Violation: expanding a checkpoint of the occupation
Date: 06/11/2014
Location: Salfit
Perpetrators: the army of the Israeli occupation
Victims: residents of Salfit
Details:
The machineries of the occupation have been, for the second day in row, ravaging and expanding the periphery of a checkpoint set up at the northern entrance of Salfit governorate .
According to Land Research Center- LRC field follow-up on the area, the ravaging works are intense in the northern part of the military checkpoint parallel with the bypass road leading to Areal colony. It is assumed that this plan aims at opening a Palestinian-only- road leading to the checkpoint and then to Salfit as a an alternative solution for Palestinians not to travel through the aforementioned bypass.
This is a sign of the occupation forcing the de facto policy in the area through pining down the presence of Salfit checkpoint , which separates it from other towns and villages in the nearby, and through controlling the economy of the town as well.
The occupation contradicts all the international conventions and laws:
It should be indicated that the main road, north of Salfit dates back to the Ottoman era, Mayor of Salfit Shaher Ishtaya said. Caravans and people used to travel that road to head to the south of historical Palestine.
The occupation worked hard to distort the identity of the road as Palestinian for the favor of Areal colony. As a result, the infrastructure of the road was totally damaged. In reference to the international conventions, it is prohibited to change the characteristics of any structure founded before an occupation- the Israeli occupation in this case-. Ironically, the occupation does the contrary of what the conventions stated with due less care about them.
It should be marked that the occupation closed the northern entrance of Salfit since 2001 until 2012 under the pretext of security reasons. The local economy of the area was badly harmed causing a negative effect on the demographic situation as a result. Also, people of the area had to travel extra 20 km to reach their destination through the village of Iskaka to Yasuf village and then heading towards the west via the bypass road no.505.
Land Research Center sees in checkpoint expansion and the village's entrance closure a clear-cut violation of the right to move and a breach of the international conventions. For example :
The Universal Declaration of Human Rights
- Article 3: Everyone has the right to life, liberty and security of person.
- 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 :
(1) Everyone has the right to freedom of movement and residence within the borders of each state.
(2) Everyone has the right to leave any country, including his own, and to return to his country.
International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights
- Article 7:
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:
- 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.
- Anyone who is arrested shall be informed, at the time of arrest, of the reasons for his arrest and shall be promptly informed of any charges against him.
Prepared by
The Land Research Center
LRC
