Yet another Palestinian civil society leader targeted by Israel: Addameer Chairperson Abdullatif Ghaith receives ban from leaving the country
9 August 2012
Joint Statement
As organizations dedicated to the promotion and protection of
human rights in the Occupied Palestinian Territory (OPT), the
Palestinian Council of Human Rights Organizations (PCHRO), expresses
its utmost dismay at the recent Israeli decision to ban Addameer
Prisoner Support and Human Rights Association Chairperson Abdullatif
Ghaith from travelling abroad. Mr. Ghaith, a 71-year-old East Jerusalem
resident, is one of the founders of Addameer and has been serving on
its Board for the past 20 years. He is also a well-known public figure
resulting from his long history of human rights activism in Jerusalem
and the rest of the OPT, in addition to his prominent political
activism including his run for Palestinian Legislative Council
elections in 2006.
On 2 August 2012, Mr. Ghaith received
a phone call from Israeli intelligence representatives requesting that
he present himself immediately to Moskobiyyeh interrogation center in
Jerusalem. Upon presenting himself the following day, Mr. Ghaith was
ordered to sign an order banning him from travelling abroad. The ban,
which is signed by Israeli Interior Minister Eli Yishai, will remain in
place until 31 January 2013. The order claims that Mr. Ghaith
constitutes a threat to “state security”, although no evidence is given
to support such claim.
This is not the first time Mr. Ghaith
has been targeted by Israel for his human rights activism. The current
order banning him from travelling abroad is in addition to an existing
ban that prevents him from entering the West Bank (as defined by
Israel). This West Bank ban originally came into effect on 10 October
2011 for a duration of six months, although it was subsequently
extended for an additional six months in April 2012 and is now due to
expire in September 2012. Furthermore, since becoming Chairperson of
Addameer, Mr. Ghaith has been held without charge or trial in Israeli
prison under administrative detention on three separate occasions,
lasting for six months on each occasion. His most recent administrative
detention lasted from June 2004 to January 2005.
The continued targeting of Mr. Ghaith
cannot be viewed in isolation but must rather be viewed within a much
broader context of a systematic attempt by Israel to suppress
Palestinian civil society and stifle Palestinian development, while
strengthening Israel’s occupation. Evidence of this repression can be
seen in the increasing number of Palestinian civil society
organizations that have been ordered to close, particularly in East
Jerusalem, and the targeting of human rights defenders throughout the
OPT. Other prominent members of Palestinian civil society have also
been targeted in the same manner by Israel, such as the director of
human rights organization Al-Haq, Shawan Jabarin, who has been banned
from travelling abroad since 2006, with two exceptions this year in
which his travel was highly restricted.
Human rights defenders are formally
defined as persons who work, peacefully, for any or all of the rights
enshrined in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Mr. Ghaith’s
life’s work on behalf of political prisoners—inspired by his own
experience as a prisoner—clearly falls within the category of a human
rights defender, in that his activities are peaceful in nature and
aimed at the promotion of human rights. According to Mr. Ghaith,
“Israel considers every activity that tackles Israeli violations of
human rights as a threat to state security. Israel wants its occupation
to proceed without any accountability. This is not an issue of an
individual; it involves all Palestinians.”
The PCHRO strongly condemns the
travel ban imposed on Mr. Ghaith and continued Israeli attempts to
silence Palestinian civil society. The ban on Mr. Ghaith not only
violates his fundamental human rights, namely his right to freedom of
movement, but also disregards the special protections afforded to him
as a human rights defender according to the United Nations General
Assembly Declaration on human rights defenders.
The PCHRO therefore calls on the
international community to intervene immediately with the Israeli
authorities to lift all bans restricting Mr. Ghaith’s freedom of
movement so that he may continue to carry out his human rights work
unimpeded. In particular, the PCHRO calls on the United Nations Special
Rapporteur on the situation of Human Rights Defenders to intervene with
Israel and raise the case of Mr. Ghaith and other Palestinian human
rights defenders, such as Mr. Jabarin. The PCHRO also urges the
European Union, especially the EU High Representative for Foreign
Affairs and Security Policy, to act in accordance with its decision to
“throw its full weight behind advocates of liberty, democracy and human
rights throughout the world” by consistently bringing up with Israel
its continued infringements of the special protections afforded to
Palestinian human rights defenders, as well as calling for the lifting
of the travel bans imposed on Mr. Ghaith and Mr. Jabarin.
The Palestinian Council of Human Rights Organizations:
 |
Addameer Prisoners’ Support and Human Rights
Association Sahar Francis General Director |
 |
Aldameer Association for Human Rights Khalil Abu Shammala General Director |
 |
Al-Haq Shawan Jabarin General Director |
 |
Al Mezan Center for Human Rights Issam Younis General Director |
 |
Badil Resource Center for Palestinian Residency and
Refugee Rights Najwa Darwish General Director |
 |
Defence for Children International Palestine Section Rifat Kassis General Director |
 |
Ensan Center for Human Rights and
Democracy Shawqi Issa General Director |
 |
Hurryyat - Centre for Defense of
Liberties and Civil Rights Helmi Al-araj General Director |
 |
Jerusalem Center for Legal Aid and Human Rights Issam Aruri General Director |
 |
Ramallah Center for Human Rights Studies Iyad Barghouti General Director |
 |
Women’s Centre for Legal Aid and
Counselling Maha Abu Dayyeh General Director |
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