Adalah, Addameer, Alternative Information Center, Al-Haq, Defence for Children International-Palestine Section, Al Mezan Center For Human Rights, Palestinian Center for Human Rights, Public Committee Against Torture in Israel and Women's Center for Legal Aid and Counselling
10 February 2006
Human rights groups based in the occupied Palestinian territories are concerned regarding the intensified Israeli campaign of “targeted assassinations” of Palestinian activists. In an open letter to diplomatic missions they stated that the policy of “targeted assassination” “not only circumvents the fundamental right to due process but also risks the further destabilisation of an already volatile political situation.” With ten Palestinians killed in the last five days the human rights groups call on the international community to demand an end to the illegal Israeli practice and to ensure the respect of international humanitarian law. Read more about Human rights groups condemn "targeted assassinations"
Al-Haq emphatically condemns yesterdays killing of four Palestinian civilians by an Israeli settler in the Shilo settlement, located between Ramallah and Nablus in the occupied West Bank. These killings are a brutal manifestation of the sustained and increasing violence inflicted upon Palestinian civilians by Israeli settlers in the Occupied Palestinian Territories, whose aggressive actions, and indeed very presence in the OPT including East Jerusalem, are violations of international law. Al Haq calls upon the Israeli government to bring those responsible for the killing of the four Palestinians before the full process of the law and rigorously investigate all instances of settler violence committed against Palestinians and their property. Read more about Four Palestinians Killed by Israeli Settler in the West Bank
Palestinian human rights organization Al-Haq is gravely concerned by recent reports that Palestinians whose land has been seized for the construction of the Annexation Wall will be offered alternative land in the West Bank. If implemented, such actions would be in gross contravention of Israel’s obligations under international law due to both the confiscation of the land affected by the Wall and the use of previously-confiscated land as an “exchange” for these recent confiscations. Moreover, such actions provide further evidence of Israel’s intention to de facto annex the territory affected by the Wall, in breach of the Palestinian right to self-determination. Read more about Al-Haq: Israel's land swap with Palestinians is illegal
Al-Haq, on the occasion of Palestinian Prisoners day, calls attention to the ongoing plight of some 7,000 Palestinian political prisoners currently detained in substandard conditions in Israeli-administered jails in Israel and the occupied Palestinian territories. As of mid-March 2005, these prisoners included 126 women and 310 children. Of the current prison population, 434 Palestinians from the OPT have been held for over 10 years, and five have been incarcerated for over 25 years. During the past four and a half years of intifada, there have been 35,000 cases of detention. Read more about Israel Continues to Deny Palestinian Prisoners their Basic Rights
On 29 September 2004, the fourth anniversary of the Palestinian Intifada, Al-Haq reminds members of the international community that Israeli authorities are continuing their flagrant disregard for international human rights and humanitarian law in the Occupied Palestinian Territories. Although a common feature of the 37 year long Israeli occupation of the West Bank and Gaza Strip, Al-Haqs documentation indicates that since the beginning of the Intifada, the perpetration of these human rights violations by Israeli authorities has increased in both scale and intensity. Read more about Four Years of Intifada: Highlights of systematic violations
Al-Haq strongly condemns the gross violations of international law displayed by Israeli authorities in the recent events involving extra-judicial killings and targeted assassinations of 12 Palestinian political activists within the past three days alone. According to eye-witness reports, Israeli forces had used deadly force from the start. In all three cases, the killings were carried out using live ammunition and the firing of missiles from tanks or helicopters. These constitute a blatant disregard for the fundamental right of everyone to the right to life and security of person, and demonstrate indiscriminate and excessive use of force by Israeli occupying forces. Read more about Al Haq condemns assassinations in Nablus and Jenin
Adalah, Al-Haq, Al Mezan Center For Human Rights, Habitat International Coalition, Palestinian Center for Human Rights and World Organisation Against Torture
22 May 2004
As the situation in Rafah and elsewhere in the Gaza Strip further deteriorates, local and international human rights organisations deplore the inaction of the international community.�The last two weeks have seen the devastation of residential areas in southern Gaza, as Israeli occupying forces have demolished hundreds of homes, cut water and electricity lines, and left over 2,000 Palestinian refugees homeless.� In a chilling development, Israeli forces have demolished houses in which the residents who have not been given warning were still inside.� Scores of Palestinians have been killed during the last two weeks, including the killing of 8 Palestinians and injuring of 41 others during a peaceful demonstration on 19 May 2004. Read more about Human Rights groups: "No State is Above the Law"
At least 30 Palestinians have died in Israeli attacks over the last four days. Hundreds of buildings have been demolished in the last two weeks, leaving over 1,160 Palestinians homeless. As the violence escalates and the death toll mounts in the Gaza Strip, Al-Haq calls on the international community to intervene and uphold their legal obligations to ensure that the fundamental rights of the Palestinian people are protected. House demolitions are a clear and blatant violation of international law. Read more about Deteriorating Situation in Gaza Strip Requires International Intervention
On the occasion of the fiftieth anniversary of the 1954 Hague Convention on the Protection of Cultural Property During Times of War and its Protocol, Al-Haq calls on the international community to uphold their obligations to ensure the protection of cultural heritage in the occupied Palestinian territories. The last two years have seen a grave escalation in damage to cultural heritage in the OPT and the scale of destruction has been unprecedented. During April 2002, Israeli occupying forces destroyed large sections of the historic Old City of Nablus as well as parts of Bethlehem and Hebron during “Operation Defensive Shield.” Read more about Al-Haq: World must stop destruction of cultural heritage in OPT
As the International Court of Justice started oral hearings in The Hague, al-Haq published its legal research on Israel’s Annexation Wall. According to al-Haq, Palestine’s oldest human rights organisation, the primary purpose of the Wall is to annex large amounts of the West Bank, ensuring that most of the illegal settlements will be on the Israeli side. Al-Haq urges the international community to uphold its obligation to ensure respect for the Geneva Conventions and support the International Court. Read more about ICJ/The Wall: Replacing Politics With Law