Al Mezan condemns the restrictions on media and the EF assaults on journalists

Al Mezan Center for Human Rights, 24/08/07. Restrictions on the media work have substantially increased in Gaza recently. And so are assaults on journalists while covering events in the field. The Executive Force (EF), Hamas' main policing body in Gaza, arrested four journalists today, Friday 24 August 2007. Members of the EF also beat a number of journalists and disbanded them violently as they gathered to protest attacks on them and restrictions on the freedom of the press. They also caused damage to two of their cameras while trying to seize them.

Many journalists were present near the 'Unknown Soldier's' Park downtown Gaza City Friday afternoon in order to cover a mass prayers called for by Fatah movement. A large demonstration marched Gaza's main street after the prayers. Demonstrators chanted Fatah songs and waved Fatah flags. However, when it approached the central security compound of As-Saraya, some of them threw stones at the compound. Eyewitnesses, including journalists, told Al Mezan that the organizers attempted to stop those and to change the route of the demonstration. However, the EF's members opened fire in the air and chased the demonstrators to disband them. A few demonstrators were arrested. EF members also assaulted journalists.

Al Mezan's fieldworker reported that Khalid Bulbul, a cameraman working for Palestine TV, was arrested, beaten and mistreated inside the As-Saraya compound. Additionally, a group of men in civilian wear and carrying handguns chased the journalists Muhammad Al-Baba, AFP's cameraman, Mustafa Al-Baiyd, the cameraman of Russia Today TV, and Ibrahim Dahman, the cameraman of France 2 TV. They arrested them and took them into the same As-Saraya security compound.

Other journalists who were at the scene told Al Mezan that they saw Muhammad Al-Baba being apprehended inside a Magnum Jeep used by the EF, and being beaten by EF members. They said that they saw Al-Baba's head outside the vehicle and heard him crying for help when one of his captors slapped him on the face. Mustafa Al-Baiyd was also beaten.

Another journalist, Abdul-Rahman Shana'a who works for Reuters, gave an affidavit to Al Mezan in which he said EF members tried to stop him and opened fire over his head as he tried to escape from them. He said EF members tried to take his camera and that it was damaged. Another journalist, Ahmad Hassouna, who works for the German TV ZDF, was also beaten and had his camera damaged.

Journalists Al-Baba, Bulbul, Al-Baiyd and Dahman were detained in an EF office. In their affidavit to Al Mezan they said that an EF officer asked them to appear on the Al-Aqsa TV (which is run by Hamas) and refute the news that they were detained or beaten. They said they refused to do so and assured him that they would say the truth about what they had experienced. They were released one hour after their arrest. They were also given back their video tapes. The EF asked them to return copies of the tapes. One journalist, Al-Baiyd, said that EF members refused to let him eject the tape from his camera and that they damaged the camera when they tried to take the tape out of it.

Al Mezan Center for Human Rights expresses its solidarity with the journalists in Gaza and its full support for them in their efforts to carry out their legitimate duties. The Center emphasizes the importance of the role of free press in the promotion and protection of human rights and democracy in Palestine.

Al Mezan, while denounces the throwing of stones at the As-Saraya compound, condemns the use of unnecessary force by the EF and particularly the assaults on the journalists while covering the event. Despite the frequent announcements by the EF's spokespersons, in which they assert their respect of the media and journalists and describe the attacks on them as 'individual mistakes', such attacks have routinely occurred in Gaza.

Al Mezan calls for respecting the freedom of the press. Without freedom, the press cannot play its role towards democracy, combating corruption and promoting human rights. It will only be a stage for incitement and fueling internal struggles.

Al Mezan therefore strongly condemns all the conducts infringing upon the freedom of the press and expression in the Palestinian society. It calls for an immediate halt of such assaults by the EF and all restriction on the freedom of journalists to pursue their duties. No journalist should be subjected to detention or assault solely because of his/her profession. EF's members who are involved in such conducts, whether by ordering or committing them, must be held accountable before the law.

PCHR Calls for an Immediate Investigation into the Attacks on Journalists and Demonstrators in Gaza

PCHR Palestinian Centre for Human Rights Press Release

Ref: 103/2007

Date: 25 August 2007

Time: 11:30

PCHR strongly condemns the attacks perpetrated by the Executive Force yesterday against journalists covering a peaceful demonstration organized by Fatah supporters in Gaza City. The Executive Force dispersed the demonstration by force. The Centre reiterates its call to the dismissed government in Gaza and to the Executive Force to respect human rights, especially the rights of freedom of expression, freedom of journalism, and right to peaceful assembly, which are protected by the Palestinian Basic Law and International Human Rights Law.

The Center’s preliminary investigation indicates that thousands of Fatah supporters held Friday Prayers on 24 August 2007 in the “Unknown Soldier” Park in Gaza City to protest what they described as the “incitement and politicization of Friday Sermons in Mosques.” After the end of prayers at about 13:30, a demonstration consisting of thousands of Fatah supporters headed towards Palestine Square. When the demonstration reached Gaza Central Prison, some youth threw rocks at Executive Force members deployed in the area. Some of the demonstrators tried to prevent the youth from throwing rocks; and the demonstration headed away from the prison towards Jala Street. However, the Executive Force fired heavily in the air, and dispersed the demonstration by force, attacking some demonstrators in the process. In addition, members of the Force attacked journalists covering the prayer and demonstration, and tried to prevent them from doing their work by confiscating their cameras. Four journalists were detained by the Executive Force and taken to Gaza Central Prison:

- Khaled Bolbol from Palestine TV.

- Mustafa El-Bayed from Russian TV.

- Mohammad El-Baba from AFP.

- Ibrahim Dahman from French TV.

The journalists were held for one hour before their release.

Khaled Bolbol informed PCHR’s fieldworker that Hamas supporters near Abu Khadra Mosque, close to Gaza Central Prison, beat and cursed him after learning that he worked for Palestine TV. He said that 4 members of the Executive Force traveling in a jeep detained him and took him to Gaza Central Prison. He stated that they beat him all over his body on the way to the prison.

Mustafa El-Bayed stated that he was near Gaza Central Prison with Mohammad El-Baba and Ibrahim Dahman, and were covering the attacks by the Executive Force on the demonstrators and journalists after stones were thrown at them. He said that the Force members chased them. The 3 journalists tried to flee; but a car intercepted them; and 4 civilian-clothed persons detained them and took them to Gaza Central Prison. El-Bayed’s camera was damaged on the way to the prison.

Abed Rabbo Shana’a, a photographer from Reuters, gave the following testimony to PCHR, “I was doing my job and covering the events near Gaza Central Prison and the attacks by the Executive Force on journalists. I tried to leave the place quietly. However, four members of the Force saw me. They ordered me to stop at gunpoint. One of them put his palm to the camera lens; and the others tried to confiscate the camera and tape. I asked them to sort this out in our office, but to no avail. I argued with them; and the correspondent of Al-Jazeera, Wa’el El-Dahdouh, tried to intervene. They started firing in the air to force me to surrender the camera. I managed to escape.”

Wa’el El-Dahdouh, Al-Jazeera Correspondent, gave the following statement to PCHR, “I saw members of the Executive Force chasing the photographer Abed Rabbo Shana’a. The caught him. I got out of the car from which I was covering the events. I tried to intervene and told the Force members that Shan’a was a journalist; and that the issue can be resolved in the office. However they refused. I told them to call the Executive Force press office; but they did not respond. They were determined to confiscate Shana’a’s camera. The raised their guns and fired in the air, causing Shana’a to flee without the Force confiscating the camera.”

As soon as news of the journalists’ detention was broadcast on Palestine TV, some of the detained journalists stated that the Executive Force Commander in Gaza Central Prison offered to have Al-Aqsa TV, which is pro-Hamas, to broadcast a denial of their detention. However the journalists refused.

PCHR is concerned over the recurrence of attacks on freedom of expression, freedom of journalism, and the right to peaceful assembly, and:

- Affirms that the right to peaceful assembly, including demonstrations, is protected by the Palestinian Basic Law and the Law of General Assemblies No. 12 for the Year 1998, conditional that these assemblies are peaceful.

- Calls for investigating the attacks on journalists and detaining 4 of them and preventing them from doing their work; and calls for taking legal action against the perpetrators.

- Affirms the need to provide protection to journalists and media outlets, and to take the necessary steps to ensure their freedom in conducting their work.

Public Document

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For more information please call PCHR office in Gaza, Gaza Strip, on +972 8 2824776 - 2825893

PCHR, 29 Omer El Mukhtar St., El Remal, PO Box 1328 Gaza, Gaza Strip. E-mail: pchr@pchrgaza.org, Webpage http://www.pchrgaza.org

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