UN report accuses Israel of ‘silencing of civil society’ to repress Palestinians
GENEVA – A U.N. report has accused Israeli authorities of silencing civil society by using punitive measures.
A report released Thursday by the U.N. Human Rights Council indicates that human rights defenders were targeted in Israeli and Palestinian territories.
The report, written by the Independent International Commission of Inquiry on the Occupied Palestinian Territory, examines attacks and restrictions on civil society by the authorities – be it the Israeli government, the Palestinian Authority, or Hamas in Gaza.
UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay said that all authorities restrict the right to freedom of expression and peaceful association.
She said the situation of Palestinian human rights defenders is particularly worrying.
“We concluded that all duty bearers are engaged in limiting the rights to freedom of expression and peaceful association,” Pillay said in a statement.
“We were particularly alarmed by the situation of Palestinian human rights defenders, who are routinely subject to a range of punitive measures as part of the occupation regime,” she added.
The Commission noted that the Israeli authorities silence civil society voices that challenge the government’s policies and narrative.
This includes criminalizing Palestinian civil society organizations and their members by labeling them terrorists.
Institutions that provide a platform for civil society discourse are also pressured and threatened.
Donors are excluded or threatened to cut off funding to civil society groups.
The report goes on to say that spy software has been installed on the cell phones of human rights defenders.
Incidents have been reported in which Pegasus spying software from the Israeli company NSO Group has been installed on the cell phones of Palestinian human rights activists and Israeli activists.
Both Israeli and Palestinian journalists were also monitored and harassed.
The report also highlighted the silencing of dissenting voices by the Palestinian Authority and Hamas.
The commission said it had received information about the use of torture by internal security officials in Gaza and law enforcement officials in the West Bank.
“The commission has received information on the use of torture and ill-treatment to punish and intimidate critics and opponents by internal security officials in Gaza and intelligence services, preventive security officials, and law enforcement officials in the West Bank,” the report says.
“The frequency and severity, and the absence of accountability, suggest that such cases are widespread,” the report added.
According to the New York-based Committee to Protect Journalists, Israeli forces have killed 20 journalists since 2000.
Among them was Al Jazeera correspondent Shireen Abu Akleh, who was a U.S. citizen.
She was shot by an Israeli sniper while covering a raid on the Jenin refugee camp in the occupied West Bank in May 2022.
Al Jazeera producer Ali Samodi was shot in the back but survived. An independent international investigation subsequently concluded that Abu Akleh’s “extrajudicial killing” was “premeditated”
Last week, 22-year-old Palestinian photojournalist Momen Samreen was shot in the head with a “less lethal” projectile. He was hospitalized in serious condition.
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