Introduction

This is the combined second and third quarterly reports of Al-Haq’s Monitoring and Documentation Unit. The report covers the period from April to September 2005 and highlights specific human rights violations and/or patterns of abuse that come to the attention of the Unit.

First-hand documentation by Al-Haq’s Monitoring and Documentation Unit constitutes the backbone for all other projects and activities of the organisation, and is gathered throughout the West Bank by Al-Haq’s five fieldworkers who obtain data and affidavits from victims of human rights violations and/or eyewitnesses. Al-Haq has no fieldworkers in the Gaza Strip, for which it therefore relies on the documentation of Palestinian partner organisations. While the unit documents only a certain number of human rights violations in a comprehensive manner (killings, house demolitions – both punitive and for a lack of licence, curfews and deportations), other violations are also documented regularly, as necessary, and according to the needs and activities of Al-Haq’s other units. The information gathered is channelled into Al-Haq’s various activities, such as campaigns; advocacy at the local and international levels; press releases and research reports.

In light of Israel’s occupation of the Occupied Palestinian Territories (OPT) since 1967, Al-Haq’s monitoring and documentation activities have traditionally been directed towards the violations committed by Israel, the Occupying Power. However, after the inception of the Palestinian National Authority (PNA), Al-Haq has also begun to monitor and document the violations of the PNA.

The Human Rights Situation since the Beginning of the Current Intifada

In order to understand the human rights violations taking place in 2005, it is important to put them within the context of the deterioration in the general human rights situation since the outbreak of the second intifada in 2000, and the continuous disregard by Israel for international human rights and humanitarian law in the OPT. Israeli measures have systematically failed to respect the principles of necessity and proportionality, and have often amounted to collective punishment and/or measures of intimidation, which under international law are prohibited at all times.

According to Al-Haq’s documentation, in the West Bank since the outbreak of the second intifada until the end of September 2005, 1,542 Palestinians were killed, 298 of which are children, and 85 of which are women and young girls. It is estimated that 244 were killed in targeted assassinations. In most cases the killings were committed either by Israeli occupying forces or by special undercover units, and occurred in situations where there were no confrontations. In the case of house demolitions, Al-Haq noted that during the same time period, 436 homes were totally demolished in the West Bank, thereby displacing 3,004 persons. Hebron and Nablus registered the largest number of houses demolished as a punitive measure. Israel have also carried out a large number of house demolitions on the pretext that they were built without the required license. Since 2004, 292 houses have been administratively demolished for lack of license, 135 of which took place in East Jerusalem alone.

The second intifada has also nearly eliminated the already limited authority of the PNA in the OPT, calling for a greater focus to be placed on the violations carried out by the Occupying Power. With the gradual re-establishment of the authority of the PNA, the main problem encountered is its inability to uphold law and order.