ICSPR: Transferring 6300 police officers to early retirement in the Gaza Strip and the West Bank is a continuation of the dismantling the public interest policy.
The International Commission to Support the Palestinian People Rights (ICSPR) followed with deep concern the local media reports about transferring 6300 police officers to early retirement in the Gaza Strip and the West Bank.
This decision was not the first of its kind; many similar decisions and steps have proceeded. All these decisions are based on law No (9) of 2017 regarding the early retirement of the Palestinian security forces, and the resolution No () of 2017 regarding the civil servants retirement. The government claims that these decisions come in the context of improving the performance of the public security services.
ICSPR reaffirms its rejection of the successive resolutions, laws and procedures against civil and security servants in the Gaza Strip or the West Bank. The improvement of the performance and reform of the security services should not be at the people price. ICSPR emphasizes on the illegality of early retirement decisions for civil servants and security servants alike, in particular that these decisions do not achieve any public interest, considering all resolutions, laws and procedures as a flagrant violation of the Basic Law and the international covenants of human rights. Thus ICSPR records and calls for the following.
1- ICSPR confirms that the decisions to refer security servants to early retirement are part of a government policy that create a sector of unemployment, contrary to the idea of retirement and its philosophy of protecting and safeguarding the dignity of the citizen (employee) and their families.
2- ICSPR sees that the transfer of civil and security servants to early retirement with 60% to 70% of their monthly salaries means throwing these employees and their families into poverty, marginalization, which is incompatible with the obligations of the Palestinian National Authority under the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights.
3- ICSPR stresses that transferring civil and security servants to early retirement means wasting their energies and expertise, and has a negative impact on human wealth, in contrast to the elements of sustainable development.
4- ICSPR urges the President Mahmoud Abbas and the Palestinian government to immediately reverse these decisions and abolish them, including removing all the consequences of early retirement decisions, ensuring that the decisions of employment matters are consistent with legal standards, and that the laws are not abused and used for political purposes.
