Al Mezan Center for Human Rights organized a monitoring campaign on the recent Palestinian local elections in ten municipalities in the Gaza Strip. The elections took place on Thursday, 27 January 2005, under the supervision of the Higher Local Election Commission and in accordance with law #5/1996. The Commission announced the final results on Friday, 28 January 2005.
The Center commends the Palestinian People for the success of this second phase of the local elections, which proceeded without problems. No serious breaches of the law or of internationally accepted standards for fair and democratic elections were noted. The Election Commission carried out its functions efficiently and responsibly, and welcomed Mezan’s efforts and recommendations during the election day.
Al Mezan reaffirms its commitment to human rights, democracy and neutrality in its role in monitoring elections. It nevertheless wishes to call attention to certain mitigating factors:
- The disorder inside several polling centers forced some of them to close. The method of presenting the voters' registries was, to a great extent, the cause of this disorder.
- The election campaigns continued into Election Day, contrary to the law. The Center recorded no effective intervention by the Commission to prevent this.
- In tens of cases people under the age of 18 voted – a clear violation of the law. The names of those under 18 were listed on the voters' registries suggesting that the Commission did not properly check them ahead of time. Even after Mezan contacted the Commission, it took it hours to notify all the polling centers to halt under 18s' voting.
- In several polling stations, especially in Deir Al Balah, Bani Suheila, Khza'a, An Nasser and Al-Shouka, the polling stations' staffs made the observers leave the stations before the counting of votes started. The Commission corrected this situation after Al Mezan notified it of this problem; it nevertheless reveals inexperience on the part of trained staff.
- Vote counting was recorded with paper tallies and without the proper opportunity for observers' to watch the process and check the results.
- In the Commission's announcement of the final results, it made one mistake announcing Khalil Shaath a winner when in fact Samy Shaath won; both are from An Naser Municipality in Rafah.
Al Mezan Center for Human Rights has included these notes because of its concern for the promotion of democracy and its support of establishing fair democratic electoral experiences in Palestine. The Center calls for full compliance with the law, even if such breaches did not affect the overall results. The Center hopes that the Occupied Palestinian Territories will have fair and democratic legislative and local elections during 2005, and that the bodies organizing elections will cease any violations that appeared in this local election.
My Rights, Our Power: A Joint Campaign Launched in Palestine to Raise Awareness on Women’s Fundamental Human Rights
Date posted: March 09, 2019
By UN Women
1_March 2019, Ramallah – On the occasion of the International Women’s Day (8 March), a week-long joint campaign “My Rights, Our Power” was launched today in Palestine to raise awareness on women’s fundamental human rights. The joint effort, with participation from over 30 national and international partners from civil society organizations, media outlets, and international development agencies, targets youth, women, and men in various geographic areas in the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, and Gaza to promote women’s human rights in Palestine.
The campaign comes at a crucial moment when the anticipated adoption of the Family Protection Bill is at a standstill, raising concerns among national and international stakeholders about the consequences of such delay on safeguarding women’s fundamental human rights in Palestine. According to the Palestine report of the International Men and Gender Equality Survey (IMAGES), nearly one in five Palestinian men (17 percent) surveyed said they had perpetrated act of physical intimate partner violence against female partners, while 21 per cent of women surveyed reported having experienced such violence.
“Family violence, usually committed by a family member who has social or economic power over others in the family, causes enormous pain and suffering to all members of the family, especially the women and children,” said a spokesperson from civil society, which has vigorously initiated the development of the Family Protection Bill (FPB), and has strongly pushed its adoption since 2004.
“The violation of women’s human rights manifests in various levels and should be also understood from economic, cultural, and social aspects,” the spokesperson added, highlighting the lack of opportunities and freedom of choice, as well as limited access to justice and services that women in Palestine still experience.
The joint campaign aims to raise awareness of the general public, especially youth, women, and men on women’s fundamental rights in line with international standards and embedded in the Family Protection Bill draft endorsed by the previous Cabinet at the end of December 2018. Five key messages, addressing women’s right to a life free of violence, right to achieve justice and seek help in case of violation of such life, as well as the right to equal opportunities and right to make one’s own choices, will be distributed through various channels such as radio, social media, helpline (121), outreach activities, and on-site events. The closing event of the joint campaign will take place on 8 March in Jerusalem and will celebrate women’s achievements using TED-style talks, followed by art performances.
“My Rights, Our Power” joint campaign is part of the global International Women’s Day 2019 campaign under the theme of “Think equal, build smart, innovate for change”. The theme focuses on innovative ways in which we can advance gender equality and the empowerment of women, particularly in the areas of social protection systems, access to public services and sustainable infrastructure, echoing the theme of the 63rd session of the Commission on the Status of Women (CSW 63) taking place in New York on 11-22 March 2019.
The participating organizations of the “My Rights, Our Power” are (in alphabetical order): 17 Palestinian women’s organizations represented by Al-Muntada (coalition), British Consulate-General, Business Women Forum, CARE International, Consulate General of Sweden, Consulate General of Belgium, EUPOL COPPS, EU Representative Office, FAO, General Union of Palestinian Women, Government of Japan, CowaterSogema/GROW Project, International Labour Organization, Italian Agency for Development Cooperation, Ma’an TV, MIFTAH, Netherlands Representative Office, Nisaa FM, Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, Palestinian Working Woman Society for Development, Palestinian Family Planning and Protection Association, Representative Office of Canada, Representative Office of Denmark, SAWA, Sawasya II, Spanish Agency for International Development Cooperation, Sports for Life, Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation, Representative Office of Norway, UNDP, UNESCO, UNFPA, UNICEF, UNOPS, UN Women, Women's Centre for Legal Aid and Counseling, Women’s Studies Center.
For more information, please contact Eunjin Jeong at UN Women via eunjin.jeong@unwomen.org or 059 2321 308, Majd Beltaji at UNESCO via m.beltaji@unesco.org or 059 4501 506.
