Palestine: Deep concern over draft law regulating work of ICHR
The Independent Commission for Human Rights has expressed its deep concern over of a draft law in the Gaza Strip regulating the work of ICHR.
The Independent Commission for Human Rights (ICHR) expresses its deep concern over the approval by members of the Reform and Change Bloc of the Palestinian Legislative Council in the Gaza Strip of a draft law regulating the work of ICHR in its second reading on 24 August 2010, after the first reading was approved earlier this month.
In a statement issued on 12 August 2010, ICHR warned of the danger of such a procedure as it ignores the quorum necessary for convention of the Palestinian Legislative Council (PLC) and constitutes a serious threat to the unity of the political and legal systems of the country.
ICHR, as the Palestinian National Human Rights Commission, views that the passing of this law in its second reading will have serious repercussions on the ongoing internal political separation, as it threatens the existence of ICHR which is the only constitutional commission still operating in both the West Bank and the Gaza Strip to document and monitor violations of human rights and promotes and protects human rights with regard to Palestinian official institutions.
Stressing the danger of the decision of the Change and Reform Bloc in the Gaza Strip, ICHR demands the following:
1. The cancelation of the decision approving the law regulating the work of ICHR by members of the Reform and Change Bloc of the PLC in the Gaza Strip because it lacks constitutional and legal powers.
2. The ICHR law to be discussed once a plenary session of the PLC is held, in the spirit of national unification.
3. The necessity of not encroaching on the work of ICHR as it is an independent national institution for human rights, basing its work on Article 31 of the Palestinian Amended Basic Law of 2003, with the mission of monitoring and protecting human rights in Palestine.
4. Human rights organizations on the local, regional and international levels, as well as the International Coordinating Committee for National Human Rights Institutions (ICC) and the Asia Pacific Forum of National Human Rights Institutions (APF) to take appropriate action to ensure that the work of ICHR is not threatened in the Gaza Strip.
Date: 26 August 2010
Source: Palestinian Independent Commission for Human Rights
