The National Human Rights Committee (NHRC) has condemned the decision of the Israeli occupation authorities to close Al Jazeera’s office in Jerusalem and to withdraw the accreditation of its journalists.
The Committee described the Israeli decision as a flagrant violation of the freedom of opinion and expression and right to information access. The Committee considered the decision of the Israeli authorities to close the office of Al Jazeera in Jerusalem as a dangerous precedent, ignoring the demands of the international community to respect the freedom of opinion and expression and the right to information access.
NHRC condemned the provocative measures taken by the Israeli authorities and the foreign ministers of the siege countries at the recent Manama meeting, it calls on the International organisations and journalists’ unions that they stand up to this vicious and systematic campaign targeting free media and journalists, not only on Al Jazeera, but on all the free, professional and independent media in the world.
The National Human Rights Committee (NHRC) affirmed that it would hold a wide international action with international partners, in the international conference on threats facing freedom held recently in Doha, to curb violations of freedom of expression by the Israeli occupation and the siege countries and activate the recommendations of this conference.
The National Human Rights Committee pointed out that the decision of the Israeli occupation authorities to close the office of Al Jazeera in Jerusalem came at a time when international human rights organisations, journalists’ unions around the world and major media gathered to condemn the demands of the siege countries and their arbitrary measures to close Al Jazeera and affiliated offices, and demand to respect for freedom of expression, right to information access and protection of journalists.
The Israeli decision came at a time when the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights and the Special Rapporteur on freedom of opinion and expression condemned the attacks by the siege countries on those freedoms and considered them a flagrant violation of human rights.
The National Human Rights Committee noted that the decision of the Israeli occupation authorities was also issued following the Doha international conference on threats facing freedom of opinion and expression held on 24 and 25 July 2017, and the widespread condemnations of violations of freedom of opinion and expression in general, the demands of the siege countries that violate these freedoms and rights, as well as the solidarity stand with Al Jazeera, carried out by representatives of 200 international organisations that participated in the conference.
