GENEVA (25 October 2021) – UN human rights experts today strongly and unequivocally condemned the decision by the
Israeli Minister of Defence, Benny Gantz, to designate six Palestinian human rights and civil society groups as
terrorist organisations.
“This designation is a frontal attack on the Palestinian human rights movement, and on human rights everywhere,” said
the experts. “Silencing their voices is not what a democracy adhering to well-accepted human rights and humanitarian
standards would do. We call upon the international community to defend the defenders.”
The experts said that anti-terrorism legislation is designed for a specific and restricted purpose, and must not be used
to unjustifiably undermine civil liberties or to curtail the legitimate work of human rights organisations. The United
Nations Security Council, the General Assembly and the Human Rights Council have all been clear about the requirement to
apply counter-terrorism measures in a manner which is consistent with international law and does not violate States
international obligations, they said.
“The misuse of counter-terrorism measures in this way by the government of Israel undermines the security of all,” the
experts said. “The freedoms of association and expression must be fully respected in order to enable civil society to
perform its indispensable work, and cannot be undermined by the manifestly egregious misuse of counterterrorism and
security legislation.”
The six Palestinian organizations are Addameer, Al-Haq, Defense for Children International – Palestine, the Union of
Agricultural Work Committees, the Bisan Center for Research and Development, and the Union of Palestinian Women
Committees. Among the communities that they work with are Palestinian women and girls, children, peasant families,
prisoners and civil society activists, all of whom face increased levels of discrimination and even violence.
“These organisations speak the language of universal human rights,” the experts said. “They use a rights-based approach
to their work, including a gendered analysis, to document human rights abuses of all kinds in Palestine, including
business-related human rights abuses.”
This designation would effectively ban the work of these human rights defenders, and allow the Israeli military to
arrest their staff, shutter their offices, confiscate their assets and prohibit their activities and human rights work.
The experts note their concern that at least for one of these organisations, this decision may have been taken as a form
of reprisal for cooperation with UN entities.
“The Israeli military has frequently targeted human rights defenders in recent years, as its occupation has deepened,
its defiance of international law has continued and its record of human rights violations has worsened,” the experts
said. “While international and Israeli human rights organisations have faced heavy criticism, legislative restrictions
and even deportations, Palestinian human rights defenders have always encountered the severest constraints.”
The human rights experts called upon the international community to use its full range of political and diplomatic tools
to request that Israel review and reverse this decision. “These civil society organisations are the canaries in the
human rights coalmine, alerting us to the patterns of violations, reminding the international community of its
obligations to ensure accountability, and providing voices for those who have none,” the experts said.
Michael Lynk, Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the Palestinian Territory occupied since 1967; Mary Lawlor, Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights defenders; Ms. Fionnuala Ní Aoláin, Special Rapporteur on the promotion and protection of human rights while countering terrorism; Irene Khan, Special Rapporteur on the promotion and protection of the right to freedom of opinion and expression; Melissa Upreti (Chair), Dorothy Estrada Tanck (Vice-Chair), Elizabeth Broderick, Ivana Radačić, and Meskerem Geset Techane, Working Group on discrimination against women and girls; Reem Alsalem, Special Rapporteur on violence against women, its causes and consequences; Clément N. Voule UN Special Rapporteur on the right to peaceful assembly and association; Surya Deva (Chairperson), Elżbieta Karska (Vice-Chairperson), Githu Muigai, Dante Pesce, and Anita Ramasastry of the Working Group on Business and Human Rights: Siobhán Mullally, Special Rapporteur on trafficking in persons, especially women and children