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Scope of View on the local Palestinian society
Sad Stories of Suffering
(a human
rights report)
1. Introduction
The practices
of the Palestinian Authority in the Palestinian areas represent serious
violations of the rights of the Palestinian citizens, and scandalous
transgressions of the principles of international law and the rules of the
Palestinian Press of 1995.
Article 19 of
the Universal Declaration of Human Rights states that “Everyone has the
right to freedom of opinion and expression; this right includes freedom to
hold opinions without interference and to seek, receive and impart
information and ideas through any media and regardless of frontiers”.
The
International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights also affirmed in
article 19 that:
1. Everyone
shall have the right to hold opinions without interference. And
2. Everyone shall have
the right to freedom of expression; this right shall include freedom to
seek, receive and impart information and ideas of all kinds, regardless of
frontiers, either orally, in writing or in print, in the form of art, or
through any other media of his choice.
The European
Court for Human Rights also stated very clearly, in the Handy side case,
December 7th 1976, item 49, that “Freedom of expression constitutes one
of the essential foundations of a democratic society, and one of the basic
conditions for its progress and for the development of every man. It is
applicable not only to information or ideas that are favorably received or
regarded as inoffensive or as a matter of indifference, but also to those
that offend, shock or disturb the state or any sector of the population.
Such are the demands of that pluralism, tolerance and broadmindedness
without which there is no democratic society”.
Local
legislation, in general, also affirms the freedom of expression. The Basic
Law of the Palestinian Authority stated, in article 19, that “Every person
shall have the right to freedom of thought, conscience and expression, and
publication of his opinion orally, in writing, or in the form of art or
through any other form of expression, provided that it does not contradict
with the provisions of law”.
Article 2 of
the Press Law of the Palestinian Authority stated that “Press and Printing
are free, further more the freedom of opinion should be guaranteed to
every Palestinian individual who retains the absolute right to express his
opinion in a free manner either verbally, in writing, photography or
drawing as different means of expression and information”.
Article 3 of
the same law also stated that “The Press should exercise its profession in
a free manner in the process of presenting news, information and
commentaries, and contributes to the dissemination of ideas, culture, and
science within the limits and the framework of maintaining public
freedoms, rights and duties, and respecting the privacy of others and
ensuring its sanctity.
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