Ref: 23/2008
Date: 13 March 2008
Time: 12:30 GMT
PCHR Is Deeply Concerned Over
Storming the Headquarters of Ramattan Press Agency by the PSS in Ramallah
PCHR is deeply concerned over storming the headquarters of
Ramattan Press Agency in Ramallah by members of the Palestinian Preventive
Security Service (PSS) and arresting a journalist on Wednesday. PCHR believes
that this attack constitutes an assault on press freedoms and the right to
freedom of expression, and stresses that the rights to freedom of expression and
to receive and impart information are ensured by the Palestinian Basic Law and
international human rights instruments.
According to investigations conducted by PCHR, at approximately
12:00 on Wednesday, 12 March 2008, armed members of the PSS, accompanied by 3
officers in civilian clothes, stormed the headquarters of Ramattan Press Agency
in al-Wehaidi Building in al-Masyoun neighborhood in Ramallah. They requested
Nawaf Ibrahim al-‘Aamer, 48, an editor, to accompany them. However, he asked
them to show an arrest warrant, and they showed a warrant issued by the Attorney
General’s office allowing entering the headquarters and arresting him. Members
of the PSS confiscated all belongings of al-‘Aamer and a computer set. They also
broke into the dormitory of the agency’s staff and confiscated all documents in
the room where al-‘Aamer lives. They then arrested him.
In his testimony to PCHR, journalist Nawaf al-‘Aamer stated:
“… They took me in a military vehicle to the headquarters of
the PSS in Ramallah. They took my personal data and photographed me. They then
moved me to the headquarters of the PSS in Bitounia town. They interrogated me
in 6 sessions. They asked me about my e-mail and wanted to have my password.
They wanted to check my e-mail claiming that there are materials related to
Palestinian security. I refused to open my e-mail without the presence of my
director or the President of the Union of Journalists, but they insisted. At
approximately 23:00, I agreed to open my e-mail on a private computer. They
allowed a relative of mine to come and bring a laptop. I opened my e-mail, and
the interrogators downloaded all messages. At approximately 04:00 on Thursday,
13 March 22008, they released me after Ramattan Press Agency and other people
had mediated. However, they requested me to come to the headquarters of the PSS
at 14:00 to continue the interrogation.”
PCHR is deeply concerned over storming the headquarters of
Ramattan Press Agency and arresting the journalist and forcing him to reveal his
personal data, and:
1)
Stresses that this assault
constitutes a violation of the Amended Basic Law whose article 32 prescribes:
“Each aggression committed against any personal freedom, against private life of
human being, or against any of rights or freedom, which have been guaranteed by
the law or by this basic law, shall be considered as a crime. Criminal and civil
case resultant from such infringement shall not be subject to any status of
limitation.”
2)
Expresses utmost concerns over the
recurrence of assaults against the right to freedom of expression, and calls for
providing protection to journalists and media institutions and take necessary
measures to allow them to work freely.
3)
Asserts that the right to freedom
of expression is ensured by the Palestinian Basic Law and international human
rights instruments.
4)
Calls upon the Palestinian National
Authority to arrest the perpetrators of this attack and bring them to justice.
