Mohammed Khatib has been released on bail and he is waiting for another hearing for the charges of organizing illegal assemblies and disturbing a soldier on duty.
Khatib’s arrest is another fact that evidences the severe wave of repression that again suffers the Palestinian popular struggle and its leadership.
©Photo: Fadi Arouri – PSCC
The Palestinian human rights defender was arrested on July 3 during a nonviolent action organized by the Popular Struggle Coordination Committee (PSCC) to protest against the expansion of settlements in Betein (east Ramallah). Over 150 Palestinians demonstrated on confiscated lands belonging to the village of Betein where it is planed to build an expansion of the settlement of Beit, symbol of Israeli military’s central command and its control over the Occupied Palestinian Territories.
Nonviolent action organized by the PSCC aimed against the policy of settlement construction and expansion, discriminative division and the takeover of Palestinian land. The group of protesters was promptly repressed with tear gas and sound bombs. Journalists and media personnel were directly targeted by the Israeli Army, several people were injured and many of them suffered from gas suffocation.
At the beginning of the protest, around 15:00 pm, Israeli soldiers arrested Mohammed Khatib and he was transferred to Ofer prison. There was a preliminary hearing under military jurisdiction applied to Palestinians living in the West Bank. The charges against him are disturbing a soldier on duty and organizing illegal assemblies. Finally, he has been released on bail of 5,000 NILS (about 1,000 euros) and is waiting for the next hearing.
Following the Order Regarding Prohibition of Incitement and Hostile Propaganda Actions (Order No.101) assemblies, processions or vigils are forbidden under the Military Law applied in the West Bank and “a person who organizes a procession, assembly or vigil without a permit, calls for or instigates their being held or encourages them or participates in them in any way; or a person who violates the provisions of this Order or any order given pursuant to it or does an act that is declared an offense under this Order shall be liable for imprisonment for ten years or a fine of ten thousand liras, or both“.
This order violates the right of freedom of expression and peaceful assembly of the Palestinian people and put human rights defenders at an enormous risk when trying to defend their rights.
Wave of repression of the popular struggle
Khatib’s arrest is another fact that evidences the severe wave of repression again the Palestinian popular struggle and its leadership. Rana Nazzal and Nariman Tamimi, one of the leaders of the popular committee of Nabi Saleh and a prominent activist in the popular struggle, were arrested last Friday, 28th June 2013, and released on a bail of 2000 NILS each. They are currently on house arrest, waiting for the decision of the court. They are charged for entering a close military zone while participating in the weekly demonstrations the popular committee of Nabi Saleh has been organizing for the last 4 years in order to protest against the expansion of the settlements and settlers violence.
NOVACT urges the international community to take action against these flagrant violations of human rights and call for the implementation of the UN Declaration of Human Rights Defenders and the establishment of proper accountability mechanisms to held perpetrators accountable for such violations.
