West Bank, ALRAY - Lawyers for justice called on all civil and human rights institutions to play its role to stop the violations of human rights in West Bank by Palestinian Authority.

The lawyers called in a statement to exert pressure to force applying the promises of the governmental and executive institutions to respect freedom of opinion, expression and political action, not to reinforce the Palestinian division, and to prevent the loss of an activist during these violations, as happened with the activist Nizar Banat.

The lawyers stated that it follows up the summons and arrests that started since the beginning of this month, and increased during the past 24 hours in particular, against activists and university students, in conjunction with the anniversary of the launch of Hamas.

“The increased cases of arrests and summons recently constitutes a blatant violations of human rights and the article 26 of the Palestinian Basic Law, which states Palestinians ,individuals and groups, have the right to participate in political life, and they have the following rights in particular: forming political parties and joining them in accordance with the law, holding private meetings without the presence of police personnel, and holding public meetings, processions and gatherings within the limits of the law,” it added.

It indicated that the campaign of arrests and summons, since the beginning of this month, affected various regions of the West Bank, and was particularly concentrated in Palestinian universities, and Birzeit University in particular, in an attempt to prevent students from exercising their right to the political affiliation they want.

Lawyers for Justice is following with concern the statements circulating in the media, which confirm the premeditation to prosecute activists and university students, to prevent the organization of any political celebration, and indicate that these statements confirm the illegality of the charges." criminal charges against detainees, which are used as political cover.”

It explained that this year recorded high numbers in cases of arrest and political summons, with more than 500 cases, torture and ill-treatment of detainees that the Palestinian case had not witnessed since the advent of the Palestinian Authority in 1994, in a way that contradicts all the promises issued by the official executive institutions and the Palestinian government to preserve freedom of opinion and expression. And the formation of various committees to achieve this, but the state of public freedoms has increasingly deteriorated, and has become worse.