Violation: closing main roads
Location: the villages of north Ramallah
Date: October 16, 2015
Perpetrators: the Israeli occupation army
Victims: residents of the targeted villages
Details:
Collective punishment is a policy conducted by the Israel occupation to put a pressure on Palestinians and to inflect damage and harm on them on daily basis. This policy has been conducted since 1948 and is still ongoing, taking into account that it violates all international laws and humanitarian conventions, which state the prohibition of harming unarmed civilians at wartime.
The Israeli occupation troops on October 16, 2015 closed the main road linking the villages of north Ramallah (Silwad, Al-Mazra’a Al-Sharqiya, Kfar Malik, Al-Tayba and Deir Jarir) with the governorate itself by dirt mounds. The road also links Ramallah to the bypass road no.60; more specifically next to Ofra military camp, northeast Ramallah.
It should be mark that the road is considered the vital nerve connecting Ramallah with its villages. Closing the road will restrain people’s movement to work and health services. Residents of the isolated areas are now forced to take a new route through the villages of Rammun, Deir Dibwan and Beitin to Al-Jalazun Camp to reach Ramallah city. The new route is 9km more than the original route.
Noteworthy, the road was closed in the aftermath of the second intifada of 2000 until it was re-opened in 2013.
Photos 1-2: the new route
Closing the western entrance of Silwad town:
The Israeli occupation army also closed the western entrance of Silwad town, which links the town with Yabrud village through road blocks. The road is considered the main portal for the residents of the area and neighboring villages and towns to reach Ramallah governorate.
Photo 3: the closed road
Closing an agricultural road west Silwad town:
The Israeli occupation army also closed an agricultural road, northwest Silwad town by dirt mounds. The road is reported to link the town to 400 dunums of olive groves and to the bypass road no.60.
This closure comes in time with the olive picking season so that the Israeli occupation imposes a de facto that cannot be changed and to weaken the Palestinian will and connection to the land.
International conventions and laws regarding freedom of movement which Israel unabatedly violates:
- Article 5: “No one shall be subjected to torture or to cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment”.
- Article 9: “No one shall be subjected to arbitrary arrest, detention or exile”.
- Article 13: Everyone has the right to freedom of movement and residence within the borders of each state.
Everyone has the right to leave any country, including his own, and to return to his country.
- Article 7 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights: “No one shall be subjected to torture or to cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment. In particular, no one shall be subjected without his free consent to medical or scientific experimentation.”
- Article 9 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights: “Everyone has the right to liberty and security of person. No one shall be subjected to arbitrary arrest or detention. No one shall be deprived of his liberty except on such grounds and in accordance with such procedure as are established by law.
Prepared by
The Land Research Center
LRC
