Number: 74/2023
Date: 6/8/2023
Native language: Arabic
Press release
The International Commission “Hashd”condemns the security services’ prohibition of peaceful gatherings in the Gaza Strip.
On Friday 4/8/2023, the International Commission to Support Palestinian Rights “Hashd” monitored the security services’ prevention in the Gaza Strip of peaceful gatherings called for by the popular movement “We Want to Live” to protest deteriorating economic conditions and demand an improvement in living conditions. The Gaza government deployed security forces in police uniforms and civilian clothing in all governorates of the Gaza Strip to prevent citizens from participating in peaceful assemblies and marches, as the security forces immediately dispersed any number of individuals present in the gathering places, where some of the participants were assaulted and others were arrested and released after hours of detention.
On the other side, security forces detained many journalists, including Muhammad al-Baba and Bashar Talib, for 40 minutes and confiscated their equipment and tours. After questioning them at the Jabalia police station, they were released and the equipment and tours were returned to them, although journalist Muhammad Abu Aoun’s phone was confiscated and he was asked not to cover. The security services prohibited journalists Muhammad Al-Haddad and Ihab Fasfous from covering the media in the city of Khan Yunis. In the Gaza Strip, journalists Fouad Jarada and Muammar Abu Tabikh from Palestine TV received a warning from an unknown number not to cover any action.
The International Commission “Hashd”: affirms the right to freedom of opinion, expression, and peaceful assembly, rights guaranteed under the Palestinian Basic Law, the Public Meetings Law of 1998, and a number of international human rights standards; it is not permissible to confiscate or justify its prevention; and it records and demands:
The International Commission “Hashd”: requests that the Public Prosecutor investigate all abuses and violations that occurred in conjunction with the marches and hold those responsible accountable in a manner that ensures the submission of all security institutions and agencies to the rule of law and the protection of public freedoms and citizens’ rights.
The International Commission ” Hashd”: Demands that government authorities in the Gaza Strip take all necessary steps to guarantee freedom of expression, opinion, and peaceful assembly, eliminate any limitations, and prevent violations.
The International Commission “Hashd”: Calls on government agencies to deal with the protesters’ demands from a human rights perspective, to review economic and tax policies and plans, and services provided to citizens in a way that contributes to alleviating people’s suffering, and to open dialogue with all sectors, official and civil authorities, the private sector, and youth, in order to ensure the strengthening of citizens’ steadfastness and the protection of their right to a decent standard of living. And its maintenance of the rule of law and civil peace, especially in light of the disastrous repercussions of the Israeli blockade, the collective sanctions imposed by the authority on the Strip, and the continuation of the state of division, in a way that guarantees confronting the disastrous economic and humanitarian conditions experienced by the residents of the Strip.
Finished.
The International Commission to Support Palestinian Rights (Hashd).
