The Human Rights Press (HRP) activity mainly concerns our actions in order to inform, prevent and denounce Human Rights Violations (HRV) in areas where we are. Documentations of HRV is of greatest importans for the palestinians and is one of Youth Against Settlements main ways of fighting against the structural and systematic impunity of settlers and soldiers. If there is no concrete evidence of HRV conducted by Israeli settlers and soldiers they will remain with impunity. Palestinian eyewitnesses are never, and international eyewitnesses are seldom, sufficient to even open an investigation towards them therefore it is so important to get the HRV on photo or film.
Increase the awareness about the HRV
Many palestinians aren’t aware about which crimes are considered HRV and illegal under international law, YAS tries therefore to inform locals about the rights and encourage them to document HRV. It is very important for us to protect each other and that’s why we try to spread awareness locally and to our international guests on the importance of recording, publishing and distribute all the materia of HRV. Additionally YAS tries to spread awareness about the crimes of HRV in Hebron nationally and abroad by publishing materia all from war crimes like collective punishment to daily harassments.
Photo and video filming training
It is really important to film and photo in a properly way in order to be able to use the materia. Having a camera doesn’t means anything if we don’t use it properly and if we don’t know our rights. Even if the occupation doesn’t respect any kind of rights that the Palestinians have it’s important to know them in order to fight with the rules of a frame that normally is hostile for Palestinians.
Even though YAS members and their supporters work constantly to document HRV whenever it happens, they can’t cover everything. Therefore YAS encourage locals to cover all the HRV they encounter and equip families with cameras. In the beginning many of the locals needed to be convinced and encourage to do so, because people who document the violations are a target and experience more violence from Israeli forces and settlers.
If we want to record the HRV we needed to know how to do it, clear images, getting a person or persons face in the video, knowing what is HRV and our rights. Therefore YAS teach each other and locals about the equipment and how to use it in a proper way, so that we are able to use the materia.
Follow the HRV
In addition of the audiovisual activities we do accompaniment, mainly to those who suffer of HRV. We talk to the families after they have been exposed to HRV and provide our support. If the families wants we fill the complaints to the administration and if needed we help take the case to court.
Connecting international and Israeli Human Rights Organizations to the victims
We are not alone in the fight against the occupation and it’s important to let the victims know that they are being supported not only by the palestinians, but also from people abroad. That’s why we approach international and Israeli Human Rights Organizations to get in contact with the victims.
Guiding Media towards victims of HRV
Even though we have our media team working 24/7 to cover HRV, it’s not enough to arrive to all the people who suffer from it with information. That’s why we are a bridge between other media institutions and human rights victims. The more media attention that reaches the victims the more likely it is that the general public will be aware of the HRV in Palestine.
