Memo on the Assault of a Citizen on the Background of his Candidacy in the Local Elections

Date 2022-01-11

LOCATION West Bank

Category West Bank / Announcement / Core Program / position paper

Ladies and Gentlemen in the Central Election Commission (CEC),

Subject: Assault on a Citizen on the Background of his Candidacy in the Local Elections

The Palestinian Center for the Independence of the Judiciary and the Legal Profession “Musawa” expresses its best regards, and acknowledges its receipt of a written complaint from lawyers representing the citizen Ameen Ali Mohammad Yousef Arman from Ein-Yabrud, Ramallah District (Lawyers for Justice), stating that he was physically assaulted by a group of plainclothes armed men who tried to break into his car, and when Arman asked them to identify themselves, they indicated that they were members of the Palestinian Intelligence Service, and tried to prevent him from entering his town and arrested him forcefully and violently, on the backgrounds of his candidacy in the local elections, the complaint also stated that Arman is still being persecuted and harassed, noting that he participated in the first phase of the elections as a candidate in one of the winning lists.

We at the Palestinian Center for the Independence of the Judiciary and the Legal Profession "Musawa", view the complaint, if true, as a grave violation of the Basic Law, especially Articles 9, 10, 26, and 32, and of the Local Elections Law. Furthermore, such violation constitutes a blunt intervention prevents the citizen from exercising their right to vote and stand for elections, and negatively affects the political and public environment in which freedom of opinion, expression, and participation of all Palestinian citizens must be guaranteed, in accordance with the Basic Law and the applicable electoral legislations.

Therefore, we ask your esteemed commission to take the necessary legal action regarding the complaint that is the subject of the present memo, in a manner that guarantees the rights of the complainant and other citizens, and also guarantees holding the perpetrators of the assault accountable in accordance with the law, hoping that you will provide us with the appropriate action duly taken by your esteemed commission.

With respect

Issued on: 11.01.2022

MUSAWA