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
Next Wednesday, the first session will be held regarding the administrative appeal submitted by the “Lawyers for Justice” group against the decision of the Ministry of National Economy to restrict the group’s registration as a civil company.
Following the decision issued by the Ministry of National Economy on March 26, 2023 to restrict the registration of the “Lawyers for Justice” group in the corporate registry as a civil company registered with the Ministry of National Economy based on instructions from the General Intelligence agency in Ramallah, the group filed an administrative appeal before the Administrative Court in Ramallah, to cancel the decision and issue a certificate for the year 2023, which will hold its first session on Wednesday, June 7, 2023. in this context; The group confirms what it issued in a previous statement that it operates as a civil company registered with the Ministry of Economy in Ramallah, in line with the decisions and laws in force regarding civil companies to provide legal services and human rights, stated under the Articles of Association of the company with the Company’s Controller. The “Lawyers for Justice” group was also subjected to a systematic series of harassment and incitement that affected its work and its members since the beginning of its work, in an attempt to stop the group from its work in representing and advocating human rights defenders, and political detainees. And documenting the violations they are subjected to. In this context, the group affirms the continuation of its work, which it started in 2011, in defiance of all the harassment it is exposed to. During the month of May, the group followed up 34 cases of arrest against different backgrounds, distributed as follows: (23) Arrests on the basis of political and partisan pluralism, (4) Arrests on the Basis of Peaceful Assembly, (4) Arrests on the basis of student union work, (3) Arrests based on freedom of opinion and expression. In conclusion; Lawyers for Justice calls on colleagues in local and international human rights institutions to support the group in its legal quest to annul the administrative decision to freeze its registration, which came at the request of the General Intelligence Service. … Lawyers for Justice 3, June 2023
The security agencies are trying to legitimize the arrest of the detainees by fabricating criminal cases against them in the courts in order to justify their arrest.
The “Lawyers for Justice” group denounced the apparent deterioration in the human rights situation in the West Bank, and the consequent refusal of court decisions to release political detainees by the security services, which are trying to legitimize the detention of detainees by fabricating criminal cases. against them in the courts to justify their arrest. In this context, the “Lawyers for Justice” group was surprised by the insistence of the General Intelligence agency in Jericho to arrest the political detainee, and the released prisoner from the occupation prisons, Moamen Al-Qaraawi, from Nur Shams camp, who works as an English language teacher. Although two decisions were issued by the Jericho Magistrate Court to release Qaraawi, these two decisions were appealed or reconsidered to legitimize his detention. It is noteworthy that Al-Qaraawi was arrested on May 8, 2023 by members of the General Intelligence agency in Tulkarm, before being transferred to the Intelligence headquarters in Jericho. … Lawyers for Justice June 1, 2023