November, 04 2019, 11:00pm EDT
For Immediate Release
Contact:
Jen Nessel, Center for Constitutional Rights, (212) 614-6449, jnessel@ccrjustice.org
Israel Supreme Court Upholds Deportation of Human Rights Defender: Rights Attorneys Respond
In response to today's decision by Israel's Supreme Court upholding the order for human rights defender Omar Shakir, of Human Rights Watch, to leave Israel, the Center for Constitutional Rights issued the following statement:
WASHINGTON
In response to today's decision by Israel's Supreme Court upholding the order for human rights defender Omar Shakir, of Human Rights Watch, to leave Israel, the Center for Constitutional Rights issued the following statement:
The Israeli court's decision to allow the deportation of human rights defender Omar Shakir because of his advocacy and support for human rights in Israel and Palestine is outrageous, but not shocking. The Israeli government, and now the courts, have increased their attacks on human rights advocates in the hope of silencing criticism of the country's human rights record. But each time advocates for Palestinian rights are silenced or punished, it instead draws more attention to--and multiplies--Israel's long list of human rights violations. We stand in solidarity with Shakir, Human Rights Watch, and the many other human rights defenders - Palestinian, Israeli, and from around the world - standing up for justice in Palestine.
Israel similarly prohibited Center for Constitutional Rights Executive Director Vince Warren and Board Chair Katherine Franke from traveling to Israel and Palestine to meet with impacted communities and advocates, detained the two lawyers for 14 hours, interrogated them about their advocacy for human rights in the Middle East, and deported them. Shakir, Warren, and Franke are among a growing list of human rights activists Israel has subjected to punitive travel restrictions, including Laith Abu Zeyad of Amnesty International and vocal advocates of Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions. Many Palestinians in the occupied Palestinian territory are denied the ability to travel by Israeli authorities.
The Center for Constitutional Rights is dedicated to advancing and protecting the rights guaranteed by the United States Constitution and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. CCR is committed to the creative use of law as a positive force for social change.
(212) 614-6464LATEST NEWS
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At a hearing on the fifth anniversary of the January 6, 2021 attack on the US Capitol next week, House Democrats plan to look back as well as forward—countering Republicans' efforts to "rewrite history and whitewash" the attempted insurrection by President Donald Trump's supporters and warning of the GOP's threats to upcoming elections and to US democracy.
The event next Tuesday will be an unofficial one, as Democrats are in the minority and do not have the authority to call formal hearings.
House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY) said in a Dear Colleague letter to other lawmakers on Monday that the hearing would shed light on the "toxic priorities" of Trump, who after taking office in January issued blanket pardons for nearly 1,600 people who were charged in connection to the January 6 attack.
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After Trump took office this year, Johnson announced a new congressional subcommittee that would expose "the false narratives peddled by” the previous bipartisan panel that issued a report in 2022 about Trump's efforts to overturn the 2020 election results and his encouragement of the attack.
Rep. Bennie Thompson (D-Miss.), who led the bipartisan committee, will also oversee next Tuesday's hearing.
In addition to exposing "the election deniers who hold high-level positions of significance in the executive branch," wrote Jeffries on Monday, the panel "will examine ongoing threats to free and fair elections posed by an out-of-control Trump administration."
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According to CNN, which cited unnamed sources, the drone strike "targeted a remote dock on the Venezuelan coast that the US government believed was being used by the Venezuelan gang Tren de Aragua to store drugs and move them onto boats for onward shipping."
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The US military said Monday that two alleged drug smugglers were killed in the bombing of another boat in the eastern Pacific Ocean, but—as has been the case throughout 30 such strikes—offered no verifiable evidence to support its claim.
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