Replies received, 1 May to 31 July 2013
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*The present report is circulated as received.
I. Introduction
1. Special procedures are mandated by the Human Rights Council to report to it on their activities (see Annex).
2. In 2009, the sixteenth annual meeting of special procedures mandate holders decided that a joint communications report would be prepared (cf. A/HRC/12/47, para 24-26), with this decision being reconfirmed by the seventeenth annual meeting of special procedures in 2010 in order to avoid duplication, rationalize documentation, allow examination of cross cutting issues and ensure that the content of communications and any follow-up would feed into the universal periodic review mechanism more effectively. Mandate holders decided that the report should contain summaries of communications, and statistical information (A/HRC/15/44, para. 26-27).
3. The Outcome of the review of the work and functioning of the Human Rights Council calls on the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights to maintain information on special procedures in a comprehensive and easily accessible manner, and encourages the use of modern information technology to reduce the circulation of paper (A/HRC/RES/16/21, Annex, para. 29 and 60).
4. Short summaries of allegations communicated to the respective State or other entity are included in the report, and the communications sent and responses received are accessible electronically through hyperlinks. Communications are reproduced in the language in which they were sent. Replies received in Arabic, Chinese or Russian are included with translations into English, where available.
5. This report covers all urgent appeals, letters of allegations and other letters sent by special procedures mandate holders between 1 March 2013 and 31 May 2013 and replies received between 1 May and 31 July 2013. Communications sent before 1 March 2013 are reported in A/HRC/23/51, A/HRC/22/67, A/HRC/22/67 corr.1 and corr.2, A/HRC/21/49, A/HRC/20/30, A/HRC/19/44 and A/HRC/18/51 respectively.
6. The report also includes replies received between 1 May 2013 and 31 July 2013, relating to communications sent by special procedures mandate holders before 1 March 2013. Some of these replies supplement information communicated earlier by the respective State.
7. The present report contains urgent appeals sent by the Working Group on Arbitrary Detention and the Working Group on Enforced or Involuntary Disappearances and joint urgent appeals sent by them together with other mandates. It does not contain other types of communications issued by these mandates, which are processed according to their own distinctive procedures, and are reported in the annual reports of these two working groups.
8. The names of some alleged victims have been obscured in order to protect their privacy and prevent further victimization. Names of victims who would otherwise have their identities protected are mentioned only when the concerned individual has expressly consented or requested to have his or her name in the public report. In the original communications, the full names of the alleged victims were provided to the Government concerned. Names of alleged perpetrators have systematically been darkened in State replies to preserve the presumption of innocence.
9. In preparing the statistics included in this report, uniform reporting periods have been used, reflecting all communications sent between 1 March 2013 and 31 May 2013, and responses received in relation to these communications up to 31 July 2013.
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A. Communications sent between 1 March 2013 and 31 May 2013 and replies received between 1 May and 31 July 2013
10. Communications are presented in chronological order. Copies of the full text of the communications sent and replies received may be accessed from the electronic version of this report available on the OHCHR website. Some names of individuals or other information have been rendered anonymous or otherwise unidentifiable.
|
Date |
Case No Country |
Mandate(s) |
Summary of the allegation transmitted |
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/… |
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|
18/03/2013 AL |
Israel |
Health; |
Alleged repeated denial of access to specialized urgent medical care, resulting in death. According to the information received, Mr. Shadi Zuheir Naim Natsheh (Palestinian citizen, born 5 March 1989, and resident of Hebron, West Bank, Occupied Palestinian Territory), died on 31 January 2013, as a result of repeated denial of permission by the Israeli authorities to exit the West Bank and access specialized urgent medical care abroad. Mr. Natsheh was the subject of a previous communication (see A/HRC/22/67, case no ISR 10/2012), to which no reply has been received. |
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/… |
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27/03/2013 JUA |
Israel |
Arbitrary detention; Freedom of expression; Freedom of peaceful assembly and of association; Human rights defenders; Independence of judges and lawyers; OPT; Terrorism; Torture; |
Alleged arrest, ill-treatment and arbitrary detention of a human rights defender. According to the information received, Mr. Hassan Karajah was arrested on 23 January 2012 at his family home and taken to an interrogation facility. He was reportedly denied access to a lawyer during the first twenty days of his detention. Furthermore it is reported that he was not allowed to take the necessary medication for his conditions along with him at the time of his arrest, and that he has been subjected to ill-treatment while in detention. He remained in detention as the trial against him in a military court was set to resume on 4 April 2013. Mr. Karajah is the youth coordinator of the Palestinian Grassroots Anti-Apartheid Wall (Stop The Wall) Movement, an organization which peacefully protests the presence and expansion of the Wall as well as defending the rights of prisoners. |
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/… |
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10/04/2013 JAL |
Israel |
Independence of judges and lawyers; OPT; Summary executions; Torture; |
Alleged severe torture and death caused by Israeli Security Agency officers. According to the information received, on 18 February 2013, officers of the Israeli Security Forces (ISF) and the Israeli Security Agency (ISA; Shin Bet) arrested Mr. Arafat Jaradat, aged 30, at his home in the village of Sa’eer, near Al-Khalil (Hebron), occupied Palestinian territory. He was then transferred to al-Jalameh Interrogation Center in the northern West Bank before being taken to Megiddo prison inside Israel. On 21 February 2013, Mr. Jaradat was brought before the court, where he alleged having been subjected to torture during interrogation. It is reported that the judge ruled to extend his detention for a further 12 days and that, on 23 February 2013, Mr. Jaradat died in a special section of the ISA Megiddo prison. The autopsy report concluded that Mr. Jaradat’s death was caused by nervous shock resulting from severe pain, which was caused by multiple injuries inflicted through direct and extreme torture. |
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Document Type: Communication, Programme, Report
Document Sources: General Assembly, Human Rights Council
Country: Israel
Subject: Human rights and international humanitarian law, Legal issues, NGOs/Civil Society, Prisoners and detainees, Torture
Publication Date: 31/07/2013