Photo by Ryan Rodrick Beiler / Activestills (via RHR)In an urgent letter sent to the Commander of the Central Command, Major General Roni Noma, the Association for Civil Rights in Israel (ACRI) demanded the immediate annulment of his recently signed order, which forces the residents of the villages of ‘Ein al-Hilweh and Umm Jamal in the northern Jordan Valley to remove all of their personal belongings within a few days.
ACRI’s position is that the new order, which obliges residents to remove their belongings from a delineated area – the area where they live -, as well as prohibits any construction there, could lead to the forced transfer of Palestinians, who are considered protected persons under International Humanitarian Law (IHL). The order is therefore illegal under IHL.
The means in which the order was delivered to the residents was also not done lawfully. In addition, the authority to enforce planning and building regulations is generally vested in the Civil Administration and not by the OC Central Command. “Because of all this, we call on you to cancel the said order and to refrain from forcibly transferring the residents of the villages of ‘Ein al-Hilweh and Umm Jamal,” wrote ACRI Att. Roni Pelli.
In addition, on November 8th 2017, ACRI wrote to the Judea and Samaria Legal Advisor, demanding that he order the Civil Administration to stop the seizure of Palestinian mobile residential structures in the West Bank without a hearing. In her letter, Attorney Pelli emphasizes the importance of holding a hearing in the administrative process. This right is being denied to residents who receive confiscation orders on their homes. She stresses that using this order for “bypassing a hearing in the High Court of Justice” violates the most basic rights of the residents. The scope and the burden of petitions submitted to the High Court of Justice regarding planning and building issues in Area C do not justify the total cancellation of the right to due process, the right to a hearing, the right to shelter and the right to dignity of protected residents in the West Bank.
To read the letter written to the Commander of the General Command, click here
To read the letter written to the Judea and Samaria Legal Adviser, click here
