Executive Summary
ICHR further calls upon MOL to conduct active and real inspection of
the workplaces to ensure that the public safety measures are in place,
especially in the buildings and establishments under construction where a
remarkable number of deaths occurs every year.
In line with the right to access information, it is necessary that the Judicial
Authority, Ministry of Interior (MOI), Public Prosecution, and Security
Agencies in the West Bank and Gaza Strip publish information in relation
to the procedures and measures adopted regarding different rights, and the
accountability measures adopted to affect these rights, especially the right
to life. Further, they should also publish this information to be accessible
by everybody easily and with no complications.
2.1.2 The Right to Physical Integrity
In 2017, the State of Palestine joined the Optional Protocol to the Convention
against Torture and other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or
Punishment 2002, making it the fifth Arab state that joins the protocol
which aims at establishing a national and international system to prevent
torture, including establishing a National Preventive Mechanism (NPM)
to Prevent Torture that pays unannounced visits to the detention and arrest
centers to prevent torture, in coordination with the UN Subcommittee
on Prevention of Torture.
On the other hand, ICHR detected 898 alleged violations against the right
to physical integrity; including 350 allegations in the West Bank. The
types of violations against the right to physical integrity ranged between
physical or moral assaults outside of the detention centers, physical torture
or threats during custody within the detention centers, in addition to the
cruel, inhumane, and degrading treatment. ICHR recorded 155 cases or
physical or moral assaults outside of the detention center; 98 in the West
Bank and 57 in Gaza Strip. It also recorded 571 cases of physical torture
or threats during custody within the detention centers; 203 in the West
Bank and 368 in Gaza Strip. Additionally, it recorded 172 cases of cruel,
inhumane, and degrading treatment; 50 in the West Bank and 122 in Gaza
Strip, which is slightly lower than the number recorded in the past years.
In 2017, it was observed that the number of violations against the right to
The Independent Commission for Human Rights (ICHR)
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