A/HRC/34/36 September, General Intelligence Service officials held him for another day, apparently while they awaited clearance from their Ramallah headquarters. On 8 September, he was released, but continued to face harassment for a further 10 days. 58. OHCHR continued to monitor cases in which Palestinians were arrested on the orders of Governors for charges relating to public order or national security, and where there is no intent to charge or prosecute. 66 During the reporting period, the Independent Commission for Human Rights documented 88 such cases, a slight increase compared with the previous year.67 The High Commissioner previously highlighted the issue of Palestinian administrative detention, which can last for six months without any review by a judge. He is concerned that the practice is becoming a routine, targeting opposition activists. 68 Freedom of expression and peaceful assembly 59. The Palestinian Basic Law of 2003 recognizes the rights to freedom of expression and peaceful assembly. Nonetheless, OHCHR continued to receive regular reports of media professionals, human rights defenders and political opponents in the West Bank being arrested, threatened, harassed and intimidated for questioning or challenging the Palestinian Authority. The Palestinian Centre for Development and Media Freedoms documented 90 such complaints by media professionals against Palestinian security forces during the reporting period, including raids of homes and confiscation of equipment, detention and summoning for interrogation. 69 60. In one instance, on 23 August 2016, Advocate Wa’el al-Hazzam was invited for an interview by a television channel to discuss political tensions and the apparent extrajudicial execution of Ahmed Halawa, who had allegedly been killed by Palestinian security forces in Nablus. He told OHCHR that three officers of the Preventive Security Service had approached him at the television studio and threatened him with arrest if he conducted the interview. Later that day, two armed men fired more than 10 bullets at his house. On 1 September, OHCHR wrote to the Minister of the Interior expressing concerns about the incident. The Minister’s reply indicated that an investigation was ongoing. As at midNovember 2016, no further information was available. 61. The Jordanian Penal Code that prevails in the State of Palestine provides overly broad provisions for defamation, humiliation or abasement of or insult to public officials and figures and has been used by the authorities to impose restrictions on freedom of expression. On 3 October 2016, a Palestinian who had been arrested in 2014 and subsequently released on bail for a comment posted to Facebook that allegedly mocked the Palestinian leadership was convicted of “defamation against public authority” by the Ramallah Magistrates’ Court and sentenced to three months of imprisonment under article 191 of the Jordanian Penal Code. 62. The reaction of the Palestinian Authority to a teachers’ strike in February 2016 illustrates the shrinking space to exercise the rights to freedom of expression and to peaceful assembly. On two occasions, on 23 February and 7 March 2016, not only were some teachers and their representatives arrested and held for interrogation overnight, but bus drivers and transportation companies were also prevented from transporting teachers to Ramallah in order to stymie their peaceful demonstration outside the Cabinet offices. OHCHR also documented instances in which Palestinian security forces had confiscated the identity cards of teachers and forced them off public transport to prevent their participation 66 67 68 69 The Jordanian Crime Prevention Law 1954 is still applicable in the West Bank. Figures provided by ICHR. See A/HRC/31/40, paras. 56-59. See www.madacenter.org/reports.php?id=13&lang=1. 13