manner, the Palestinian intelligence service arrested Fahd Yassin from Tulkarm while he was going to his work, in Tulkarm to Industrial Secondary School on 17/9/2019, Fahad was on his way to school, before arriving to his workplace at 7:30 a.m., he was stopped by a public car, and they asked me to come with them. Fahd says that the car that stopped him was not for the government, and he told lawyers for justice the details of his arrest, saying: “Someone in civilian clothes got out of the car, and said: that he was from the General intelligence service, asking me to come with him, and I told him, you have to prove to me that you are, he showed me his card with his name hidden, and I saw the logo of the General intelligence.” On the other hand the Preventive Security Service in Tulkarm interrogated Fahed on unrelated charges, and the story was originally for someone else who was not in the investigation. Fahed points out that everything was clear to them and they knew very well that he had nothing to do with the charges that were directed at him, however, “the competition in detention and the speculation of the intelligence and preventive agencies against each other at work, prompted the intelligence service to arrest me after obtaining some information that I know, and the subject is a financial issue of union activity within the university, nothing more,” says by Fahed. Fahd stayed 19 days without any proof of the charges against him; in addition they prevented his family from visiting, or him contacting his family and workplace, although he was a new employee and needed to justify the reasons for his absence from work. Fahed assured to lawyers for justice that this time was not the first; Fahed was arrested in 2016 by the security services and stayed there for 51 days, At the time he was about to graduate, and he was deprived of graduation because he could not finish the rest of his credits, and after he was arrested, Israeli soldiers arrested him on 4/1/2019 and stayed for 19 months and paid a fine of 6,000 shekels, the administrative arrests did not end here, but the preventive security forces re-arrested him 40 days after he left. The numbers of Fahed arrests at the Palestinian Intelligence Service were 7 and more than 35 interviews, the first interview was in 2011 and the first arrest was in 2013, while the total arrests at the Preventive Security Service were 2 arrests, and 4 interviews, and the number of arrests in the occupation were 2 arrests and 6 interviews.
Lawyers for justice discovered the legal violations in Suha Jbara’s case
The former political prisoner Suha Jbara is still tried by the criminal court of Jericho, despite the decision of releasing her and the 50,000 Jordanian dinars bail. Although, more than nine trials have been held so far, they are still being tried in a slow proceeding and contrary to the principle of speedy adjudication, which is required by the rules of justice and fair trial standards. According to the Code of criminal procedure No.3 of 2001 the detention was unlawful, and involved the arbitrariness of the authorities in the use of the powers entrusted to them under the provisions of the law, where the law in force required the judicial police to abide by the procedures and abide by the legal controls provided by the legislator, such as obtaining a legal memorandum to fetch or arrest any suspects, taking into account the privacy of any girl being arrested. The lawmaker restricted these cases in narrow cases, including the case of flagrante delicto, which wasn’t achieved in the case of the activist Suha Jbara, and therefore the case of the arrest of Jbara beyond the exception provided by the law in this regard, and therefore the arrest and detention procedures are null and void. Jbara told lawyers for justice that she “was forced during the investigation to sign under threat, confessions on charges that weren’t true, such as collecting and receiving illegal money. She also said: “I was charged with intelligence with the Israeli occupation, and investigators pressed me to admit this charge.” According to these charges, Suha’s lawyer (Mohanad Karajah) said: the investigation was carried out on charges of “collecting and receiving illegal funds,” pointing out that most of the files he investigated with such a charge have not been referred to the competent court, reflecting the lack of seriousness in such files, which often come within the framework of Political arrests by security services against activists, he added, “Suha’s family has previously denied the charges against her.” Mohanad Karajah revealed that the leak of a document of concern to his client, fabricated and falsified, which goes beyond the law and the Public Prosecution, listed the details and facts of the charges against the detainee. Karajah pointed out that the prosecutor usually submits a request to extend the detention before the competent court of the accused for the required period, without explaining the details of the facts and the reasons for the accusation, the statement of the Public Prosecution announced on 22 November, in which it affirmed its commitment to the confidentiality of investigations in order to preserve the conduct of the investigation and to ensure access to completed justice. After interrogating with Suha, she was taken to the detective And then converted to what he called the “slaughterhouse” of Jericho for 4 days, and then transferred to Jericho Central Prison. Mentioning that on 3/11/2018, a Palestinian security force, known as Force 101, arrested the activist Suha Badran Jabara (31 years), after blockade her house by the security force and took her by force to a security center despite the deterioration of her health, at approximately 03:00, the forces surrounded her house for hours before broken into it by force.