{"id":301273,"date":"2024-09-12T14:40:03","date_gmt":"2024-09-12T18:40:03","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.un.org\/unispal\/?post_type=document&p=301273"},"modified":"2024-09-16T14:40:26","modified_gmt":"2024-09-16T18:40:26","slug":"un-experts-press-release-12sep24","status":"publish","type":"document","link":"https:\/\/www.un.org\/unispal\/document\/un-experts-press-release-12sep24\/","title":{"rendered":"UN experts urge Israel to stop attacks and harassment against journalists in occupied West Bank"},"content":{"rendered":"
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12 September 2024<\/p>\n

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UN experts* today condemned incidents of violence, harassment, intimidation and obstruction of journalists in the occupied West Bank, which have recently escalated under Israel\u2019s sudden military offensive launched on 27 August.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe strongly denounce the attacks and harassment of journalists in the illegally occupied West Bank, which are nothing but crude attempts by the Israeli army to block independent reporting on potential war crimes,\u201d the experts said.<\/p>\n

There have been at least three incidents in September, in Jenin and Tulkarm, where Israeli security forces fired live ammunition at journalists or their vehicles, while they were reporting on military operations and civilian casualties. At least 4 journalists were injured as a result, even though several of them wore clearly marked press jackets.<\/p>\n

Since 27 August, journalists, including a team from\u00a0Al Jazeera<\/em>, have been impeded from doing their work and forced to leave under threat from the Israeli military. In one case, the military searched their personal phones and forced them to delete material. At least one journalist has been arbitrarily arrested and interrogated, while numerous others reported being chased by bulldozers operated by Israeli security forces.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt is deeply disturbing to see Israeli soldiers in the West Bank replicating the same disdain for the safety of journalists as in Gaza in blatant violation of international law. Foreign media continue to be denied access to Gaza and now their safety in the West Bank is also being seriously threatened, gravely hindering their journalistic work,\u201d the experts said.<\/p>\n

Since October 2023, at least 29 journalists have been detained by Israeli forces in the occupied West Bank, and three by the Palestinian Authority. Several of them continue to be under administrative detention. Cases of journalists, including women journalists, subjected to ill-treatment while in Israeli detention, including sexual and gender-based violence, have been well documented.<\/p>\n

\u201cDetention of journalists, along with reports of torture and ill-treatment and violation of due process in the context of an occupation that the International Court of Justice just declared unlawful, raise serious concerns regarding the punitive nature of such deprivation of liberty, and the right of journalists to tell the world about the assault on the Palestinian people\u2019s self-determination, continued dispossession, forced displacement and oppression,\u201d the experts said.<\/p>\n

They were concerned that not a single case of a journalist killed, injured or harassed in the occupied Palestinian Territory has ever been transparently investigated or the suspected perpetrators brought to justice by Israeli authorities. Even the emblematic killing of Shireen Abu Akhleh in 2022 remains unresolved despite clear evidence of Israeli forces\u2019 culpability.<\/p>\n

\u201cAs long as Israel remains an occupying power, it is obliged to respect the work of journalists and media workers in the occupied Palestinian Territory, and to ensure their safety, in accordance with international humanitarian and human rights law,\u201d the experts said.<\/p>\n

As recalled by the International Court of Justice, Israel\u2019s excessive use of force against Palestinians contributes to the illegal nature of its occupation and is inconsistent with its obligations under the Hague Regulations, the Fourth Geneva Convention, and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights.<\/p>\n

\u201cBoth the International Court of Justice and the International Criminal Court are encouraged to consider the widespread and systematic attack on journalists and media workers as part of their ongoing investigations,\u201d the experts said.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe genocide in Gaza has overshadowed the distress of journalists in the West Bank, but this recent escalation makes it imperative that the international community pay more heed to what is happening in the West Bank and strongly denounce Israel\u2019s actions.\u201d<\/p>\n

The experts are in contact with the Government of Israel on this issue.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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*The experts:\u00a0Irene Khan<\/strong>,\u00a0Special Rapporteur on the right to freedom of opinion and expression<\/a><\/em>\u00a0and\u00a0Francesca Albanese<\/strong>,\u00a0Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the Palestinian territories occupied since 1967<\/a><\/em>.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

  12 September 2024 UN experts* today condemned incidents of violence, harassment, intimidation and obstruction of journalists in the occupied West Bank, which have recently escalated under Israel\u2019s sudden military offensive launched on 27 August. \u201cWe strongly denounce the attacks and harassment of journalists in the illegally occupied West Bank, which are nothing but crude […]<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":299,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"country":[],"document-category":[1329],"document-source":[5990,6854],"committee-meeting":[],"document-subject":[2517,1769,2005,6790,1741,6644,1745],"entity":[1729],"document-language":[6542],"class_list":["post-301273","document","type-document","status-publish","hentry","document-category-press-release","document-source-special-rapporteur-on-the-promotion-and-protection-of-the-right-to-freedom-of-opinion-and-expression","document-source-special-rapporteur-on-the-situation-of-human-rights-in-the-palestinian-territories-occupied-since-1967","document-subject-access-and-movement","document-subject-armed-conflict","document-subject-gaza-strip","document-subject-genocide","document-subject-human-rights-and-international-humanitarian-law","document-subject-media-journalists","document-subject-refugees-and-displaced-persons","entity-united-nations-system","document-language-english"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.un.org\/unispal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/document\/301273","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.un.org\/unispal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/document"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.un.org\/unispal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/document"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.un.org\/unispal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/299"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.un.org\/unispal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/document\/301273\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":301275,"href":"https:\/\/www.un.org\/unispal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/document\/301273\/revisions\/301275"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.un.org\/unispal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=301273"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"country","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.un.org\/unispal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/country?post=301273"},{"taxonomy":"document-category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.un.org\/unispal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/document-category?post=301273"},{"taxonomy":"document-source","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.un.org\/unispal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/document-source?post=301273"},{"taxonomy":"committee-meeting","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.un.org\/unispal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/committee-meeting?post=301273"},{"taxonomy":"document-subject","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.un.org\/unispal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/document-subject?post=301273"},{"taxonomy":"entity","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.un.org\/unispal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/entity?post=301273"},{"taxonomy":"document-language","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.un.org\/unispal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/document-language?post=301273"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}