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The Palestinian Human Rights Monitoring Group

The Palestinian Human Rights Monitoring Group (PHRMG) is a Palestinian, independent, non-governmental organization working to end human rights violations committed against Palestinians in the West Bank, Gaza Strip, and East Jerusalem, regardless of those responsible. The members of the Monitoring Group believe that the strength of democracy and civil society in Palestinian society will be determined by the Palestinian people, through their defense or neglect of human rights.

The PHRMG held its opening ceremony on December 9, 1996, at the Ambassador Hotel in East Jerusalem. The well-wishers included diplomats from many countries, human rights activists, Palestinian Legislative Council members, and members of the Monitoring Group. The event marked the end of the Monitoring Group's setting up activities, and the start of operations.

The audience was addressed by the Director of the PHRMG, Bassem Eid, and by Dr. Haidar Abdel-Shafi, a member of the Board of Directors. He criticized the state of human rights in Palestine and called upon human rights activists to be more courageous in their work. He said that protecting human rights in Palestine strengthens the Palestinian National Authority in the long run.

Bassem Eid explained that the creation of a new Palestinian human rights group is necessary because some parts of the human rights community in Palestine have become hesitant, treating the violations of the Palestinian Authority differently than those of Israel. For example, when the recent Amnesty International report on the PA was released on 2 December, journalists approached the PHRMG (not yet in operation) because other human rights organizations declined to comment - despite the fact that Amnesty'sreport is based partly on the reports of those organizations.

In describing the work of the Monitoring Group's work, Eid pledged that "seriousness and courage will characterize the work of the Monitoring Group. We will publish reports on human rights violations in Arabic so that our people will know the truth about human rights violations and some darker aspects of our society.

"Our conviction is that the building of a democratic society will not be accomplished by governments or leaders, but through the determination of the people themselves.

"We are living in an arena dominated by the issue of human rights: a universal issue that attracts the attention of people around the world. The focus of the international community is now on building up civil society, as a buffer against oppression bythe state, and to moderate political conflict. In this way the level of violence, including terrorism, will go down. Within this context, it should be mentioned that the Palestinian Authority is our own and only legitimate Authority and therefor it is among our duties, to protect and defend it. But on the other hand, and at the same time, it is among our rights also to criticize its conduct and policies. As there are soldiers to guard state borders, there are also soldiers to guard peoples' rights."