Human rights group urges Abbas not to extend state of emergency

According to ICHR, Palestinian laws allows the PA government to take preventive measures in the security, health and economic fields to confront the pandemic without the need for a state of emergency

By KHALED ABU TOAMEH
PALESTINIAN PRESIDENT Mahmoud Abbas reacts to the Mideast peace plan Wednesday in Ramallah – ‘A thousand no’s’. (photo credit: RANEEN SAWAFTA/ REUTERS)
PALESTINIAN PRESIDENT Mahmoud Abbas reacts to the Mideast peace plan Wednesday in Ramallah – ‘A thousand no’s’.
(photo credit: RANEEN SAWAFTA/ REUTERS)
The Palestinian Independent Commission for Human Rights (ICHR) has urged Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas not to extend the state of emergency he declared in early March after the outbreak of the coronavirus pandemic.
The commission also expressed concern over the activities of “local emergency committees” that have been operating in Palestinian villages and cities since the first cases of coronavirus were discovered in Bethlehem last month.
In a message to Abbas, the ICHR said it had followed the declaration of the state of emergency since March 5, “which came in light of difficult health conditions that required exceptional measures to confront and prevent the spread of the virus.”
The commission appreciated Abbas’s directives “that contributed to curbing the spread of the pandemic and protected our people from the threat of the virus.” It further praised the efforts of the PA government and medical and security teams involved in the effort to combat the disease.
The ICHR, however, called on Abbas not to extend the state of emergency upon its expiration and emphasized the need to “respect the provisions of the Palestinian Basic Law of 2003, which explicitly stipulated that such a move must be approved by the Palestinian Legislative Council (PLC).”
On April 3, Abbas issued a presidential decree extending the state of emergency for an additional 30 days.
“The authorities shall continue to take all necessary measures to tackle the risks arising from the pandemic outbreak, protect the public health and bring about security and stability,” Abbas stated in his decree.
In 2018, Abbas dissolved the PLC, which has been effectively paralyzed since 2007, when Hamas violently seized control of the Gaza Strip.
According to the ICHR, Palestinian laws allows the PA government to take preventive measures in the security, health and economic fields to confront the pandemic without the need for a state of emergency.
Regarding the “local emergency committees” that have been assisting the PA government and security forces in their effort to prevent the spread of the virus, the ICHR said the activities of these committees need to be “in accordance with the principle of the rule of law and honoring freedoms and rights of the citizens.”

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The committees consist mostly of volunteers, many of whom are activists who belong to Abbas’s ruling Fatah faction. In the past few weeks some Palestinians have complained that the members of the “local emergency committees” have resorted to violence to impose lockdowns and other restrictions on the pretext of fighting the pandemic. Members of the committees have also been collecting donations from Palestinians and distributing food and cash to Palestinian families.
“Although the work of the local emergency committees has no legal basis, this does not exempt the State of Palestine from assuming its responsibilities for the actions of these committees,” the ICHR said. “Also, this does not relieve these committees from operating within the principle of the rule of law and its requirements for fully respecting human rights and basic freedoms. Therefore, the commission recommends that the legal status of the committees be corrected. The formation of local emergency committees should take into account appropriate representation of civil and volunteering institutions, and their work should be limited to assisting the official institutions under the full supervision of the health and security authorities.”
The ICHR recommended that the members of the committees be banned from “undertaking any procedures that are not related to confronting the spread of the coronavirus.”
The commission also stressed the need for the committees to announce the source of their funding and the criteria for distributing financial aid to Palestinian families during the crisis.