Mr. Nicholas Howen, Secretary-General of the International Commission of Jurists
(ICJ), and Mr. Saïd Bernarbia, Legal Officer,
Middle East & North Africa Programme, ICJ, met with Dr. Eyad al-Sarraj, Chairman
of the Palestinian-International Campaign to End the Siege on Gaza.
Dr. al-Sarraj briefed the ICJ delegation on the impacts of the siege imposed on
the Gaza Strip and the restrictions on the freedom of movement on health,
education, commerce and agriculture. He talked about the closure of border
crossings and the restrictions imposed on the freedom of movement of Palestinian
civilians, and the impacts of those measures on the humanitarian situation in
Gaza Strip, especially with regard to health, mental health and economy. He
further stressed that the siege imposed on the Palestinian people is a crime
against humanity, and called upon the international community to make serious
efforts to end this unjust siege, which is imposed on Palestinian civilians who
are deprived of their basic rights.
In
the end of the meeting, Dr. Sarraj highly appreciated the ICJ delegation’s visit
to the Gaza Strip to observe the human rights situation at a time the Gaza Strip
and its population are besieged and isolated.
Mr. Raji Sourani, Director of PCHR, who is also a member of the
Palestinian-International Campaign to End the
Siege on Gaza, attended the meeting.
The Palestinian-International Campaign to End
the Siege on Gaza consists of a diverse group of civil society activists, human rights
activists, intellectuals, academics, businessmen from Gaza and the West Bank,
united to exert pressure on the Israeli government to lift the siege imposed on
the Gaza Strip through raising the awareness of the international community of
the impacts of the siege on living conditions in the Gaza Strip. The campaign
was launched on 23 October 2007 and its activities are expected to continue
until May 2008.
