25 February 2017

09/2017

The Independent Commission for Human Rights (ICHR) monitored the unfortunate events which took place on Saturday, 25 February 2017, in the Hebron city. Security agencies used force against participants in a peaceful demonstration organised at the call of the Liberation Party in Palestine. Security personnel assaulted and beat protestors with batons, fired tear gas grenades, opened fire in the air and arrested a number of participants in the demonstration.

According to ICHR monitoring, the Liberation Party organised a peaceful demonstration near to the Ibn Rushd roundabout in the Hebron city. Organisers had duly submitted a written notice to the Hebron Police District Director 48 hours before the protest had been held. The demonstration was conducted in protest against Palestinian security agencies, which continued to detain 15 members of the Liberation Party on grounds of a sit-in protest held two weeks earlier against the transfer of title of the Abraham’s Oak Holy Trinity Monastery (Al-Muscobiya) to the Russian Mission.

According to ICHR documentation, a joint security force, including personnel in civilian clothes, surrounded the protestors. Following an altercation with participants in the demonstration, security personnel used force to disperse the protestors. Security personnel used batons, fired tear gas grenades and opened fire in the air. A number of protestors were injured as a result of tear gas inhalation. Others sustained contusions.

The ICHR is of the view that the right to peaceful assembly and public meetings is among the fundamental rights enshrined in Article 26(5) of the Palestinian Basic Law. Prohibition of this right is in violation of the law. The use of disproportionate force against peaceful gatherings and attacks on protestors have been so recurrent that they are no longer a result of personal mistakes. Against this background, the ICHR demands that:

1. Official agencies abide by the law and safeguard public freedoms, including the right to freedom of peaceful assembly and public meetings.
2. Security personnel refrain from using disproportionate force against peaceful protestors. Security agencies must also adhere to the Code of Practice on the Use of Force and Firearms.
3. The Military Prosecution investigate the reported events and bring offenders before the Military Justice Authority in due form. The ICHR reiterates its call on the President to issue clear instructions to all security agencies, preventing security personnel who are not in uniform from engaging directly with demonstrations and gatherings. Individuals in civilian clothes entail a definite risk to community safety, threaten personal life and endanger property. Concealed identity of security personnel confuses the public and sparks a reaction, which might lead to adverse consequences.

Ends