ISRAEL: INCLO Members Stand in Solidarity with Palestinian Human Rights Organizations Declared Terrorist Groups by Israeli Government and Raided, Call for Israel to Desist from Persecution Campaign

We support the 6 organisations that have been designated as “terrorist groups” under Israel’s anti-terrorism law and call for the Israeli government to immediately reverse its decision and remove them from the list of terrorist organisations.

On August 17, 2022, the Israeli Military Commander denied the appeals submitted by five of the six organizations against the military order designating them unlawful associations, following which Israel's Minister of Defense ratified three of the NGOs as terrorist organizations. The same evening, the army invaded the offices of the NGOs, confiscated equipment, and welded the doors shut. This is a prime example of the political persecution conducted by Israel against Palestinians who speak out against the occupation.

Today, as before, we offer our full support to these organizations that contribute to the defence of human rights including through legal aid and representation of children and political prisoners in the Occupied Palestinian Territories and condemn any type of criminalization and persecution of human rights defenders. We are particularly concerned for the safety of human rights activists and employees related to the aforementioned organizations and expect every effort to be made on behalf of authorities to maintain their wellbeing. Anti-terrorism laws should never be used to target, criminalize, or incarcerate human rights defenders.

READ: INCLO Members Stand in Solidarity with Palestinian Human Rights Organizations

Endorsed by:

Agora International Human Rights Group (Agora, Russia)

American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU)

Association for Civil Rights in Israel (ACRI)

Centro de Estudios Legales y Sociales (CELS, Argentina)

Dejusticia (Colombia)

Egyptian Initiative for Personal Rights (EIPR)

Human Rights Law Centre (HRLC, Australia)

Hungarian Civil Liberties Union (HCLU)

Irish Council for Civil Liberties (ICCL)

Kenya Human Rights Commission (KHRC)

KontraS (Indonesia)

Legal Resources Center (LRC, South Africa)

Liberty (United Kingdom)