A/HRC/44/60 F. Curfews and Restrictions of Freedom of Movement 77. Freedom of movement is a fundamental human right, enshrined in Article 13 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. 134 It is a basic component of liberty, and it is intrinsically attached to the rights to equality and human dignity. Article 27 of the Fourth Geneva Convention guarantees that protected persons under occupation are to have their individual rights protected, subject to the occupying power’s duty to ensure public order and safety under Article 43 of the Hague Regulations. As with all human rights, this right is to be applied broadly and generously, and exceptions are to be interpreted narrowly. 78. Throughout the occupation, Israel has controlled and restricted movement through the imposition of both short and long term curfews on Palestinian communities, through an increasingly sophisticated system of physical barriers, check-points and by-passes, and through comprehensive administrative permit requirements. Israel justifies these measures as necessary to maintain security, both in order to protect its 240 illegal settlements in the West Bank and to control a restive and defiant population. Within the West Bank, it presently employs more than 590 fixed permanent obstacles (such as checkpoints, earth-mounds and road gates) to manage or obstruct movement by Palestinians, as well as the frequent use of flying or temporary checkpoints. While Israel has recently enhanced its system of movement control to lessen the degree of disruption in some areas of the West Bank, its current restrictions remain in breach of international law and they remain particularly obtrusive in Hebron and in regions affected by the Wall.135 79. The principal obstacle to movement within the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, is the Wall, 85 percent of which is located within the occupied territory, and has been deemed to be illegal by the International Court of Justice.136 The Wall weaves through and divides Palestinian communities and cities, farmlands and properties. It presents a particular challenge to Palestinian farmers who live on one side of the Wall and whose productive lands are on the other side. They, their families and their agricultural workers must obtain special permits from Israel to pass through the gates and checkpoints to farm. The United Nations has reported that recent years have witnessed three disturbing trends: a significant decline in the issuance of these permits, a reduction in the period of time that a farmer can tend to the land and fewer occasions when the gates and checkpoints at the Wall are open for agricultural access. 137 IV. Conclusions 80. Collective punishment is a tool of control and domination that is antithetical to the modern rule of law. It defies the foundational legal principle that only the guilty should incur penalties for their actions, after having been found responsible through a fair process. Prohibitions of collective punishment are found in virtually all legal systems across the globe. The deeds of a few cannot, under any circumstances, justify the punishment of the innocent, even in a conflict zone, even under occupation, even during times of popular discontent and security challenges. Like torture, there are no permissible exceptions to the use of collective punishment in law. And, like torture, the use of collective punishment flouts law and morality, dignity and justice, and stains all those who practice it. 81. An occupying power has a duty to maintain order and public safety, and it is entitled to punish individuals who breach enforceable laws. But these practices, these laws and these procedures must be consistent with the elevated standards of international human rights and humanitarian law. Accordingly, an occupation must be administered through a rights-based approach, subject only to actual and genuine security requirements. And behind these rightscentred responsibilities is an indelible lesson from history: an occupying power that ignores 134 135 136 137 https://www.ohchr.org/EN/UDHR/Documents/UDHR_Translations/eng.pdf. https://www.ochaopt.org/content/longstanding-access-restrictions-continue-undermine-livingconditions-west-bank-palestinians. https://www.icj-cij.org/files/case-related/131/131-20040709-ADV-01-00-EN.pdf. https://www.ochaopt.org/content/longstanding-access-restrictions-continue-undermine-livingconditions-west-bank-palestinians. 19