RAMALLAH, February 17, 2011 (WAFA) - Palestinian Center for Development and Media Freedoms (Mada) said on Thursday that the year 2010 witnessed a significant upsurge in attacks against journalists.
The attacks increased due to the Israeli occupation and the Palestinian internal division, according to MADA’s annual report on violations of media freedoms.
The center reported 218 violations against journalists during 2010; Israeli violations reached up to 139, while the Palestinian security’s violations in the West Bank and Gaza Strip reached up to 79.
The report exposed 12 violation types that included 99 physical assaults (89 committed by Israeli forces and 10 by the Palestinian side), 36 detentions (19 by Israel and 17 by the Palestinian security service), 32 arrests (18 by Israel and 14 by the Palestinian security service), in addition to other cases of banning coverage, travel and threats.
The media institutions were also targeted; suffering from closures, raids, piercing frequencies, and equipment seizure, it said.
According to the report, most of the violations occurred in Hebron and Jerusalem; in hebron, 53 attacks against journalists( 45 were committed by Israeli army forces), In Jerusalem, 31 violations were committed by Israeli forces during their media coverage of confrontations between Palestinian residents and israeli forces.
It condemned the international community’s unaccountability of Israel’s violations against journalists, violating article 19 of the Universal Declaration for Human Rights.
the center expressed its concern from the lack of accountability in the Palestinian Territory as it violates article 19 of the Palestinian Basic Law that guarantees freedom of opinion and expression and article 11 which ensures citizens’ personal freedom.
The report ended by demanding the Palestinian security services to respect and abid by the provisions of the Palestinian Basic Law, specially article 19, and the immediate release of all arrested journalists in Israeli and Palestinian prisons.
Y.Y./F.R.
