22 nov 2018
The First Instance Court in Qalqilia, in the northern West Bank, on Wednesday, sentenced two Palestinians to 15 years in prison, with hard labor, after convicting them of selling Palestinian land to Israelis.
The two, from the village of Kufr Thuluth, were part of a ring of land dealers involved in the attempt to sell lands in Jerusalem, Qalqilia, Nablus, Tulkarem and inside Israel, as well, to Israelis, in a deal that was supposed to have taken place last January.
The Palestinian Preventive Security said, on its website, on Monday, that its units were able to arrest four people, one of them a lawyer, suspected of plotting to sell land to Israeli parties. While the Israeli parties were not identified, they were assumed to be settlers.
According to WAFA, the organization said that one of the people involved was hiding in Israel, and that another, a land dealer from inside Israel, have conspired with the rest of the ring members to sell land worth over $10 million to Israelis.
Palestinian law bans sale of land in the West Bank and Gaza to non-residents of Palestine without a prior approval from the Council of Ministers.
The two, from the village of Kufr Thuluth, were part of a ring of land dealers involved in the attempt to sell lands in Jerusalem, Qalqilia, Nablus, Tulkarem and inside Israel, as well, to Israelis, in a deal that was supposed to have taken place last January.
The Palestinian Preventive Security said, on its website, on Monday, that its units were able to arrest four people, one of them a lawyer, suspected of plotting to sell land to Israeli parties. While the Israeli parties were not identified, they were assumed to be settlers.
According to WAFA, the organization said that one of the people involved was hiding in Israel, and that another, a land dealer from inside Israel, have conspired with the rest of the ring members to sell land worth over $10 million to Israelis.
Palestinian law bans sale of land in the West Bank and Gaza to non-residents of Palestine without a prior approval from the Council of Ministers.
16 oct 2018
In the context of their security coordination with the Israeli occupation state, the Palestinian Authority (PA) security forces arrested two ex-detainees after summoning them for interrogation.
In al-Khalil, the PA preventive security agency detained a young man identified as Imad Addin al-Hor, a former prisoner in Israeli jails, after summoning him for interrogation on Tuesday morning.
In Tubas, another ex-detainee called Rami Shuraida was also arrested after he was interrogated by the PA intelligence apparatus.
In a related context, three university students have been in PA jails for several days, with no guilt.
One of them, Owais al-Ori, has been on hunger strike for about three days in protest at his detention illegally.
In al-Khalil, the PA preventive security agency detained a young man identified as Imad Addin al-Hor, a former prisoner in Israeli jails, after summoning him for interrogation on Tuesday morning.
In Tubas, another ex-detainee called Rami Shuraida was also arrested after he was interrogated by the PA intelligence apparatus.
In a related context, three university students have been in PA jails for several days, with no guilt.
One of them, Owais al-Ori, has been on hunger strike for about three days in protest at his detention illegally.
10 oct 2018
Today, 10 October, coincides the World Day against Death Penalty when calls are annually renewed by the countries of the world to work on abolishing this penalty from its legislation, considering it as an inhuman penalty that is incompatible with the values of justice and goals of punishments that aim at rehabilitating the offenders and not wiping them off.On this occasion, the Palestinian Center for Human Rights (PCHR), reiterates its call for abolishing this penalty from the Palestinian legislation.
PCHR more than once has called upon the President to issue a law by decree to suspend the death penalty until the Palestinian Legislative Council (PLC) convenes to amend the Penal Code in order to abolish death penalty.
In June 2018, State of Palestine acceded to the Second Optional Protocol to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), aiming at the abolition of the death penalty. Thus, Palestine now has an international obligation to abolish this penalty, and continuing applying it is considered a grave breach of Palestine’s international obligations.
Article 1 of this Protocol provides that: “1. No one within the jurisdiction of a State Party to the present Protocol shall be executed. 2. Each State Party shall take all necessary measures to abolish the death penalty within its jurisdiction.”
Despite signing the Protocol, the official authorities have not yet taken any measures to give effect to its obligation. Moreover, the Palestinian Authority has not yet made any attempts to suspend or abolish the death penalty in the Palestinian legislation.
Since its establishment, PCHR has always rejected the application of death penalty in Palestine and based on legal, objective, and human justifications, outweighing the considerations of justice over the political bickering and desire for retaliation.
PCHR believes that the judicature in Palestine, particularly in the Gaza Strip, does not have the expertise and tools need for such a sentence as serious as the death penalty that is irreversible in case the accused person was found not guilty.
Moreover, the investigation and trial proceedings include many violations, such as systematic torture during investigations and bringing civilians before Military Courts, in grave breaches of the international law and standards. Thus, the sentence becomes invalid.
It should be mentioned that in 2018, the number of death sentences issued has so far risen to 7 sentences; all of them were issued in the Gaza Strip.
Five of sentences were issued by courts of first instance, while the 2 others; one by the Court of Appeal upholding a previous sentence and the other by Court of Cassation.
Thus, the total number of death sentences issued in the PA controlled areas has risen to 207 since 1994, 30 of which have been issued in the West Bank and 177 in the Gaza Strip. Among those issued in the Gaza Strip, 119 sentences have been issued since 2007.
PCHR has noticed a significant increase in the application of the death penalty in the Gaza Strip since the beginning of the Palestinian division and Hamas takeover on the Gaza Strip, particularly in the last 3 years. In 2017, 19 new death sentences were issued; 16 sentences were issued in 2016; and 12 sentences were issued in 2015.
However, a significant decline in the application of death sentence was recorded in the West Bank courts as during the last 3 years, only 3 death sentences were issued; all of them in 2015. Meanwhile, 2016 and 2017 and even 2018 have not witnessed issuance of any death sentence in the West Bank.
Furthermore, since the establishment of the PA, 41 death sentences were applied, 39 of which were in the Gaza Strip and two in the West Bank. Among the sentences applied in the Gaza Strip, 28 were applied since 2007 without the ratification of the Palestinian President in violation of the law.
In addition, in 2017 only, 6 death sentences were applied in the Gaza Strip, which is the highest number of those sentences applied in one year since the takeover of Hamas on the Gaza Strip in 2007.
It is noteworthy that 9 death sentences were applied following the formation of the National Unity Government in 2014 while no death sentences has so far been applied during this year.
It should be noted that the Palestinian President has not ratified any death sentence since 2005. The death penalty requires ratification of the President to be applied as codified in Article 109 of the Palestinian Basic Law (PBL) which provides that “A death sentence pronounced by any court may not be implemented unless endorsed by the President of the Palestinian National Authority.”
The death sentences in the Gaza Strip were applied upon the ratification of the deposed government there in explicit violation of the law which provides the ratification of the president himself and continued doing so until the formation of the National Unity Government in June 2014.
Later, a new way to ratify the death sentences to be executed in the Gaza Strip was renovated as the Change and Reform Bloc which convenes on behalf of the PLC is now granting the ratification. PCHR has repeatedly emphasized that such ratification is invalid and does not give any legal cover for the implementation of the death sentence.
PCHR stresses its complete rejection of applying any death sentence and considers that the implementation of death sentences without the ratification of the Palestinian President is an extra-judicial execution which demands effective accountability.
PCHR also emphasizes that any decision issued by any other authority regardless of its legality or the authority it represents will not ever replace the President’s ratification.
On the World Day against Death Penalty, PCHR stresses the seriousness of using this inhuman punishment and will continue working with the national and international partners to abolish completely this penalty from all legislations in Palestine.
Thus, PCHR reiterates its call upon the Palestinian President to commit to its obligation under the Second Optional Protocol to ICCPR to which the State of Palestine has acceded and make immediate amendments to the Penal laws applicable in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip; the 1936 Penal Code applicable in the Gaza Strip and 1960 Penal Code applicable in the West Bank. CHR reiterates its call for suspending the 1979 Revolutionary Penal Code for its unconstitutionality.
PCHR also calls for ending the application of death sentences in the Gaza Strip and emphasizes that the attempt to replace the ratification of the President with the ratification of the Change and Reform Bloc in the Gaza Strip is legally invalid and has no value.
PCHR more than once has called upon the President to issue a law by decree to suspend the death penalty until the Palestinian Legislative Council (PLC) convenes to amend the Penal Code in order to abolish death penalty.
In June 2018, State of Palestine acceded to the Second Optional Protocol to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), aiming at the abolition of the death penalty. Thus, Palestine now has an international obligation to abolish this penalty, and continuing applying it is considered a grave breach of Palestine’s international obligations.
Article 1 of this Protocol provides that: “1. No one within the jurisdiction of a State Party to the present Protocol shall be executed. 2. Each State Party shall take all necessary measures to abolish the death penalty within its jurisdiction.”
Despite signing the Protocol, the official authorities have not yet taken any measures to give effect to its obligation. Moreover, the Palestinian Authority has not yet made any attempts to suspend or abolish the death penalty in the Palestinian legislation.
Since its establishment, PCHR has always rejected the application of death penalty in Palestine and based on legal, objective, and human justifications, outweighing the considerations of justice over the political bickering and desire for retaliation.
PCHR believes that the judicature in Palestine, particularly in the Gaza Strip, does not have the expertise and tools need for such a sentence as serious as the death penalty that is irreversible in case the accused person was found not guilty.
Moreover, the investigation and trial proceedings include many violations, such as systematic torture during investigations and bringing civilians before Military Courts, in grave breaches of the international law and standards. Thus, the sentence becomes invalid.
It should be mentioned that in 2018, the number of death sentences issued has so far risen to 7 sentences; all of them were issued in the Gaza Strip.
Five of sentences were issued by courts of first instance, while the 2 others; one by the Court of Appeal upholding a previous sentence and the other by Court of Cassation.
Thus, the total number of death sentences issued in the PA controlled areas has risen to 207 since 1994, 30 of which have been issued in the West Bank and 177 in the Gaza Strip. Among those issued in the Gaza Strip, 119 sentences have been issued since 2007.
PCHR has noticed a significant increase in the application of the death penalty in the Gaza Strip since the beginning of the Palestinian division and Hamas takeover on the Gaza Strip, particularly in the last 3 years. In 2017, 19 new death sentences were issued; 16 sentences were issued in 2016; and 12 sentences were issued in 2015.
However, a significant decline in the application of death sentence was recorded in the West Bank courts as during the last 3 years, only 3 death sentences were issued; all of them in 2015. Meanwhile, 2016 and 2017 and even 2018 have not witnessed issuance of any death sentence in the West Bank.
Furthermore, since the establishment of the PA, 41 death sentences were applied, 39 of which were in the Gaza Strip and two in the West Bank. Among the sentences applied in the Gaza Strip, 28 were applied since 2007 without the ratification of the Palestinian President in violation of the law.
In addition, in 2017 only, 6 death sentences were applied in the Gaza Strip, which is the highest number of those sentences applied in one year since the takeover of Hamas on the Gaza Strip in 2007.
It is noteworthy that 9 death sentences were applied following the formation of the National Unity Government in 2014 while no death sentences has so far been applied during this year.
It should be noted that the Palestinian President has not ratified any death sentence since 2005. The death penalty requires ratification of the President to be applied as codified in Article 109 of the Palestinian Basic Law (PBL) which provides that “A death sentence pronounced by any court may not be implemented unless endorsed by the President of the Palestinian National Authority.”
The death sentences in the Gaza Strip were applied upon the ratification of the deposed government there in explicit violation of the law which provides the ratification of the president himself and continued doing so until the formation of the National Unity Government in June 2014.
Later, a new way to ratify the death sentences to be executed in the Gaza Strip was renovated as the Change and Reform Bloc which convenes on behalf of the PLC is now granting the ratification. PCHR has repeatedly emphasized that such ratification is invalid and does not give any legal cover for the implementation of the death sentence.
PCHR stresses its complete rejection of applying any death sentence and considers that the implementation of death sentences without the ratification of the Palestinian President is an extra-judicial execution which demands effective accountability.
PCHR also emphasizes that any decision issued by any other authority regardless of its legality or the authority it represents will not ever replace the President’s ratification.
On the World Day against Death Penalty, PCHR stresses the seriousness of using this inhuman punishment and will continue working with the national and international partners to abolish completely this penalty from all legislations in Palestine.
Thus, PCHR reiterates its call upon the Palestinian President to commit to its obligation under the Second Optional Protocol to ICCPR to which the State of Palestine has acceded and make immediate amendments to the Penal laws applicable in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip; the 1936 Penal Code applicable in the Gaza Strip and 1960 Penal Code applicable in the West Bank. CHR reiterates its call for suspending the 1979 Revolutionary Penal Code for its unconstitutionality.
PCHR also calls for ending the application of death sentences in the Gaza Strip and emphasizes that the attempt to replace the ratification of the President with the ratification of the Change and Reform Bloc in the Gaza Strip is legally invalid and has no value.
29 sept 2018
Two Palestinian citizens suffered serious bullet injuries after soldiers from a Palestinian Authority (PA) security apparatus stormed at dawn Saturday al-Karmal area in Yatta city and clashed with armed residents.
Local sources told the Palestinian Information Center (PIC) that PA security forces entered the area at the pretext of looking for wanted citizens and suddenly traded fire with locals.
They added that Sami Maghnam and a young man from the family of Dababsa were critically injured in the gunfight and transferred to al-Ahli Hospital.
Local sources told the Palestinian Information Center (PIC) that PA security forces entered the area at the pretext of looking for wanted citizens and suddenly traded fire with locals.
They added that Sami Maghnam and a young man from the family of Dababsa were critically injured in the gunfight and transferred to al-Ahli Hospital.
5 sept 2018
The Palestinian Authority (PA) security forces at dawn Thursday detained a Palestinian young man from his parents’ home in Balata refugee camp, east of Nablus.
Local sources told the Palestinian Information Center (PIC) that Fayez Arafat received threats from the security authorities in Nablus ordering him to turn his son in.
The sources added that the father had to take his son at dawn to the security authorities following the threats.
Ammar was released from a PA jail about two months ago after he spent one year suffering from abuse and maltreatment.
Local sources told the Palestinian Information Center (PIC) that Fayez Arafat received threats from the security authorities in Nablus ordering him to turn his son in.
The sources added that the father had to take his son at dawn to the security authorities following the threats.
Ammar was released from a PA jail about two months ago after he spent one year suffering from abuse and maltreatment.
31 aug 2018
A few weeks after his release from a West Bank jail, the Palestinian Authority (PA) intelligence apparatus summoned journalist Sa’eid Abu Ajhaisha, from Idna town in al-Khalil, for interrogation.
Ajhaisha said on his Facebook page that the PA intelligence officer phoned him and told him to come to his office for an interview, affirming that he would not respond to the summons.
The journalist works as a program host for several radio stations in al-Khalil and is exposed to constant persecution by the PA security authorities because of his political opinions.
Ajhaisha said on his Facebook page that the PA intelligence officer phoned him and told him to come to his office for an interview, affirming that he would not respond to the summons.
The journalist works as a program host for several radio stations in al-Khalil and is exposed to constant persecution by the PA security authorities because of his political opinions.
7 july 2018
The Palestinian MP Ahmad al-Haj Ali, deputy on Nablus in the Palestinian Legislative Council, stressed that the political arrests practiced by the Palestinian Authority (PA) security forces against residents in the West Bank threaten the future of the Palestinian Cause and prove that the PA serves the Israeli occupation and the US.
In a press statement on Saturday, Haj Ali opined that the Israeli occupation has turned the PA into a power that works against the interest of the its own people and that the PA’s practices have caused division among the Palestinian people.
“If Fatah Movement and the PA are serious in seeking a real reconciliation, they need first to halt their suppression and offensives in the West Bank”, he said.
In a press statement on Saturday, Haj Ali opined that the Israeli occupation has turned the PA into a power that works against the interest of the its own people and that the PA’s practices have caused division among the Palestinian people.
“If Fatah Movement and the PA are serious in seeking a real reconciliation, they need first to halt their suppression and offensives in the West Bank”, he said.
15 june 2018
Gaza prisoners, who are affiliated with the Fatah Movement, has announced their intention to go on open-ended hunger strike on the third day of Eid-ul-Fitr holiday, June 17, in protest at suspending their stipends by the Palestinian Authority and its government in Ramallah.
In a statement, the prisoner accused the PA of discriminating against them and not giving them treatment like other Fatah prisoners from the West Bank.
They demanded the PA to issue an edict releasing their monthly allocations immediately, saying they would not accept any pledges in this regard.
In a statement, the prisoner accused the PA of discriminating against them and not giving them treatment like other Fatah prisoners from the West Bank.
They demanded the PA to issue an edict releasing their monthly allocations immediately, saying they would not accept any pledges in this regard.
25 may 2018
Palestinian Authority (PA) intelligence chief Majed Faraj has sent a letter to his Israeli counterpart Nadav Argaman warning against any step to end the blockade on the Gaza Strip or alleviate the population’s suffering.
According to the Hebrew media, Faraj threatened in his letter to the Shin Bet head that PA president Mahmoud Abbas would halt security coordination with Israel if the latter accepted any deal that ends the blockade on Gaza.
The PA made such threat after Israeli news reports talked recently about Egyptian and Qatari proposals for a renewed long-term truce between Hamas and Israel that leads to an end to the blockade on Gaza.
According to a report by Israel’s Channel 10 on Wednesday, there are currently two proposals on the table from Egypt and Qatar.
Israel has reportedly demanded a complete cessation of rocket fire and tunnel building, in addition to respecting the security perimeter at the Gaza border and a solution regarding the Israeli captives held in Gaza.
In return, Israel will substantially reduce restrictions at Gaza’s border crossings, including permitting the entry of goods and services to the impoverished enclave, on the condition that they will not be used to boost Hamas’s armed wing. Egypt will also lessen its restrictions at its Rafah crossing with Gaza.
According to the channel’s report, Arab officials believe the truce is also of interest to moderate Arab states and that Cairo will take on the responsibility for monitoring the implementation of the agreement.
Officials, however, have voiced concern that such arrangement might fail as president Mahmoud Abbas will stand against it because he does not want such a deal with Hamas, therefore they consider overlooking the role of the Palestinian Authority in this regard.
The issue of Gaza is said to seriously concern the Trump administration, reported Channel 10, and they are keen to see clam in Gaza and a response to the humanitarian situation.
However, the US wishes to see such progress in Gaza in order to pave the way for its peace plan, and is inciting Arab states to publicly declare that Hamas is responsible for the situation in Gaza, according to the channel.
The truce proposals have come after weeks of Israeli suppression of protests on the Gaza border.
According to the Hebrew media, Faraj threatened in his letter to the Shin Bet head that PA president Mahmoud Abbas would halt security coordination with Israel if the latter accepted any deal that ends the blockade on Gaza.
The PA made such threat after Israeli news reports talked recently about Egyptian and Qatari proposals for a renewed long-term truce between Hamas and Israel that leads to an end to the blockade on Gaza.
According to a report by Israel’s Channel 10 on Wednesday, there are currently two proposals on the table from Egypt and Qatar.
Israel has reportedly demanded a complete cessation of rocket fire and tunnel building, in addition to respecting the security perimeter at the Gaza border and a solution regarding the Israeli captives held in Gaza.
In return, Israel will substantially reduce restrictions at Gaza’s border crossings, including permitting the entry of goods and services to the impoverished enclave, on the condition that they will not be used to boost Hamas’s armed wing. Egypt will also lessen its restrictions at its Rafah crossing with Gaza.
According to the channel’s report, Arab officials believe the truce is also of interest to moderate Arab states and that Cairo will take on the responsibility for monitoring the implementation of the agreement.
Officials, however, have voiced concern that such arrangement might fail as president Mahmoud Abbas will stand against it because he does not want such a deal with Hamas, therefore they consider overlooking the role of the Palestinian Authority in this regard.
The issue of Gaza is said to seriously concern the Trump administration, reported Channel 10, and they are keen to see clam in Gaza and a response to the humanitarian situation.
However, the US wishes to see such progress in Gaza in order to pave the way for its peace plan, and is inciting Arab states to publicly declare that Hamas is responsible for the situation in Gaza, according to the channel.
The truce proposals have come after weeks of Israeli suppression of protests on the Gaza border.
21 may 2018
Palestinian Authority (PA) security forces have persisted in targeting Palestinian citizens in the West Bank by carrying out arrest campaigns against activists of the Islamic bloc, the student wing of Hamas Movement, after winning the elections of students’ union council in Birzeit University in Ramallah.
PA intelligence forces apprehended four members of the Islamic bloc after presenting a play that criticized the PA performance during the electoral campaign in Birzeit University. The fifth member of the group had to sit in at campus in protest at his expected arrest.
Another student of an-Najah National University, Mutasem Saqf al-Heit, survived detention by the PA security forces who broke into his home in Nablus city to arrest him but he was not at home. He had served 6 years of imprisonment in Israeli jails.
As for Israeli occupation forces, three students of al-Quds University are still detained in al-Maskobiya investigation center in Occupied Jerusalem.
Moreover, an Israeli court sentenced another student of al-Khalil University to five-month imprisonment in Israeli jails.
PA intelligence forces apprehended four members of the Islamic bloc after presenting a play that criticized the PA performance during the electoral campaign in Birzeit University. The fifth member of the group had to sit in at campus in protest at his expected arrest.
Another student of an-Najah National University, Mutasem Saqf al-Heit, survived detention by the PA security forces who broke into his home in Nablus city to arrest him but he was not at home. He had served 6 years of imprisonment in Israeli jails.
As for Israeli occupation forces, three students of al-Quds University are still detained in al-Maskobiya investigation center in Occupied Jerusalem.
Moreover, an Israeli court sentenced another student of al-Khalil University to five-month imprisonment in Israeli jails.
