Meeting at the Ministry of Justice with Counselor Youssef Abdel Samad on behalf of the Minister of Justice
On Thursday, January 23, 2025, Lawyers for Justice submitted a study on the Cybercrime Law to the Ministry of Justice, supported by the Swiss Representative Office as part of the project “Enhancing Digital Rights: Protecting Freedom of Expression in Palestine” in partnership with local and international civil society organizations. The submission was made by Lawyers for Justice, represented by Attorney Ameera Al-Badareen and researcher Ghaida Labadi, in the presence of Ms. Hadba Askar, representing the Legal Clinic at Birzeit University. The study was received on behalf of the Minister of Justice, Counselor Sharhabil Al-Za’im, by Legal Advisor Yousef Abd Al-Samad. The meeting focused on reviewing the Cybercrime Law according to the study, especially concerning the contradictions of its provisions with legal principles, procedural laws, and international human rights law. The observations were presented based on legal applications and cases monitored by Lawyers for Justice as part of their legal representation for each case. Attorney Ameera Al-Badareen highlighted the key concerns, violations, and abuses that took place against citizens, human rights activists, journalists, and civil society bloggers on the internet, with particular focus on the advisory opinion of the ISLP project as outlined in the study. Ms. Hadba Askar presented the mechanism for involving students from the Legal Clinic at Birzeit University in discussions and legal commentary on the provisions of the law. Researcher Ghaida Labadi concluded with recommendations, the most important of which are adopting a legal stance regarding the clarification of basic definitions, ensuring proportional penalties, enhancing privacy protection, and introducing independent oversight mechanisms. These recommendations had previously been approved unanimously by the advisory committee made up of human rights defenders, trade unionists, journalists, and civil society organizations, including the Independent Commission for Human Rights, Istiqlal Foundation, the Office of the High Commissioner, and other local and international institutions. These recommendations were preceded by consultative meetings and the issuance of a policy paper. Legal Advisor Yousef Abd Al-Samad expressed the Ministry of Justice’s openness to cooperate and incorporate these legal observations into the review of the issued decrees and amendments, ensuring the rights and freedoms of Palestinian citizens are protected. The Ministry is also open to community dialogue with all concerned parties, especially security agencies, in cooperation with civil society organizations, particularly with the launch of the Palestinian Ministry of Justice’s electronic public consultation platform and legal observatory, to which cooperation on this matter was also invited. Issued on: January 26, 2025Ramallah
Press Release
Press Release The Israeli Occupation Authorities Release Human Rights Defender Lawyer Diala Ayesh after a Year of Administrative Detention. The Israeli occupation authorities released lawyer and human rights activist Diala Ayesh on Tuesday, January 14 2025, from the Jalameh checkpoint in Jenin, after more than a year of arbitrary administrative detention. Lawyer Diala Ayesh was arrested by Israeli occupation forces nearly a year ago while passing through the Container checkpoint in the southern West Bank. During her detention, she was subjected to oppressive practices, including torture, maltreatment, and solitary confinement on several occasions. Diala Ayesh is a prominent human rights defender who has worked throughout her career to provide legal representation for human rights defenders, promote Palestinian rights, and expose the violations committed by the occupation authorities against Palestinian civilians. Her release comes at a time when Palestinian prisoners are subjected to unjust mistreatment, violating the Third Geneva Convention on the treatment of prisoners of war. This illegal administrative detention was part of the occupation authorities’ policy to suppress Palestinian activists working to expose Israeli violations. Through this experience, Diala Ayesh continues to serve as a living example of resilience and resistance against the Israeli oppression machine. Lawyers for Justice group reaffirms the necessity of raising awareness against the practice of administrative detention, which is a blatant violation of basic human rights, and emphasizes its ongoing commitment to supporting all activists and human rights defenders in confronting the repressive policies of the occupation. Until now, Lawyers for Justice.
Meeting with the Ministry of Justice.
On Sunday, 6-10-2024, Lawyers for justice group held a meeting with the Minister of Justice, Chancellor Sharhabil al-Zaim, in his office in the presence of the Undersecretary of Justice, Professor Ahmed Zabaleh. During the meeting, lawyers for justice expressed about their new project with the support of the Swiss Representative in Palestine and his relationship with the Ministry of Justice. The meeting addressed several issues related to the review of national laws, including a review of the Cybercrime Law. The Minister of Justice expressed the Ministry of Justice’s openness to all forms of cooperation and consultation and to the principle of partnering with Palestinian human rights and civil society institutions in any new ideas and discussing all issues and draft laws at the Council of Ministers table, in order to achieve the goal we all work towards serving the Palestinian citizen and achieving the public interest and protecting public rights and freedoms. The Minister of Justice reaffirmed the State of Palestine’s commitment to harmonizing legislation with all international conventions and treaties signed by the State of Palestine. Both parties expressed their willingness to cooperate in achieving the project’s objectives with the support of the Swiss Representative in Palestine. Till here, Issued in 8-10-2024. Lawyers for Justice
Lawyers for Justice are closely monitoring the escalating campaign of political arrests and the increasing repression carried out by the security agencies
Lawyers for Justice are closely monitoring the escalating campaign of political arrests and the increasing repression carried out by the security agencies since the beginning of the current month. The group has observed a rise in cases of arrests based on the exercise of freedom of opinion and expression. During this month, the group documented the arrests of three citizens by the Preventive Security Service due to their exercise of freedom of opinion and expression. Among them were the journalist Aqeel Awawdah, citizen Mohammed Hareebat, and Sheikh Mustafa Abu Ara, who were later released on bail. The Public Prosecution has charged the mentioned individuals with various accusations, including defamation against the authority, incitement to racial hatred, and slander against the President, relying on the Penal Code and the Cybercrime Law. Lawyers for Justice view these arrests as arbitrary and not grounded in the law, as they violate the Palestinian Basic Law and international human rights conventions. The group calls for an immediate cessation of these arrests and urges authorities to refrain from pursuing citizens on such grounds. Additionally, the group demands the cancellation of the Cybercrime Law (Law No. 4 of 2018), which was enacted by the Executive Authority with the aim of silencing voices and limiting legitimate criticism on social media. It is worth noting that all cases brought under this law, related to freedom of opinion and expression, have resulted in judicial acquittals. The group believes that resorting to the deprivation of freedom and the detention of citizens based on their exercise of freedom of opinion and expression on social media falls under abuse of power and represents a deviation from the Palestinian Basic Law. This statement was issued by Lawyers for Justice on 27th July 2023.
Nablus Magistrate Court decided to release the political detainee Kaid Abu Al-Rish.
Today, Wednesday, July 27, 2023, Nablus Magistrate Court issued a decision to release the political detainee Kaid Abu Al-Rish on personal bail amounting to 2000 Jordanian dinars. Abu Al-Rish was arrested by forces affiliated with the Preventive Security Service on the 19th of July of the current year. During his detention, he suffered a heart attack, which necessitated his immediate transfer to the hospital. He remained under security guard during his stay at the hospital, but today he has been released following the issuance of the release decision, and the security guards have already left. … Lawyers for Justice 26, July 2023
The second appeal session filed by “Lawyers for Justice” group against the decision issued by the Ministry of Economy, which imposed restrictions on its registration, is scheduled to take place.
The second session regarding the appeal filed by “Lawyers for Justice” group against the decision issued by the Ministry of Economy, which imposed restrictions on its registration, is scheduled to be held tomorrow, June 21, 2023, at the Administrative Court in Ramallah. This appeal is in response to the decision made by the Ministry of Economy in Ramallah on March 26, 2023, which restricted the group’s registration as a civil company based on instructions from the General Intelligence Agency, as communicated to the group. Furthermore, the first session of the aforementioned appeal was held on June 7 of the current month, during which the court adjourned for further examination of the evidence presented by the group. The group reaffirms its commitment, as stated in previous statements, to continue its work that began in 2011, defying all deliberate obstacles it faces, in order to persist in defending human rights. In the same context, the group has been monitoring since the beginning of June, 23 cases of arbitrary arrests, 15 of which are related to political and party plurality, 7 arrests related to student union activities, and one arrest related to freedom of opinion and expression. Therefore, “Lawyers for Justice” group calls upon all colleagues in legal institutions to stand with the group and support it in its legal battle until the unjust decision against it is overturned. … Lawyers for Justice June 20, 2023
Ramallah Magistrate Court issues a decision to release the political detainee Fadi Ziadah.
Today, on June 20, 2023, Ramallah Magistrate Court issued a decision to release the political detainee, the freed prisoner, Fadi Ziadah, upon posting a personal bail of 5,000 Jordanian dinars. It is worth mentioning that Ziadah has been detained by the General Intelligence Agency in Ramallah since the 5th of June of this year. Lawyers for Justice June 20, 2023
The “Lawyers for Justice” group has documented twenty cases of arbitrary arrests since the beginning of June
The group “Lawyers for Justice” closely monitors the alarming escalation of arbitrary arrests carried out by the Palestinian security forces. This campaign has targeted university students, political activists, and human rights defenders. Since the beginning of June, the group has documented 20 cases of arbitrary arrests, conducted by the Preventive Security Service and the General Intelligence Service. The backgrounds and numbers of the detainees documented by the group are distributed as follows: thirteen arrests on the basis of political and party pluralism, six arrests related to university election results, including the arrest of a staff member at Birzeit University, and one arrest related to freedom of opinion and expression. The group has also noticed attempts by the security agencies to circumvent the law through attempts to legitimize detentions. Additionally, they have endangered the rights of detainees by fabricating new charges against them or re-detaining them under the pretext of review or appeal. In addition, the group has observed the presence of signs of torture on the bodies of many detainees, and/or their testimonies before the prosecution or the court indicating that they have been subjected to torture. Therefore, “Lawyers for Justice” group calls upon the Palestinian Authority to immediately and unconditionally release these detainees and ensure their legal rights. The group also urges fellow colleagues in local and international human rights organizations to intervene for the immediate release of all detainees. … Lawyers for Justice June 18, 2023
Due to the non-attendance of the witness (W.N), the scheduled court session for the accused involved in the killing of Nizar Banat at the Special Military Court in Ramallah was once again adjourned.
On this day, Sunday, June 11, 2023, the scheduled court session for the accused involved in the killing of Nizar Banat at the Special Military Court in Ramallah was once again adjourned due to the non-attendance of the witness (W.N). The session was held in the presence of the representatives of the Military Prosecution, the fourteen defendants, and the defense lawyer. The “Lawyers for Justice” group participated in the session in the capacity of an observer, with the intention of ensuring the preservation of fair trial safeguards. Additionally, several colleagues representing both local and international institutions, were present with the same objective in mind. The session opened at 12:18 am and was promptly adjourned at 12:23 due to the Military Prosecution informing the court that the Internal Security at the Police informed the Military Prosecution, today, that the witness is currently on sick leave. The rescheduled court proceedings are scheduled to take place on Monday, June 26, 2023. Accordingly; The “Lawyers for Justice” group calls on local and international human rights institutions to attend the upcoming sessions to ensure that they are conducted impartially and without delay. … Lawyers for Justice June 11, 2023
Postponement of the session regarding the appeal submitted to the Administrative Court by the “Lawyers for Justice” group regarding the decision to restrict its registration.
The Administrative Court in Ramallah decided yesterday, Wednesday, to postpone the court session regarding the appeal filed by “Lawyers for Justice” against the decision to restrict its registration with the Companies Registrar, which the group was notified of on 26-3-2023 until 21-6-2023. In the first session of the trial, the group’s representative presented a portion of their evidence, while also requesting communication with some official departments to provide the court with additional documents and information. The court, on its part, decided to postpone the session in order to consider the group’s representative’s request in this regard. … Lawyers for Justice June 8, 2023