2017-11-09

Ramallah

Human Rights Defenders / West Bank / position paper

Dissolving the joint security committee, repealing its powers, and closing its detention centers are urgent requirements for promoting the rule of law and preserving the human dignity of the Palestinian people

The incident of Nablus court as per the statement issued by the Bar Association, and according to what has been published on the website of the High Judicial Council is a serious attack against the rule of law and the judiciary, and a blatant violation of the Basic Law. The international treaties have been disregarded, and human rights have been seriously prejudiced. This is an imprescriptible crime whose perpetrators shall be held accountable. It is a message of repression conveying that the legal profession has no value in a country run by a security committee that holds the power to break into a courtroom and arrest a lawyer while performing his duties and before the eyes of judges. The said incident and the following statement by Nablus’s Governor as well as the statement of the Ministry of Interior, today 09/11/2017, which has been accompanied by the blocking of entrances to the city of Ramallah, which lasted for more than an hour, in order to prevent lawyers from participating in their peaceful demonstration in front of the Council of Ministers, while the Prime Minister himself made no effort to communicate with the protesters, is an expression of a political will which does not believe in the rule of law, human rights or the principle of separation of powers. The transformation of the security services into an imperium-in-imperio which pursues a policy of muzzling, repression and the security approach in carrying out its duties towards human rights and security, which has failed miserably, is one of the indicators of the collapse of the rule of law and good governance.

Supposing that what has been stated by the Ministry of Interior is valid and true, lawyer Mohammad Hussein did appear before the Public Prosecution, which conducted an investigation into the said case and decided, as the competent authority, to release him.

MUSAWA hereby declares its support for the Palestinian Bar Association standing on the matter at hand, which calls for the dissolving of the joint security committee and closing its detention centers immediately. It is a position worthy of support, as it falls within the scope of duties entrusted to the   Bar Association. In order to safeguard human dignity and to maintain the unity of the community, the judiciary, the Public Prosecution, and all of the social and political actors should be engaged as well.

Furthermore, we demand that lawyer Mohammad Hussein be released immediately, and that the crime perpetrators be held accountable.