Human rights in the Palestinian National Authority

This article outlines the human rights record of the Palestinian Authority leadership in the West Bank and Gaza. It also outlines some Human Rights conditions experienced in the Palestinian Territories, apart from those associated with Israeli actions. For a full overview of Israel's human rights record in the Palestinian territories, please see Human Rights in Israel - Record in the Occupied Territories.

Governmental structure

The Palestinian National Authority (PNA or PA; _ar. السلطة الوطنية الفلسطينية "As-Sulta Al-Wataniyya Al-Filastiniyya" _he. הרשות הפלסטינית "Harashut Hafalastinit") is an interim administrative organization that governs parts of the West Bank and all of the Gaza Strip, which are part of the Palestinian Territories. Established in 1994, it was part of the Oslo accords between the Palestinian Liberation Organisation (PLO) and the government of Israel created to allow a limited form of Palestinian self-governance in the territories for a period of five years during which final-status negotiations would take place. The Palestinian Authority carries civil responsibility in some rural areas, as well as security responsibility in the major cities of the West Bank and the Gaza Strip. Although the five-year interim period expired in 1999, the final status agreement has yet to be concluded despite attempts including the 2000 Camp David Summit, the Taba summit, and the unofficial Geneva Accords. In 2005 Israeli forces withdrew from the Gaza Strip, ceding full effective internal control of the territory to the Palestinian Authority.

Right of representation

According to the Palestinian "Basic Law", signed by Arafat in 2002, the structure of the PA is based on three separate branches of power: [cite web | title=Palestine In Brief | work=POGAR.org | url=http://www.pogar.org/countries/index.asp?cid=14 | accessdate=February 19 | accessyear=2006] executive, legislative, and judiciary. From the establishment of the Palestinian Authority in 1993 until the death of Yasser Arafat in late 2004, only one election had taken place. Yasser Arafat, was elected as President of PA in 1996. After Arafat's death, Mahmoud Abbas (Abu Mazen) was elected president of the PA in 2005. The legislative branch of the PA is elected. The Judiciary Branch has yet to be completely formalized. Justice Minister Nahed Arreyes resigned in 2004 stating that he has been stripped of much of his authority over the legal system. The year before, Arafat had created a rival agency to the Justice Ministry and was accused of continuing to control the judiciary and in particular the state prosecutors. [cite web | title=Palestinian minister quits to protest lack of power | work=WashingtonTimes.com | url=http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A48935-2004Aug7.html | accessdate=December 11 | accessyear=2007]

Criminal Codes

Criminal codes from Jordan are used in the West Bank and those from Egypt are used in Gaza.Fact|date=February 2007

tatus of freedom, political rights and civil liberties

Rights and Liberties Ratings

: "Note." For PR and CL, 1 represents the most free and 7 the least free rating. "See also Freedom in the World 2006, List of indices of freedom."

Freedom House's annual survey of political rights and civil liberties, Freedom in the World 2001-2002, reports "Civil liberties declined due to: shooting deaths of Palestinian civilians by Palestinian security personnel; the summary trial and executions of alleged collaborators by the Palestinian Authority (PA); extra-judicial killings of suspected collaborators by militias; and the apparent official encouragement of Palestinian youth to confront Israeli soldiers, thus placing them directly in harm's way." [cite web | author=Waak, Erika | year=2003| title=Violence among the Palestinians | work=Humanist | url=http://articles.findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m1374/is_1_63/ai_96417155 | accessdate=February 19 | accessyear=2006]

The Palestinian Human Rights Monitoring Group reports "everyday disagreements and clashes between the various political factions, families and cities that a complete picture of Palestinian society is painted. These divisions have during the course of the al Aqsa Intifada also led to an increasingly violent ‘Intrafada’. In the 10 year period from 1993 to 2003, 16% of Palestinian civilian deaths were caused by Palestinian groups or individuals". [cite web | title=The 'Intra'fada | work=PHRMG.org | url=http://www.phrmg.org/intrafada.htm| accessdate=February 19 | accessyear=2006]

Individual freedoms and rights

Freedom of Speech

Since 1994, although a number of urban areas within the West Bank and Gaza Strip have come under the control of the Palestinian Authority, and in theory the PA has guaranteed freedom of assembly to the Palestinian population, nevertheless in practice this has been a problematic area as the right to demonstrate for opponents of the PA regime or of PA policy has become increasingly subject to police control and restriction and is a source of concern for human rights groups [cite web
url = http://cain.ulst.ac.uk/dd/report8/report8j.htm#israel
title = Israel
accessdate = 2006-07-30
year = 1998
work = Politics in Public: Freedom of Assembly and the Right to Protest
publisher = Democratic Dialogue ]

Threats of death were made against Minister Nabil Shaath for planning to participate in a conference in Italy attended by Israeli Foreign Minister Silvan Shalom by the Jenin Martyrs Brigades, the armed wing of the Popular Resistance Committees. They declared, "He will be sentenced to death if he enters. The decision cannot be rescinded, we call upon his bodyguards to abandon his convoy in order to save their lives." [cite web | title=Nabil Shaath gets death threat | work=AlJazeera.net | url=http://english.aljazeera.net/NR/exeres/52FB3D32-2E49-4481-8809-2C2B2CE2D44F.htm | accessdate=February 19 | accessyear=2006]

Nabil Amar, former Minister of Information and a cabinet member and a member of the Palestinian Legislative Council, was shot by masked gunmen after criticizing Arafat and calling for reforms in the PA in a television interview. [cite web | title=Israel halts funds for Palestinians, Abbas slams move | work=News.Yahoo.com | url=http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/nm/mideast_dc | accessdate=February 19 | accessyear=2006]

A Hamas-run council in the West Bank came under international criticism in 2005 for barring an open-air music and dance festival, on the basis of being “against Islam”.cite web
url = http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3302162,00.html
title = Palestinians torch Qalqilya YMCA
accessdate = 2006-09-21
last = Klein
first = Aaron
date = September 11, 2006
publisher = Ynetnews]

Freedom of the Press

16 Palestinian journalists have been killed or wounded by PA security forces or armed groups.cite web|date=September 19, 2006|title= Gunmen attack Wafa office in Gaza|author=KHALED ABU TOAMEH|publisher=Jerusalem Post|url=http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1157913663237&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FShowFull]

Abdullah Issa, Palestinian publisher and editor of the on-line magazine Donia al-Watan was detained in July 2006 by the Palestinian Authority for publishing a story about the theft of $400,000 from PA Foreign Minister Mahmoud Zahar while visiting Kuwait. The story casted aspersions on Hamas for having large amounts of cash while the Palestinian people were suffering from poverty. This story had appeared elsewhere in the Arabic media. Issa, accused Zahar and Hamas of interfering with freedom of the press in the Palestinian territories and expressed disappointment with Hamas's falure to reign in corruption as promised in their election platform: "Our people have the right to hold Hamas accountable for the deterioration in their living conditions,...We were hoping that the Hamas government would start chasing and arresting all the murderers and thugs who continue to roam the streets of the Gaza Strip and to open all the cases of financial corruption." Donia al_Watan offices have been attacked by masked gunmen and there have been death threats against Issa and staff. [cite web | title=PA detains Gazan editor for 'libel'| author= Khaled Abu Toameh | url=http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1153291988137&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FShowFull |accessdate=July 30|accessyear=206h]

The Al-Aqsa Martyrs' Brigades has been blamed for a number of attacks on journalists in the West Bank and Gaza Strip and the Arab television station Al-Arabiya's West Bank offices. In September 2006, a journalist was severely beaten and all the computer equipment in the office of the Palestinian Authority's official news agency Wafa. Graffiti was sprayed on the wall accusing the agency of a lack of objectivity. Fatah officials noted that PA Foreign Minister Mahmoud Zahar has accused the agency "of waging a politically-motivated campaign of incitement" against him and blamed Hamas for the attack. Khan Yunis governor Osama al-Farra condemned the attack, saying it, "reflected the continued state of anarchy and lawlessness in PA-controlled areas".

In September 2001, Wednesday, it was reported that Yasser Arafat's Tanzim had kidnapped a Palestinian cameraman who had shot film showing Palestinian citizens and police in Ramallah celebrating on 9/11/2001 following the attacks on US targets, and threatened to kill the cameraman if the item the film was shown on air. [http://www.imra.org.il/story.php3]

Freedom of Association

In 2000 the Palestinian President ratified the first Palestinian Labor Law. However, according to the Democracy and Workers' Rights Center (DWRC) the final draft lacked teeth; [Bilal Barghouthi. [http://www.google.com/search?q=DWRC+labor+law&ie=utf-8&oe=utf-8&aq=t&rls=com.ubuntu:en-US:official&client=firefox-a "Study on Palestinian Labor Disputes and the Role of Courts"] DWRC, 2007] ["Palestinian Workers Claim Their Rights in Gaza Amidst Violence and Political Chaos"] ; AdvocacyNet News Bulletin 94, March 29, 2007] late in 2005, working with Palestinian Authority legal experts, DWRC successfully achieved Palestinian Legislative Council acceptance of an alternative Palestinian Labor Law. [ [http://advocacynet.org/resource/457 "On the Record - Palestinian Civil Society Under Siege"] ; "A voice for the Voiceless," Volume 15, Issue 6: Breaking the Cycle of Dependency, June 27 2001]

The decades-old Palestinian General Federation of Trade Unions (PGFTU), which claims to represent all Palestinian workers, was incorporated into the PA upon its inception. Independent unionists assert the PGFTU lacks in internal democracy and transparency, and is dominated by Fateh (all of its general secretaries and most of its unit heads have come from Fateh). In a 2007 press release carried by the Advocacy Project, DWRC noted that internal elections had not been held since 1981. [ [http://advocacynet.org/resource/966 Independent Palestinian Unions Establish New Coalition in Drive for Worker Democracy, July 31, 2007] , accessed 28 June 2008.] These critiques have been supported by scholars Joost Hiltermann, [Joost R. Hiltermann. "Mass Mobilization under Occupation: The Emerging Trade Union Movement in the West Bank"; MERIP Reports, No. 136/137, West Bank, Gaza, Israel: Marching toward Civil War (Oct. - Dec., 1985), pp. 26-31] [Joost R. Hiltermann. "Behind the Intifada"; Princeton University Press (January 25, 1993)] Nina Sovich [ Nina Sovich. "Stifling Democracy within Palestinian Unions"; "Middle East Report," No. 215 (Summer, 2000), pp. 2-3] [Nina Sovich. "Palestinian Trade Unions"; "Journal of Palestine Studies," Vol. 29, No. 4 (Autumn, 2000), pp. 66-79] and Sos Nissen, [Sos Nissen. [http://www.hartford-hwp.com/archives/51/066.html "Anything but Workers in the Palestinian Trade Unions"] ; News from Within, April, 1996] who argue that the PGFTU has long been dominated by political factions and has in turn failed to provide effective representation for workers.

According to the PGFTU, in June 2007 Hamas seized their headquarters and ordered PGFTU staff to discuss how they were to operate under Hamas rule. According to the PGFTU general secretary, the PGFTU's refusal to negotiate led Hamas to attempt to assassinate Rasem Al Bayari, the union's deputy general secretary, three times thereafter. According to Al-Jazeera, "Saed, who has been linked to Fatah, said Hamas executive forces had seized two more offices - in Gaza and Khan Younis - taking much of the property within." [Omar Khalifa. [http://www.engageonline.org.uk/blog/article.php?id=1282 "Palestinian Union hit on all sides"] ; English.Aljazeera.net. July 2007]

In 2007, when DWRC organized the Federation of Independent and Democratic Trade Unions & Workers' Committees in Palestine representing 50,000 workers outside of the PGFTU, [ [http://advocacynet.org/resource/962 "Establishing Conference for the Coalition of Independent and Democratic Trade Unions & Workers' Committees in Palestine July 25, 2007"] ; Advocacynet, July 25, 2007] the PGFTU retaliated by informing on the Gaza head of DWRC and the independent trade union coalition to Palestinian internal security, claiming that they were affiliated with Hamas. [ [http://64.233.167.104/search?q=cache:x9Ykf19F12EJ:www.ifwea.org/archive/DWRC_appeal_eng.rtf+%22democracy+and+workers'+rights+center%22&hl=en&ct=clnk&cd=18&gl=us&client=firefox-a IFWEA archive - PGFTU informs on the Independent Workers' Committees Federation to Palestinian Internal Security, charging the independent unions and DWRC-Gaza with affiliation with Hamas] ]

Freedom of Religion

Between 1948 and 1967, many Jewish holy sites including all 48 synagogues in East Jerusalem were destroyed by Jordan, however many Jewish and Christian holy sites remain in areas controlled by the Palestinian National Authority. Under the Oslo Accords, both the Palestinians and Israel agreed to respect and protect religious rights of Jews, Christians, Muslims, and Samaritans by a) protecting the Holy Sites, 2) providing free access to the Holy Sites, and assuring freedom of worship and practice. a. Protection of the Holy Sites;b. Free access to the Holy Sites; andc. Freedom of worship and practice.The PA, however, has in some cases failed to honor these commitments (see sections below).

A Christian leader was recently quoted as saying that “ [t] here have been rampant reports of abuses and persecution in several West Bank towns taken over by the PA. Anti-Christian riots have been reported in Ramallah, Nazareth and surrounding villages as well as in towns in Gaza.”

In April 2006, major Muslim organizations, local mosques, the city's Mufti and municipal leaders in the West Bank town Qalqiliya requested the interior minister of the Palestinian Authority shut down the Young Men's Christian Association, which had operated in the town since 2000, due to missionary activity. The manager of the YMCA denied that the organization was involved in missionary activity saying, "It's not what we're about. There is no missionary activity here whatsoever. The YMCA is in the city to serve the population with financial help, sporting activities and general educational programs," and pointing to the organization's employment of many Muslims, their establishment of community programs including financing a mostly Muslim soccer club that had competed in national games. The town's Muslim leadership issued a petition demanding that the organization close down the Qalqiliya branch or face violence which read as follows: "We the preachers of the mosques and representatives of major families in Qalqiliya ask you to close the offices of the YMCA because the population of Qalqiliya doesn't need such offices, especially since there are not many Christians in our city..." It warned, "The act of these institutions of the YMCA, including attempting to convert Muslims in our city, will bring violence and tension." Three days before the delivery of this petitions, many imams spoke about the issue during Friday religious services; the following day Molotov cocktails were thrown at Qalqiliya's YMCA. In September 2006, the YMCA was given a "final notification" by local leaders. On 11 September 2006, the organization's building was broken into and torched by assialants identified by members of the local government as members of Hamas and Islamic Jihad well-known to local security forces.

Treatment of Christian sites

During 2007 many Western and Christian targets were attacked in the West Bank and Gaza. Members of local gangs and terror cells blew up and destroyed institutions linked to Western culture such as American schools, church libraries and dozens of Internet cafes. These events were largely ignored by the media.cite web | title=Ignoring the chaos, by Avi Issacharoff | work=Haaretz.com | url=http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/855677.html | accessdate=May 5 | accessyear=2007]

According to the U.S. State Department's Annual Report on Religious Freedom, 2000, “there were periodic reports that some Christian converts from Islam who publicize their religious beliefs have been harassed. Converts complained that they were mistreated and threatened. The draft Palestinian Basic Law specifically forbids discrimination against individuals based on their religion; however, the PA did not take any action against persons accused of harassment”.cite web
url = http://www.state.gov/www/global/human_rights/irf/irf_rpt/irf_occterr.html
title = 2000 Annual Report on International Religious Freedom: The Occupied Territories (Including Areas Subject to the Jurisdiction of the Palestinian Authority)
accessdate = 2006-07-31
author = Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor
date = September 5, 2000
work =
publisher = U.S. Department of State
pages =
language =
archiveurl =
archivedate =]

After a visit to the Palestinian Authority administered areas, Senator Connie Mack related on the floor of the US Senate the case of a Christian convert from Islam who was falsely charged with selling land to Jews, arrested, beaten and tortured, and held for eight months without trial. Despite being released after his family borrowed thousands of dollars for bribes, his father continued to be held, he believed as insurance of his silence on the matter. [Remarks from the Senate Floor, Senator Connie Mack, U.S. Senate -- March 3, 1999, available electronically in the Congressional Record, [http://frwebgate.access.gpo.gov/cgi-bin/getpage.cgi?position=all&page=s2205&dbname=1999_record] , pages S2202-2205]

Treatment of Jewish holy sites

Joseph's Tomb in Nablus was a site of clashes between Jews and Palestinians. The Israeli army agreed to withdraw from the site and turn over control to the Palestinian police, who had agreed to protect the site. Instead, they stood by while mobs ransacked the site and burned holy books. [ [Cohen, Richard. "Joseph’s Tomb." Washington Post, (October 10, 2000)and Greenburg, Joel. "Palestinians destroy the Israeli site that was the scene of many clashes." New York Times(October 8, 2000) at [http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/Judaism/joetomb.html] ]

Moreover, prominent members of the PA have denied Jewish historical connection to many Jewish holy sites, and PA Ministries have embedded such ideas in their press releases:

Yasser Arafat:
*"That is not the Western Wall at all, but a Moslem shrine". – Yasser Arafat. [Ma'ariv, October 11, 1996]
*"Abraham was neither Jewish nor a Hebrew, but was simply an Iraqi. The Jews have no right to claim part of the Tomb of the Patriarchs in Hebron, Abraham's resting place, as a synagogue. Rather, the whole building should be a mosque." [Yasser Arafat, Palestinian Television, September 8, 2000]

Mufti Sheikh 'Ikrima Sabri:
*"No stone of the Al-Buraq [Western] Wall has any relation to Judaism. The Jews began praying at this wall only in the 19th century, when they began to develop [national] aspirations." [PA Mufti Sheikh 'Ikrima Sabri.Kul Al-Arab, August 18, 2000]

PA Information Ministry Press Release:
*"The archeology of Jerusalem is diverse – excavations in the Old City and the areas surrounding it revealed Umayyad Islamic palaces, Roman ruins, Armenian ruins and others, but nothing Jewish. Outside of what is mentioned in the Old and New Testaments, there is no tangible evidence of any Jewish traces in the old city of Jerusalem and its immediate vicinity." [PA Information Ministry Press Release, December 10, 1997]

Al-Hayat Al-Jadeeda, PA newspaper:
*"Be alert and treat Joseph's Tomb and Rachel's Tomb as parcels of Palestinian land which must be liberated, and treat Joseph and Rachel as two people who died, like anyone else." [Excerpt from official PA newspaper, Al-Hayat Al-Jadeeda, December 1, 1997 as quoted in cite web
url = http://www.honestreporting.com/articles/45884734/reports/Denial_of_Religious_Rights_by_the_Palestinian_Authority.asp
title = Denial of Religious Rights by the Palestinian Authority
accessdate = 2006-07-31
last = Ben-David
first = Lenny
date = November 11, 2002
work = Media Critique
publisher = HonestReporting
language =
archiveurl =
archivedate =]

Right to Education

According the ministerial statistic collected in September 2005, there are 2267 schools in general education, 31001 classes, 1078488 students, and 48674 teachers in the Palestinian territories. 24% of schools are UNRWA-operated, 70% are governmental, and 6% are private. Another survey conducted in May 2005 shows that there are 138139 students enrolled in Higher Education Institutions. Between these students, 9002 (6.5%) are in community colleges, 6034 (4.4%) in university colleges, 46453 (33.6%) in Al-Quds Open University, and 76650 (55.5%) in traditional universities.

Religious versus secular, public and private education

Moves by the Hamas-run Education Ministry to impose Islamist ideals onto the educational system have been concerning to many Palestinians and outside observers. In March 2007, the Ministry pulled an anthology of folk tales narrated by Palestinian women from the curriculum, removed the book from libraries, and reportedly destroyed 1500 copies. The anthology was edited by Sharif Kanaana, a novelist and anthropology professor at Ramallah's Birzeit University, and Ibrahim Muhawi, a teacher of Arabic literature and the theory of translation. Education Minister Nasser Shaer said that the book is "full of clear sexual expressions." A story entitled, "The Little Bird," mentions private parts, and in the notes the authors say that, "the bird in the story is a symbol of femininity and that sexual subjects are a principal source of humor in Palestinian folklore".

Law enforcement

According to last Annual report of The Palestinian Human Rights Monitoring Group, in 2005, 385 Total Palestinian fatalities were recorded. Of these, 222 Palestinians were killed by Palestinians, 113 Palestinians were killed by Israelis and 50 Palestinians were killed in unclear circumstances. 9 Palestinians were killed by Israeli settlers. The same year, 51 Israelis were killed by Palestinians; 42 were civilians, 9 were members of the military.

Israelis killed 34 Palestinians in Extra-judicial killings in 2005. Palestinians killed 10 Palestinians suspected to be Israeli collaborators in vigilante assassinations in 2005.http://www.phrmg.org/pressrelease/2005/January%201,%202006.htm]

Capital punishment

Capital punishment is legal in the PA. The PA enacted 5 capital executions in 2005.

Conditions for detainees

Amnesty International has published a number of reports documenting the Palestine Authority's arrest and detention of civilians without charge. In one year at least 400 such detentions were reported, primarily of political dissidents to the Palestine Authority [http://www.amnesty.org/ailib/aireport/ar98/mde21.htm] . In that single year Amnesty International found: "Torture [by the Palestine Authority] of detainees remained widespread. Seven detainees died in custody. Unlawful killings, including possible extrajudicial executions, continued to be reported."

Exposure of civilian targets to military action

In November 2006, 50 veiled Palestinian women responded to a Hamas radio appeal to act as human shields between Israeli soldiers and Palestinian gunmen hiding in a Gaza mosque. Women acted as a cover against Israeli troops allowing armed men occupying the Mosque to escape. 2 of these women were killed by Israeli forces. [ [http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,20867,20698726-1702,00.html Israeli troops kill women in mosque siege] ] In two further instances in November, 2006, civilians were called to protect sites known to be targeted for attack by the IDF, in one instance by the owner of the targeted home, Mohammedweil Baroud, a commander in the Popular Resistance Committee and by calls broadcast from local Mosques. The Human Rights Watch has condemned this behavior saying, "There is no excuse for calling civilians to the scene of a planned attack...Whether or not the home is a legitimate military target, knowingly asking civilians to stand in harm’s way is unlawful.”. [ [http://hrw.org/english/docs/2006/11/22/isrlpa14652.htm OPT: Civilians Must Not Be Used to Shield Homes Against Military Attacks] ]

The Palestinian Authority has also been accused of using civilians as human shields and civilian property such as houses as sites for smuggling arms, [ [http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3326689,00.html Egypt uncovers arms tunnel:700 meters tunnel dug in bedroom of Palestinian on Egyptian side, emerges in Rafah] ] launching sites for rockets, and factories to produce munitions, thereby exposing them to harm from Israeli Defense Forces military operations. Civilian deaths caused by these strikes are widely publicized in the media and create favorable public opinion for the PA and negative public opinion against Israel.

Hakam Balawi has stated, "... It is prohibited to launch rockets and to fire weapons from houses, and that is a supreme Palestinian interest that should not be violated because the result is barbaric retaliation by the occupying army and the citizenry cannot accept such shooting. Those who do it are a certain group that does not represent the people and nation, doing it without thinking about the general interest and public opinion in the world and in Israel. There is no vision or purpose to the missiles; the Palestinian interest is more important" [cite web | title= Palestinian lawmakers: Arafat evading promises of reform | work=Haaretz.com | url=http://web.archive.org/web/20041011130341/http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/462724.html | accessdate=August 11 | accessyear=2004]

The firing of Qassam rockets from the Gaza Strip into Israel has been opposed by those living closest to the firing location due to Israeli military responses. On July 23, 2004 a family attempted to physically prevent the Al-Aqsa Martyrs' Brigades from setting up a Qassam rocket launcher outside their house. Members of the brigade shot one member of the family, an Arab boy, and wounded 5 others. [cite web
url = http://www.israelnn.com/news.php3?id=66197
title = Attempted Kassam Launch Leads to the Death of an Arab Child
accessdate = 2006-08-07
date = July 23, 2004
publisher = IsraelNationalNews
language =
archiveurl =
archivedate =] [cite web | title= Group Says New Israeli Expansion Breaks Vow | work=NYTimes.com | url=http://www.nytimes.com/2004/07/23/international/middleeast/23CND-MIDE.html?hp | accessdate=February 19 | accessyear=2006] [cite web | title= Gaza youth shot dead; Arafat says PA not in crisis | work=Haaretz.com | url=http://web.archive.org/web/20040726043850/http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/455377.html | accessdate=February 19 | accessyear=2006] [cite web | title= Teen dies in Palestinian clash | work=BBC.co.uk | url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/middle_east/3920181.stm | accessdate=February 19 | accessyear=2006]

Personal status issues

tatus of women

Women have full suffrage in the PA. In the 2006 elections, women made up 47 per cent of registered voters. Prior to the elections, the election law was amended to introduce a quota for women on the national party lists, resulting in 22 per cent of candidates on the national lists being women. The quota's effectiveness was illustrated in comparison with the district elections, where there was no quota, and only 15 of the 414 candidates were women. [ [http://domino.un.org/UNISPAL.NSF/db942872b9eae454852560f6005a76fb/236f02cf539aa9418525710600587785!OpenDocument STATEMENT OF PRELIMINARY CONCLUSIONS AND FINDINGS: Open and well-run parliamentary elections strengthenPalestinian commitment to democratic institutions"] ; European Union Election Observation Commission, West Bank and Gaza 2006, January 26, 2006]

Hamas has begun enforcing some Islamic standards of dress for women in the PA; women must don headscarves in order to enter government ministry buildings. [http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070305/ap_on_re_mi_ea/palestinians_book_ban_1] ]

Honor killings are a problem in the PA; the Hamas government has not moved to stop these killings and may have set up infrastructures which participate in them. According to the 2005 Annual report of The Palestinian Human Rights Monitoring Group, 11 Palestinian women died as a result of Honor killings in 2005. [cite press release
publisher= Palestinian Human Rights Monitoring Group
date= January 4, 2006
url= http://www.phrmg.org/pressrelease/2005/January%201,%202006.htm
format=
title= Annual Summary
accessdate= 2006-07-31 ] A November 2006 Human Rights Watch report, A Question of SecurityViolence against Palestinian Women and Girls, [ [http://hrw.org/reports/2006/opt1106/ A Question of Security:Violence against Palestinian Women and Girls] ] notes that, "a significant number of women and girls in the Occupied Palestinian Territories (OPT) are victims of violence perpetrated by family members and intimate partners. While there is increasing recognition of the problem and some Palestinian Authority (PA) officials have indicated their support for a more forceful response, little action has been taken to seriously address these abuses. Indeed, there is some evidence the level of violence is getting worse while the remedies available to victims are being further eroded." The report discusses spousal and child abuse, rape, incest, and “honor” crimes. The report suggests that reasons for the PA's failure to respond to the violence include, "discriminatory laws that condone and perpetuate such violence and the virtual absence of institutionalized policies to prevent violence, assist victims, and hold perpetrators accountable". The report outlines Jordanian laws in force in the West Bank and Egyptian laws in Gaza, "include provisions that provide a reduction in penalty to men who kill or attack female relatives committing adultery; relieve rapists who agree to marry their victims from any criminal prosecution; and allow only male relatives to file incest charges on behalf of minors". In addition, HRW interviewed Palestinian police officers, including chiefs of police who, "downplayed the severity of violence against women in the OPT and questioned the need for their involvement in the dissemination of potentially life-saving information to victims." The report also noted that, "police officers and clan leaders regularly “mediate” and “resolve” these cases, typically by returning the abused women to the “care and protection” of her attacker, without ever referring the case to the courts or the woman to social or other services she might need". While Human Rights Watch acknowledged, "the severe constraints that the Israeli occupation imposes upon the PA," they concluded that, "notwithstanding these limitations, the PA holds ultimate responsibility for protecting victims and holding perpetrators accountable...and that PA is failing to act diligently to prevent, investigate, and punish violence against women, putting women’s health and lives in jeopardy. Ultimately, the PA is denying victims their rights under international human rights law to non-discrimination and an effective judicial remedy for abuse".

Crimes against women accelerated during 2007. Cases of women being beaten are common in the Gaza strip. Women murdered for "family honor" are seldom reported. Most women who are murdered are buried by members of their family in secret, and their deaths are not reported to any official body. The Palestinian media also refrain from reporting on this, for the sake of "family honor."

Israeli officials say Hamas in the Gaza Strip has established hard-line Islamic courts and created the Hamas Anti-Corruption Group, which is described as a kind of "morality police" operating within Hamas' organization. Hamas has denied the existence of the anti-corruption group, but it was recently report to have carried out a high-profile "honor killing" widely covered by the Palestinian media.

tatus of gay people

Homosexuality is considered a crime under the Palestinian authority. [http://www.tnr.com/doc.mhtml?i=20020819&s=halevi081902 Refugee Status] . Written by Yossi Klein Halevi, published in the "New Republic.'] Gays who are caught by the Palestinian police are sent to jail and then forced to become undercover police agents, sent to "ferret out homosexuals." One such 21-year old Palestinian gay man was caught by his own brother having gay sex, and turned over to the local Palestinian police. He went through the following ordeal:

He was arrested and hung by his arms from the ceiling. A high-ranking officer he didn't know arranged for his release and then demanded sex as payback. Tayseer fled Gaza to Tulkarem on the West Bank, but there too he was eventually arrested. He was forced to stand in sewage water up to his neck, his head covered by a sack filled with feces, and then he was thrown into a dark cell infested with insects and other creatures he could feel but not see. ("You slap one part of your body, and then you have to slap another," he recounts.) During one interrogation, police stripped him and forced him to sit on a Coke bottle. Through the entire ordeal he was taunted by interrogators, jailers, and fellow prisoners for being a homosexual.

Because of such persecution, he eventually moved to Israel. He chooses not to go back to the Palestinian authority, he explains, because "The police will kill me. Unless my father gets to me first."

According to Shaul Ganon of the Tel-Aviv based gay rights group, Agudah, "The P.A.'s usual excuse for persecuting gays is to label them collaborators--though I know of two cases in the last three years where people were tried explicitly for being homosexuals." "It's now impossible to be an open gay in the P.A." Ganon says that Islamic law is the main justification for such treatment of homosexuals under the Palestinian Authority.

ee also

*Human rights
*Human rights in Israel

External links

Notes and references