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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 escalating repression once morest these human rights defenders.
With our correspondent in Ramallah, Alice Froussard
In August, the Israeli authorities made a raid on the offices of seven NGOs of Palestinian civil society, ordering their immediate closure. Six of them had been called, without evidence, ” terrorist groups in October 2021. For observers and those concerned, it is a way of ” end their work of documenting violations and crimes committed by Israel ” and of ” 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 carelessness, 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, Honorary President of FIDH.
The message to the Israeli government is clear: international NGOs are calling for the cancellation of military orders to close NGO offices and for the removal of the designation of ” terrorists ».
« It is a truly abusive labeling to call these organizations “terrorists”. We know this is wrong. So it has to 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.