94 The Independent Commission for Human Rights - ICHR 2.1.6.4 Restrictions on the right to freedom of association 1. Refusal to register and approve boards of CSOs based on the security clearance condition The ICHR received four complaints on violations of the right to freedom of association. These complained of the security clearance condition imposed by the Ramallah-based MoI on CSOs on the registration of CSOs or opening or activating bank accounts of these associations. Security agencies continued to subject CSOs registration to security vetting – a measure which is not provided for by the Law on Charitable Associations and Civil Society Organisations and its bylaw. Security vetting is also in conflict with the Council of Ministers’ Decision on Abolition of the Security Clearance Requirement as well as with the ruling of the High Court of Justice on the 2012 case of civil servants, which considered that the security clearance requirement to be in violation of the Basic Law. Ahl al-Kheir Association, Gaza city The Palestinian Ahl al-Kheir Association was registered in accordance with the provisions of the Law on Charitable Associations and Civil Society Organisations No. 1 of 2000. It works in the field of kindergartens, community service, awareness raising, and special health care for children, older persons, and women. In 2019, the Association was informed that its bank account had been frozen. To reactivated its account, it was required to regularise it legal position at the MoI in Ramallah. The Association held a meeting, elected a new board of directors, and emailed administrative and financial report, bylaws, and articles of incorporation to the respective email address of the MoI. In June 2021, the MoI replied to the Association, stating that it should fulfil the security clearance condition set by security agencies in Ramallah. The Association was given a respite until 31 October 2021 in order to regularise its situation. However, the MoI did not respond to the Association request to provide requirements for meeting the security clearance condition. Continued constraints on the bank accounts of CSOs operating in the Gaza Strip are an obstacle their continuity. No CSO can open its own bank account. Existing bank accounts are also at risk of freezing because Gaza-based banks require that CSOs obtain approval of relevant boards from the MoI in Ramallah, posing a direct threat to the right of these CSOs to exist. Received by CSOs, financing is of paramount importance for them to carry out their activities and achieve the purposes for which they have been established. This necessarily requires that CSOs are empowered to access active bank accounts. The reported measure is in violation of Article 7 of the Law on Charitable Associations and Civil Society Organisations No. 1 of 2000, which provides that CSOs will have a juridical personality and enjoy financial independence. Article 9(1) of the Law also prescribes that charitable associations and CSOs have the right to possess movable and immovable properties in order to achieve their objectives. Failure to do so disrupts and impedes the activity of CSOs, deprives them of exercising their rights enshrined in effective laws, and constrains and undermines their operational continuity. 2. Constraints on freedom to form and establish associations The ICHR received a complaint on the Gaza-based MoI decision, preventing all civil servants, who failed to report to work, from joining charitable associations or CSOs. These cannot be employed by, nor be board members of, CSOs.87 An association’s board that includes any such staff is not 87 Decision of the Minister of Interior in Gaza No. 48 of 2010 on Civil Servants Failing to be on Duty. The Situation of Human Rights in Palestine