A/HRC/35/19/Add.1 64. Eight of the recommendations mention religious rights, both in terms of access to religious sites and addressing the right to bury relatives in accordance with religious customs. In June 2016, the Committee against Torture recommended that Israel “take the measures necessary to return the bodies of the Palestinians that have not yet been returned to their relatives as soon as possible so they can be buried in accordance with their traditions and religious customs, and to avoid that similar situations are repeated in the future.” 81 The paragraphs that follow illustrate the process that led to assessments of implementation or non-implementation in this category of recommendations. 65. The Special Committee to Investigate Israeli Practices Affecting the Human Rights of the Palestinian People and Other Arabs of the Occupied Territories expressed concern, in August 2016, that although “many of the bodies” had been returned to the families, many continued to be held by Israel “in poor and inhumane conditions”, and were consequently often “disfigured, sometimes beyond recognition.” 82 The Secretary-General expressed concern about extensive delays to return the bodies “with punitive intent against the families of the deceased”, despite a commitment from the Government of Israel to release them “within a short space of time.”83 66. Moreover, the Special Committee to Investigate Israeli Practices Affecting the Human Rights of the Palestinian People and Other Arabs of the Occupied Territories expressed its concern that the then newly appointed Defence Minister, Avigdor Lieberman, had reaffirmed the practice of keeping the bodies of Palestinians killed while conducting attacks against Israelis and burying them in a special cemetery in Israel.84 According to Israeli media, in December 2016, the Government of Israel agreed to withhold the bodies of Palestinians killed while carrying out attacks if the deceased belonged to Hamas and return them to their families if no links with Hamas were suspected. 85 On 1 January 2017, the Israeli Prime Minister’s Office issued a statement saying that the cabinet had “discussed a permanent policy” and decided that the bodies of “Hamas terrorists killed during attacks” would not be returned to their families but “buried”.86 67. Therefore, although the bodies of some Palestinians deceased in Israel while carrying out attacks were returned to their families (which could arguably be seen as partially implementing the first element of the recommendation), this occurred after unjustified delays with a punitive intention, contrary to the requirement of a speedy return made in the recommendation (“as soon as possible”). Regarding the second part of the recommendation (avoiding the reoccurrence of the unjustified withholding of the bodies), the publicly-stated “permanent policy” to selectively keep the bodies of persons with links to Hamas shows the intent to continue disregarding its content. The recommendation is therefore assessed as “not implemented”. 68. In 2011, the High Commissioner recommended that the Palestinian Authority should “[e]nsure that civil society organizations, human rights defenders and journalists can carry out their work in an open, safe and secure operating environment, especially in relation to the rights to freedom of association and expression, as well as other applicable international standards.” 87 In August 2016, Human Rights Watch documented multiple cases where authorities in the West Bank and in Gaza “arrest[ed], abus[ed], and criminally charg[ed] journalists and activists” who were critical of authorities. Human rights violations included torture, and, according to Human Rights Watch, were part of a long-standing pattern of violations of the right to freedom of speech.88 81 CAT/C/ISR/CO/5, para. 43 A/71/352, para. 46-47. 83 See the case of Ewisat v. The Israel Police et al. (High Court of Justice 2882/16) on 5 May 2016, A/71/364, para.25. 84 A/71/352, para.48, www.timesofisrael.com/liberman-orders-moratorium-on-returning-attackersbodies/, and www.jpost.com/Israel-News/Politics-And-Diplomacy/Liberman-halts-the-return-ofterrorist-bodies-456369. 85 See www.haaretz.com/israel-news/.premium-1.757959, www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/221496. 86 See www.pmo.gov.il/MediaCenter/Spokesman/Pages/spokeCabinet010117.aspx. 87 A/HRC/16/71, para.60(b). 88 See www.hrw.org/news/2016/08/29/palestine-crackdown-journalists-activists 82 17