Three human rights NGOs affirm their support for their Palestinian partners
The offices of the Palestinian NGO Al-Haq, in Ramallah.
This NGO is one of the seven raided in August 2022 by Israel.
AP - Nasser Nasser
Text by: RFI Follow
2 mins
The International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH), Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch (HRW) met on Wednesday 28 September in Ramallah to raise their voices in the face of the escalation of repression against these human rights defenders.
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With our correspondent in Ramallah,
Alice Froussard
In August, Israeli authorities
raided the offices of seven
Palestinian civil society NGOs, ordering their immediate closure.
Six of them had been qualified, without evidence,
as “terrorist groups
” in October 2021. For observers and those concerned, this is a way of “
ending their work of documenting violations and crimes committed by Israel
” and to “
further muzzle the Palestinians
.”
Gathered in Ramallah at the premises of al-Haq, the representatives of Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch (HRW) and the International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH) speak with one voice: they recall their solidarity without rift with defenders of Palestinian rights.
“
These raids are the result of neglect, laissez-faire, the absence of concrete action on the part of the international community with regard to Israel.
It is also the result of impunity, but also the result of apartheid
,” said Souhayr Belhassen, FIDH Honorary President.
The message to the Israeli government is clear: international NGOs demand the cancellation of military orders to close NGO offices and the removal of the designation of “
terrorists
”.
"
It's a really mislabeling to call these organizations 'terrorists.'
We know this is wrong.
This must therefore stop
”, insisted Alexis Deswaef, Vice President of FIDH.
As for the question of human rights, it should be discussed more in the dialogue of the European Union with Israel, believes Nathalie Godard, Director of Action at Amnesty International.
“
We cannot consider that it can be business as usual with Israel at the moment.
We, Amnesty International, are not calling for there to be any trade agreement with these countries, we are calling for the question of human rights to be taken into account and that, on the contrary, the fact of having agreements , discussions, must be a lever so that the question of human rights is not marginalized, that it is central.
»
All of them make it clear that they are waiting for the condemnations of the international community to be transformed into action.
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