{"id":295259,"date":"2024-04-16T10:26:41","date_gmt":"2024-04-16T14:26:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.un.org\/unispal\/?post_type=document&p=295259"},"modified":"2024-04-17T14:58:32","modified_gmt":"2024-04-17T18:58:32","slug":"israel-gaza-un-experts-condemn-destruction-of-judicial-infrastructure-call-for-protection-of-justice-operators-ohchr-press-release","status":"publish","type":"document","link":"https:\/\/www.un.org\/unispal\/document\/israel-gaza-un-experts-condemn-destruction-of-judicial-infrastructure-call-for-protection-of-justice-operators-ohchr-press-release\/","title":{"rendered":"Israel\/Gaza: ±¬ÁÏÍø experts condemn destruction of judicial infrastructure, call for protection of justice operators – OHCHR Press Release"},"content":{"rendered":"
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16 April 2024<\/p>\n

±¬ÁÏÍø experts* today called for the protection of justice operators in Israel and condemned the destruction of judicial infrastructure in Gaza.<\/p>\n

The experts deplored reports that on 9 October 2023 the Israeli army bombed the building which housed the local headquarters of the Palestine Bar Association, resulting in the destruction of its official archives.<\/p>\n

On 4 December 2023, the Israeli army released a video showing the complete blasting of the building of Gaza\u2019s empty courthouse, seized in November 2023.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe right to a fair trial and access to justice require adequate infrastructure and efficient protection for all actors in the administration of justice, as well as for case files and documentation. We are alarmed by this unnecessary destruction of the judicial infrastructure in Gaza,\u201d the experts said.<\/p>\n

The experts noted that since early October 2023, Israeli lawyers, including Palestinians with Israeli citizenship,\u00a0who opposed the ongoing Israeli attack in Gaza or who have spoken in defense of Palestinian rights, have encountered harassment from other members of the legal profession and were the subject of complaints to the Israeli Bar Association for their public speech.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt is regrettable that judges have been attacked online after making decisions to release individuals that were arrested for speech or activism\u00a0in support for Palestinian rights,\u201d they said.<\/p>\n

On October 12, the Israeli Bar Association emailed all registered lawyers stating that the National Ethics Committee would have \u201czero tolerance\u201d for any lawyer publishing content on personal social media accounts perceived to be \u201cincitement to violence\u201d, and that the Committee would pursue legal action against such lawyers. The letter did not specify what statements would amount to such \u201cincitement to violence\u201d, having a chilling effect on the freedom of expression of lawyers.<\/p>\n

On 18 October, the Deputy Chairman of the Israel Bar Association posted on social media that the Bar Association Ethics Committee had submitted new emergency regulations to the Minister of Justice, apparently granting the Committee authority to immediately suspend lawyers suspected of \u201csupporting terrorism\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are concerned that the Bar Association\u2019s email was, in fact, a stifling of speech in support of Palestinian\u00a0rights\u00a0or opposition to the attacks in Gaza from those in the legal profession,\u201d the experts said.<\/p>\n

\u201cExpressing solidarity with Palestinians\u00a0should not be equated with\u00a0support for terrorism,\u201d they said. \u201cThe legal profession and its free exercise are an essential element of the rule of law, protection of human rights and functioning of an independent judiciary.\u201d<\/p>\n

The experts regretted that elected and appointed Israeli officials have released derogatory statements against Israeli judges following their decisions to release individuals unduly detained for their statements or activism in favour of Palestinians\u2019 rights.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt is the duty of all governmental and other institutions to respect and observe the independence of the judiciary\u00a0and the imperative of non-discrimination in accordance with international standards,\u201d the experts said.<\/p>\n

For example, Itamar Ben-Gvir, Israel\u2019s Minister of National Security, labeled a judge a \u201cdomestic enemy\u201d on social media after he ordered the release of an individual who posted images on social media that appeared to approve of the 7 October attack by Hamas, on grounds that such posts did not justify detention. In another case, Minister Ben-Gvir claimed on social media that a judge was an \u201cenemy from within\u201d following his order to release an Israeli activist who was detained after police discovered Palestinian flags during a search of the activist\u2019s home.<\/p>\n

\u201cPublic officials should refrain from statements demonizing judges who uphold the rule of law and human rights,\u201d they said. \u201cSuch public attacks are a direct interference with their independence.\u201d<\/p>\n

The experts have been in contact with Israel about these concerns.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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*The expert:\u00a0<\/strong>Margaret Satterthwaite,\u00a0<\/strong>Special Rapporteur on the independence of judges and lawyers<\/a>,<\/u>\u00a0Irene Kahn,\u00a0Special Rapporteur on freedom of expression and opinion<\/a>.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

16 April 2024 ±¬ÁÏÍø experts* today called for the protection of justice operators in Israel and condemned the destruction of judicial infrastructure in Gaza. The experts deplored reports that on 9 October 2023 the Israeli army bombed the building which housed the local headquarters of the Palestine Bar Association, resulting in the destruction of its […]<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":299,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"country":[],"document-category":[1329],"document-source":[1825,6811,5990],"committee-meeting":[],"document-subject":[1769,2005,1741,2185,6845],"entity":[1729],"document-language":[],"class_list":["post-295259","document","type-document","status-publish","hentry","document-category-press-release","document-source-office-of-the-united-nations-high-commissioner-for-human-rights-ohchr","document-source-special-rapporteur-on-the-independence-of-judges-and-lawyers","document-source-special-rapporteur-on-the-promotion-and-protection-of-the-right-to-freedom-of-opinion-and-expression","document-subject-armed-conflict","document-subject-gaza-strip","document-subject-human-rights-and-international-humanitarian-law","document-subject-legal-issues","document-subject-protection-of-civilians","entity-united-nations-system"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.un.org\/unispal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/document\/295259","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.un.org\/unispal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/document"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.un.org\/unispal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/document"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.un.org\/unispal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/299"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/www.un.org\/unispal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/document\/295259\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":295280,"href":"https:\/\/www.un.org\/unispal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/document\/295259\/revisions\/295280"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.un.org\/unispal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=295259"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"country","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.un.org\/unispal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/country?post=295259"},{"taxonomy":"document-category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.un.org\/unispal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/document-category?post=295259"},{"taxonomy":"document-source","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.un.org\/unispal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/document-source?post=295259"},{"taxonomy":"committee-meeting","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.un.org\/unispal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/committee-meeting?post=295259"},{"taxonomy":"document-subject","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.un.org\/unispal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/document-subject?post=295259"},{"taxonomy":"entity","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.un.org\/unispal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/entity?post=295259"},{"taxonomy":"document-language","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.un.org\/unispal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/document-language?post=295259"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}