A/HRC/16/24
the judgment, the military court acquitted the defendants of all charges in view of the fact
that it could not clearly identify the actual perpetrator, but it determined that, at a minimum,
the death had resulted from negligence on the part of the security services and, therefore,
ordered the payment of compensation to the family of the deceased.
55.
Despite this example, the Committee has received no information with respect to the
opening of criminal investigations or of prosecutions underway relating to incidents
outlined in the FFM or in the Independent Investigation Commission report, since January
2010. For instance, the General Prosecutor provided a list of 326 criminal investigations
carried out between 7 January 2010 and 7 March 2011. While this list reflects
commendable efforts on the part of the Palestinian Authority to investigate criminal cases,
these inquiries appear to be unrelated to the allegations in the FFM report. Accordingly,
further efforts should be expended to systematically investigate allegations of extrajudicial
killings, of torture and ill-treatment, of unlawful detention, and re-arrests, and of the lack of
implementation of Court orders directing the release of unlawfully detained individuals.
56.
Notwithstanding the problems listed above, the Committee underscores that the
establishment of the Ministerial Committee is a very welcome development. The
Ministerial Committee’s report lays down a road map of short- and long-term strategies that
go squarely in the direction of implementing the recommendations of the Independent
Investigation Commission. Indeed, some positive developments have already taken place.
For instance, information provided by the Minister of Justice indicates that on 15 January
2011 a decision was made by the General Prosecutor, the Military Prosecutor and
Palestinian security services to transfer all cases of civilians being tried before military
courts to domestic criminal courts for prosecution. This change in policy was confirmed by
the Palestinian Independent Commission for Human Rights (ICHR). The ICHR represented
to the Committee on 10 March 2011 that, since 15 January 2011, no new cases against
civilians have been brought before military courts, but it noted that the transfer of existing
cases before military courts to civilian courts has still not been fully implemented.
57.
Moreover, the General Prosecutor has adopted new rules relating to the monitoring
of places of detention by his office.38
58.
To underscore the importance of these changes and ensure that they are
implemented throughout the West Bank, the Ministerial Committee recommended that the
Palestinian President and the Prime Minister should issue timely and clearly defined
instructions to all security, judicial and executive services ordering the strict observance of
the existing legal framework so that changes that have been accomplished at the policy
level actually have consequences in practice. The Committee notes with concern that,
according to the ICHR monthly reports, allegations of torture and ill-treatment remained at
the same level in the West Bank throughout 2010 and the beginning of 2011. Therefore,
much more needs to be done to effectively implement the necessary measures indicated
above.
B.
The de facto Gaza authorities
59.
The Committee requested updated information from the de facto Gaza authorities
with respect to measures they have taken in response to the FFM report since September
2010.
38
14
The Committee was informed by the General Prosecutor that his office now conducts regular visits to
both civilian and military detention facilities to monitor the treatment of detainees and the conditions
of detention.
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