and 27 in the Gaza Strip. The rights of detained persons were disrespected on
694 occasions, including 251 in the West Bank and 443 in the Gaza Strip. The
ICHR also documented 56 cases of failure to enforce court decisions on the
immediate release of detained persons (54 instances in the West Bank and two
in the Gaza Strip). In the Gaza Strip, civilians continued to be detained on orders
from the Military Justice Authority. According to the ICHR documentation,
eleven civilians were detained on the basis of orders issued by military courts.
On 19 September 2018, the Justice Sector Development Committee submitted
its final report to the President, including recommendations to amend some
regulations relating to the Judicial Authority (e.g. Law on Penal Procedure).
The Committee recommended that the Penal Procedure Law be amended
with a view to allowing an accused person to be represented by a legal
counsel before the Police, enhancing safeguards for defendants and ensuring
control over detention procedures. The Committee also proposed to amend
the Law by Decree on the High Criminal Court mentioned above. As at the
time of writing, however, no executive measures have been taken to put these
recommendations into effect.
The ICHR sent letters to the boards in charge of criminal accountability at
security agencies in both the West Bank and the Gaza Strip. The Commission
requested information about the number of security personnel, who were
held to account for committing acts that constituted a violation of the right
to liberty and security of person in 2018. However, the ICHR did not receive
any information from relevant agencies on the security personnel, who were
subject to criminal or disciplinary measures for abusing the right to liberty and
security of person.
The ICHR reiterates its recommendations of previous annual reports. Mainly,
the Jordanian Law on the Prevention of Crime in force in the West Bank needs
to be expressly and categorically repealed. In parallel, governors should no
longer detain citizens by orders they issue (i.e. administrative detention).
Explicitly binding legal provisions need to be enacted to provide fair
compensation and remedies to victims of unlawful detention. The Public and
Military Prosecutions should immediately refer security personnel found to
have engaged in abuses of the right to liberty and security of person to criminal
investigation. Administrative accountability measures should be enforced
to persons accused of abusing the right to liberty and security of person by
means of serious administrative investigations. Administrative sanctions
will be imposed on those found to have been involved in abusing this right.
Meantime, operative security legislation, including the Law by Decree on the
Police, should be amended.
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The Status of Human Rights in Palestine