135 the Interior Minister’s decision to appoint a preparatory committee to run the Association in Beit Omar was abolished. This was instead of the previous elected General Assembly, due to the Interior Minister’s violation of the Charitable Associations Law of 2000. The court decision was not implemented and the Interim Committee continued to run the Association during 2010. According to the Non‐governmental Department at the Ministry of the Interior, the Association’s General Assembly will be invited in two months to elect a new administrative board, instead of the interim committee appointed by the Interior Ministry earlier in 2009.169 According to the information obtained by ICHR from the NGOs General Administration at the Interior Ministry, five committees for temporary associations were appointed in 2010. This is due to the resignation of the majority of the members or some of them from these associations according to the Ministry of the Interior. These associations include As‐Sabaq Society for Intellectual Creativity/Ramallah, the Palestinian Center for Sustainable Development/Ramallah, Burin Association/Nablus, Ihsan Charitable Society/Hebron, and the National Orthodox Charitable Society/Bethlehem.170 Ministry of the Interior’s Exercise of Financial and Managerial Audit Power and Freezing of Associations’ Bank Accounts Article (6) of the Charitable Association Law clearly states that the authority to conduct financial and managerial audits of the performance of an association is vested with the competent ministry which mandate requires it to oversee the activities carried out by the association. Nevertheless, the Ministry of the Interior monitored the performance of (192) societies in 2010. The Monetary Authority has also imposed new restrictions on the opening of bank accounts for associations. It has become a standard bank requirement to demand that any association desiring to open bank accounts should first obtain an official letter from the Ministry of the Interior indicating its official registration status before such account could be opened. This practice also violates Article (31) of the Associations Law, which gives the association the right to deposit its money at one or more of the accredited banks when the association finalizes the prerequisites for registration as specified in the law. According to the Monetary Authority, the bank accounts of any association would be at risk of having its accounts frozen if the association fails to obtain the required letter. B) 169 170 “ “