GENEVA (18 May 2018) \u2013 UN human rights experts* have called on the Government of Israel to rescind its decision of 7 May to cancel the work permit of Omar Shakir, the Israel and Palestine Director for Human Rights Watch, who is based in Jerusalem.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe decision to revoke Mr. Shakir\u2019s work permit appears connected solely to his human rights research and advocacy,\u201d they noted, \u201cnot to any allegation of wrongdoing\u201d.<\/p>\n
\u201cDeporting Mr. Shakir sends a troubling message that Israel resists the kind of human rights fact-finding and debate that Human Rights Watch and other domestic and international non-governmental organisations conduct all of the time, in almost every part of the world.\u201d<\/p>\n
In March 2017, Israel initially refused to grant a work permit for Mr. Shakir. At the time, UN experts urged the Israeli Government to fully respect the fundamental rights and freedoms of human rights defenders and organisations, and to withdraw and rescind all restrictive legislation targeting human rights defenders. They are renewing their call in this fresh appeal.\u201d<\/p>\n
According to public reports and statements, the Government of Israel cancelled Mr. Shakir\u2019s work permit in light of his alleged advocacy in the past for the boycott, divestment and sanctions (BDS) movement. Human Rights Watch has stated explicitly that it does not take a position on the BDS movement, nor do its employees.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe fear that this decision is part of a troubling trend by the Israeli Government to restrict and shrink the space of human rights defenders who are critical of its record in the Occupied Palestinian Territories,\u201d said the UN experts. \u201cWe have previously identified concerns, for example, with Israel\u2019s restrictions on human rights NGOs.\u201d<\/p>\n
The UN experts, while taking no position on BDS, remind the Government that expressing support for or opposition to BDS remains firmly protected by the rights to freedom of opinion and expression.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe are concerned that Israel is denying a voice in the country to well-respected organisations and human rights advocates,\u201d the experts said, noting as well the 14-hour detention and questioning and eventual expulsion of two human rights lawyers from the United States who were attempting to visit Israel on 29 April.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe ability of human rights organisations to function freely in any country is a barometer of the larger enjoyment of rights for the residents of that country. The unjustified curtailing of the indispensable work of human rights defenders does not dignify the reputation of any government, and runs counter to democratic values,\u201d they emphasised.<\/p>\n
ENDS<\/p>\n
*The UN experts:\u00a0Michael Lynk, Special Rapporteur on the\u00a0situation of human rights in the Palestinian Territory occupied since 1967<\/a>;Mr. David Kaye, Special Rapporteur on the promotion and protection the right to\u00a0freedom of opinion and expression<\/a>; Mr. Michel Forst, Special Rapporteur on the\u00a0situation of human rights defenders<\/a>.<\/p>\n The Special Rapporteurs and Working Groups are part of what is known as the\u00a0Special Procedures<\/a>\u00a0of the Human Rights Council. Special Procedures, the largest body of independent experts in the UN Human Rights system, is the general name of the Council\u2019s independent fact-finding and monitoring mechanisms that address either specific country situations or thematic issues in all parts of the world. Special Procedures\u2019 experts work on a voluntary basis; they are not UN staff and do not receive a salary for their work. They are independent from any government or organization and serve in their individual capacity.<\/p>\n UN Human Rights, Country Page –\u00a0Occupied Palestinian Territories<\/a>\u00a0 and\u00a0Israel<\/a><\/p>\n For more information and\u00a0media requests<\/strong>, please contact Katharine Marshall (+41 22 917 9695 \/\u00a0kmarshall@ohchr.org<\/a>) or Sarah Jacquier Nobel (+41 22 917 93 65 \/\u00a0sjacquiernobel@ohchr.org<\/a>)<\/p>\n For\u00a0media inquiries<\/strong>\u00a0related to other UN independent experts please contact This year is the\u00a0<\/em>70th\u00a0anniversary<\/strong>\u00a0<\/em>of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights<\/strong>, adopted by the UN on 10 December 1948. The Universal Declaration \u2013 translated into a world record 500 languages \u2013 is rooted in the principle that \u201call human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights.\u201d It remains relevant to everyone, every day. In honour of the 70th anniversary of this extraordinarily influential document, and to prevent its vital principles from being eroded, we are urging people everywhere to\u00a0<\/em>Stand Up<\/strong>\u00a0<\/em>for Human Rights<\/strong>:\u00a0<\/em>www.standup4humanrights.org<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" GENEVA (18 May 2018) \u2013 UN human rights experts* have called on the Government of Israel to rescind its decision of 7 May to cancel the work permit of Omar Shakir, the Israel and Palestine Director for Human Rights Watch, who is based in Jerusalem. \u201cThe decision to revoke Mr. Shakir\u2019s work permit appears connected […]<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":172,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"country":[897],"document-category":[1329],"document-source":[2749,1825,5990,4570,2025],"committee-meeting":[],"document-subject":[1741],"entity":[2077,1729],"document-language":[6542],"class_list":["post-136253","document","type-document","status-publish","hentry","country-israel","document-category-press-release","document-source-human-rights-watch","document-source-office-of-the-united-nations-high-commissioner-for-human-rights-ohchr","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-defenders","document-source-special-rapporteur-on-the-situation-of-human-rights-in-the-opt","document-subject-human-rights-and-international-humanitarian-law","entity-non-governmental-organization","entity-united-nations-system","document-language-english"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.un.org\/unispal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/document\/136253","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\/172"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.un.org\/unispal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/document\/136253\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.un.org\/unispal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=136253"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"country","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.un.org\/unispal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/country?post=136253"},{"taxonomy":"document-category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.un.org\/unispal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/document-category?post=136253"},{"taxonomy":"document-source","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.un.org\/unispal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/document-source?post=136253"},{"taxonomy":"committee-meeting","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.un.org\/unispal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/committee-meeting?post=136253"},{"taxonomy":"document-subject","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.un.org\/unispal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/document-subject?post=136253"},{"taxonomy":"entity","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.un.org\/unispal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/entity?post=136253"},{"taxonomy":"document-language","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.un.org\/unispal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/document-language?post=136253"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
\nJeremy Laurence, UN Human Rights \u2013 Media Unit (+41 22 917 9383 \/\u00a0jlaurence@ohchr.org<\/a>)<\/p>\n