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Communiqué du PCHR

PCHR Condemns Dispersal of Hizb ut Tahrir’s Demonstrations in the West Bank

Lundi, 4 juillet 2011 - 15h35

Monday 4 July 2011

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The Palestinian Centre for Human Rights (PCHR) condemns measures taken by the government in Ramallah against activities organized by the Hizb ut Tahrir (the Islamic Liberation Party). PCHR also condemns the mistreatment of dozens of Palestinians by security officers yesterday. The mistreatment included arrests, beatings and opening fire. PCHR stresses that the right to peaceful assembly is ensured under the Palestinian Basic Law and international human rights instruments.

According to investigations conducted by PCHR, Palestinian security services in the West Bank imposed restrictions on demonstrations organized by the Hizb ut Tahrir commemorating “the 90th anniversary of the collapse of the Muslim Caliphate.” Dozens of activists and members of the Hizb ut Tahrir were beaten, arrested or held by security members in Hebron, Tulkarm, Nablus and Ramallah.

In Hebron, more than 20 Palestinians were injured because they were violently beaten by security officers and others suffered from tear gas inhalation during the dispersal of a peaceful demonstration organized by Hizb ut Tahrir supporters on Saturday afternoon, 02 July 2011

According to eyewitnesses and victims, after the Asr (the afternoon) Prayer, hundreds of supporters of the Hizb ut Tahrir organized a peaceful demonstration starting from Sheikh Ali al-Bakkaa Mosque towards Bab al-Zawya Square and nearby streets. The demonstrators were surrounded by large forces from the Palestinian police backed by forces from the National Security Service.

The security forces stopped the demonstration. Without prior warning, they dispersed the peaceful demonstration by firing tear gas canisters directly at the demonstrators. They also chased the demonstrators through the streets and beat some of them.

Some of the demonstrators scuffled with the police members resulting in dozens of arrests. Twenty demonstrators,[1] bystanders and owners of shops, including old persons and children, sustained wounds and bruises. The wounded were transferred by ambulances belonging to the Palestine Red Crescent Society to Hebron Hospital and other medical centers.

In Nablus, a large demonstration started after the Asr Prayer from the Great Mosque in the old city of Nablus. The demonstration was organized by members of the Hizb ut Tahrir. The marchers walked towards the center of Nablus carrying black flags and chanting slogans against the Arab regimes. When the demonstrators were approximately 50 meters from the Great Mosque, a number of persons in civilian clothes who were among the demonstrators started to push some of the demonstrators and violently beat them.

Two other people stood in front of the demonstration and opened fire into the air. Because of the rapidly deteriorating situation a large number of the demonstrators left the scene. The rest of the demonstrators continued walking and the two persons who had the pistols opened fire at the demonstrators’ legs. As a result, 6 demonstrators were wounded and were transferred to hospitals. After dispersing the demonstration, security forces arrested one person.

In Tulkarm, a demonstration organized by the Hizb ut Tahrir after the Asr Prayer started from Uthman Bin Affan Mosque to Jamal Abdul Nasser Square. One of the demonstrators was giving a speech when he was attacked by 4 members of the civil police who demanded that he stop his speech, and the police then quarreled with his colleagues. The demonstrators ended the demonstration and the security services, backed with additional forces, arrested a number of the members of the Hizb ut Tahrir.

In Ramallah, at approximately 08:30 on Saturday morning, Palestinian security services erected checkpoints near all the entrances of Ramallah. They checked passengers’ ID cards and cars and arrested persons suspected of being members of the Hizb ut Tahrir preventing them from entering Ramallah to participate in the demonstration scheduled by the Party. At approximately 14:30, approximately 100 members of the Hizb ut Tahrir gathered near Urabi crossroads in the south of Ramallah. They carried the Party’s flags and chanted slogans. Large forces from the police and other security services surrounded them and prevented them from walking to the center of Ramallah. The security forces fired into the air to disperse the demonstration. They beat the demonstrators and dozens of demonstrators sustained wounds and bruises. In the same context, security forces used force to prevent the organization of a demonstration of the Hizb ut Tahrir in the center of Ramallah. They arrested 170 members of the Hizb ut Tahrir who did manage to enter Ramallah.

PCHR strongly condemns the restrictions imposed by the government in Ramallah on the activities of the Hizb ut Tahrir, and:

1. Strongly condemns the acts of security forces to prevent of the organization to their right to have public and private peaceful assemblies, and the use of force to disperse demonstrations. PCHR stresses that civilians have the legal right to organize public assemblies and to organize peaceful demonstrations in accordance with the law.
2. Emphasizes that the police have no right reject any public meeting, peaceful demonstrations, or any other type of peaceful assembly, and that the law provides that organizers should only “inform” the governor or police, as the police has the right to take measures to “organize the traffic.”
3. Reiterates that the right to peaceful assembly is ensured under the Palestinian Basic Law and by international human rights instruments.

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