34
Commission found that they did not hold any security personnel accountable for
committing violations of the right to freedom of opinion and expression. Through
correspondence with the Security Forces Judiciary Commission24, it was found
that it tried (18) security personnel for murder, torture, unlawful detention, and
assault on peaceful gatherings.
As for the Gaza Strip, ICHR did not receive any response from the relevant authorities
about holding any security personnel to account for committing unjust acts on
the right to freedom of opinion and expression.
ICHR reaffirms its recommendations in its previous annual reports, specifically:
•
The need for the Council of Ministers to instruct the police and security services
to stop detaining and summoning citizens or journalists on the grounds of
exercising the right to freedom of opinion and expression through social
media, and practicing journalistic and media work.
•
The necessity for President Mahmoud Abbas to intervene by instructing the
security services in the West Bank to stop detaining and summoning citizens
or journalists on the grounds of exercising the right to freedom of opinion and
expression through social media, and practicing journalistic and media work.
•
The necessity for the Ministry of Interior in the Gaza Strip to issue instructions
to the police and its security services, especially the Internal Security Agency,
to stop detaining and summoning citizens or journalists on the grounds
of exercising the right to freedom of opinion and expression. This mainly
covers their activity through social media, or speaking through the media, or
publishing data, and practicing journalistic and media work.
•
The necessity for the Ministries of Interior and Information to intervene in the
Gaza Strip to remove the restrictions imposed on Palestine TV. They should
allow the Palestine TV crews to work freely in the Gaza Strip.
1.5 Developments in the Right to Peaceful Assembly
The Commission received (29) complaints about the violation of the right to
peaceful assembly, all of them were in the West Bank, but it did not receive any
complaint about the violation of the right to peaceful assembly in the Gaza Strip.
The number of violations reached (41), all of them in the West Bank, and were all of
an economic or political nature. The types of complaints that ICHR received varied
from preventing to dispersing peaceful assemblies. This included either detaining
or assaulting some of the participants. In addition, (36) peaceful assemblies were
24 ICHR’s letter to Major General Ismail Farraj, Head of the Security Forces Judiciary Authority, dated
12/02/2020.
The Status of Human Rights in Palestine