[News] Al-Haq Oral Statement under the Interactive Dialogue with Special Rapporteur on Counter-Terrorism

Wed Mar 16 14:47:07 EDT 2022

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*Press Release: Al-Haq Oral Statement under the Interactive Dialogue 
with Special Rapporteur on Counter-Terrorism *

On 15 March 2022, Al-Haq on behalf of partner organizations, delivered 
an oral statement under item 3, the interactive dialogue with Special 
Rapporteur the promotion and protection of human rights and fundamental 
freedoms while countering terrorism, Ms. Fionnuala Ní Aoláin, as part of 
its engagement with the Human Rights Council 49^th session. The 
statement addressed the issue of Israel’s designation of six leading 
Palestinian human rights and civil society organizations as “terrorist 
organizations” under its Counter-Terrorism Law of 2016, highlighting the 
serious effects of such criminalization based on secret evidence. The 
statement called on Ms. Special Rapporteur to announce Israel’s 
counter-terrorism law of 2016 as incompatible with basic human rights 
standards, and on States to urge Israel to revoke its baseless 
designations and recognize such attack as means to maintain Israel’s 
apartheid regime over the Palestinian people as a whole.
The oral statement read as follows:
49^th Regular Session of the UN Human Rights Council
Interactive Dialogue under Item 3
Joint Oral Intervention[i] <#_edn1>
Al-Haq, Law in the Service of Man
NGO in special consultative status with the United Nations Economic and 
Social Council
Date: 14 March 2022
Israel’s designation of the six leading Palestinian human rights and 
civil society organizations
Mr. President, Ms. Special Rapporteur,
For decades, Israel has orchestrated a systematic smear campaign against 
Palestinian human rights defenders and organizations to intimidate, 
undermine and delegitimize their work in defending and promoting 
Palestinian people’s rights, and calling for justice and accountability 
for Israeli crimes, including the crime of apartheid.
Israel’s latest attack was the designation 
<https://alhaq.us2.list-manage.com/track/click?u=10071401ba4201bc1a4992f68&id=1d27687c4d&e=08c14cf485> 
of six leading Palestinian human rights organizations as “terrorist 
organizations” under Israel’s Counter-Terrorism Law of 2016, placing 
their staff, and partners at risk of criminal charges and defunding 
their sources 
<https://alhaq.us2.list-manage.com/track/click?u=10071401ba4201bc1a4992f68&id=4aaf5f75e6&e=08c14cf485>. 
Some members of these organizations have also been subjected to a 
campaign of spyware surveillance 
<https://alhaq.us2.list-manage.com/track/click?u=10071401ba4201bc1a4992f68&id=bb76ad552e&e=08c14cf485> 
on their devices by the Pegasus spyware of the Israeli NSO Group, 
including human rights defender and lawyer Salah Hammouri 
<https://alhaq.us2.list-manage.com/track/click?u=10071401ba4201bc1a4992f68&id=57b2274856&e=08c14cf485>, 
who has been recently put on administrative detention.
Israel’s counter-terrorism law, which is unlawfully applied to the 
occupied Palestinian territory, allows issuing such designations based 
on “secret evidence,” which the Israeli authorities can refuse 
<https://alhaq.us2.list-manage.com/track/click?u=10071401ba4201bc1a4992f68&id=3d30c42b6d&e=08c14cf485> 
to disclose for “security reasons,” thus violating due process rights.
We call on the Special Rapporteur to announce Israel’s counter-terrorism 
law of 2016 as incompatible with basic human rights standards.
We further call on member states to:

  * reiterate calls made by the High Commissioner and other states to
    urge Israel to revoke the designations of the six Palestinian
    organizations; and
  * recognize Israel’s silencing efforts as means to maintain its
    apartheid regime over the Palestinian people as a whole.

In response to Al-Haq and partners’ oral statement, Ms. Special 
Rapporteur on counter-terrorism underscored that “*/civil society are 
the best of us, they are the ones who protect and insulate our societies 
from the conditions that produce violence/*,” and expressed her “*/deep 
concern about what appears to be the obliteration of the entirety of 
Palestinian civil society in the context of frames of counter-terrorism./*”
Please see Ms. Special Rapporteur on counter-terrorism response 
statement here 
<https://alhaq.us2.list-manage.com/track/click?u=10071401ba4201bc1a4992f68&id=0910a203b1&e=08c14cf485> 
(at minute 1:56:49). Or see the video uploaded on our youtube channel 
here. 
<https://alhaq.us2.list-manage.com/track/click?u=10071401ba4201bc1a4992f68&id=6a9a9dc44b&e=08c14cf485>
------------------------------------------------------------------------
***[i]* <#_ednref1>*Joining organizations: Al Mezan **Centre for Human 
Rights, Bisan Center for Research and Development, **Cairo Institute for 
Human Rights Studies, Palestinian Initiative for the Promotion of Global 
Dialogue and Democracy (MIFTAH), Habitat International Coalition, Union 
for Agricultural Work Committees, Addameer Prisoner Support and Human 
Rights Association, Palestinian NGOs Network, **Human Rights & 
Democratic Participation Center “SHAMS”, Defense for Children 
International – Palestine, Women's Centre for Legal Aid and Counseling, 
Palestinian Centre for human Rights, **Hurryyat - Center for Defense of 
Liberties and Civil Rights.*

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