20 February 2023

5/2023

ICHR condemns restrictions on teachers’ right to peaceful assembly

The Independent Commission for Human Rights (ICHR) condemns the attempts made by security agencies to obstruct and delay protesting school teachers’ access to the sit-in venue in front of the Council of Ministers in Ramallah. Held on Monday, 20 February 2023, the sit-in protest was called for by teachers’ movements to demand that the government implement the agreement reached in 2022 under the auspices of the ICHR, civil society organisations, trade unions, and independent personalities.

According to the ICHR documentation, security agencies set up many checkpoints and searched vehicles at the entrances to the governorates of Hebron, Bethlehem, and Ramallah. In some cases, teachers were forced to get out of the vehicles and ordered not to travel to the city of Ramallah.

These actions reflect an attempt to impede and restrict the rights to freedom of peaceful assembly and freedom of opinion and expression, enshrined in the Palestinian Amended Basic Law.

The ICHR demands that security services respect citizens’ right to peaceful assembly and expression in accordance with the law. The ICHR reiterates its call for the Council of Ministers and Teachers Union to implement the initiative to end the crisis of the May 2022 teacher strike. On one hand, the Teachers Union has to amend its regulations in line with the concept note agreed agreed upon with the teachers union on the 27th of August 2022. It will also call for elections as soon as practicable. On the other hand, the government will provide binding legal guarantees, confirming its commitment to pay the work-related allowance, albeit on a deferred basis, as of 1 January 2023.

 

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