RAMALLAH, February 22, 2011 (WAFA) – Al-Dameer Association for Human Rights said Tuesday that it was following up with “great concern” recent reports of assault on the rule of law and restrictions imposed on public freedoms in the Gaza Strip.
It said in a statement that it “sees that these measures violate human rights system and public freedoms of Palestinian citizen, which is guaranteed under national laws, agreements, and international conventions.”
Al-Dameer said that in the last week, large numbers of youths from all over the Gaza Strip were summoned for interrogation by the Hamas’ security forces. They were questioned about an initiative posted on Facebook by a group of Palestinians and calling for an end to internal split.
According to Al-Dameer’s field investigations, dozens of violations were documented and monitored. “These violations are represented by restrictions on public freedoms and right to peaceful assembly, in addition to the detention of citizens and subjecting them to torture, cruel and ill treatment,” it said.
“These conducts constitute an assault on the rule of law and come in the context of the security chaos,” it charged.
Al-Dameer said it on February 11, a number of Palestinians held protests after the Friday prayer in a mosque in Khan Younis calling for an end to political split and the Israeli siege imposed on the Gaza Strip. Gaza policemen dressed in civilian clothes immediately arrived at the scene and started dispersing the participants and confiscating their posters and banners. The policemen attacked the protesters and arrested most of them.
The correspondent of German television, Shawki Yehia Al Farra, 42, was also assaulted during the mass rally. He was beaten while he was performing his job. The police confiscated his identity papers and his digital camera.
At the same time, said Al-Dameer, several people were assaulted while they are taking pictures with their cellular phones from the roofs of their homes. Policemen in civilian clothes raided a number of homes and assaulted residents.
According to an affidavit by Mahmoud Khmais Shurab, 18, a group of policemen raided his family home. The policemen hit him on the head causing him to lose conscious. He was also arrested and interrogated about filming the assault on the rally from the roof of his home.
Members of Hamas’ General Investigation Bureau (GIB) also summoned on February 11 several Fatah activists from Khan Younis and Rafah and questioned them about a mass rally called on the same day by a group on the social networking site Facebook against the Gaza authority.
Al-Dameer also registered several other summonses by the Gaza security forces against local activists also because of their work on Facebook.
At least one person was summoned to the police center in Gaza because he arrived at his office on the holiday marking Prophet Mohammed's birthday.
“Al-Dameer condemns all Palestinian human rights violations and asserts that achieving safety to Palestinian citizen depends on protecting public freedoms and providing democracy to all citizens in order to express their opinion freely,” said the statement.
Al Dameer emphasized that civilians “have the full and legitimate right to organize public meetings, sit-ins and peaceful demonstrations according to legal regulations.”
It said that it was “concerned over the recurrence of attacks against the right to freedom of opinion and the right to peaceful assembly, and stressed that they are guaranteed under the Palestinian Basic Law and international human rights standards.”
The human rights organization demanded that the Gaza authorities open an immediate investigation into these attacks, prosecute perpetrators and take action in order to prevent the recurrence of such incidents.
M.A.
