"The camera is the best witness" — Issa Amro
Human Rights Press is an initiative to document human rights violations in Palestine with the main concern to inform, prevent and denounce violations committed in the restricted parts of Hebron city. Documentations of human rights violations is of great importance for Palestinians and one of the main ways for volunteers and activists, such as those in Youth Against Settlements, to fight against the structural and systematic impunity of settlers and soldiers committing violence against Palestinians. Activists need concrete evidence of human rights violations in order to ask the international community to take action. Testimonies from Palestinian eyewitnesses have little effect in court and testimonies from international eyewitnesses are seldom sufficient to open an investigation toward perpetrators of human rights abuses. Therefore it is crucial to capture the human rights violations on photo or film.
Documenting human rights abuses serve four purposes:
1. Proving Palestinian innocence in the face of false accusations
2. Creating deterrence for human rights violations
3. Hold perpetrators accountable in a court of law
4. Raising awareness through local and international media
Palestinians are prosecuted under Israeli military law, meaning that they are guilty until proven innocent. Cameras provide clear evidence of innocence and protect Palestinians against false accusations and imprisonment. While Israeli settlers are prosecuted under Israeli civil law, there is little incentive for police, investigators or judges to punish human rights violations against Palestinians. Police often refuses to process complaints. Camera evidence makes it harder to ignore violations committed by Israeli settlers and soldiers when the perpetrators identities are fully visible and the crime is filmed without any ambiguity. The possibility of backlash, however minor, is a means of deterrence to prevent perpetrators to commit violence without any fear of repercussions. Finally, video footage is frequently sent to media organizations to raise awareness globally and locally about the humanitarian situation and put pressure on Israel to discontinue settler and soldier impunity. Footage is also important in advocacy with international lawmakers.
Increasing Awareness
Many Palestinians are not aware of which crimes constitute human rights violations under international law, and Youth Against Settlements tries therefore to inform locals about the rights and encourage them to document human rights violations. It is very important for Palestinians to protect each other and that is why Human Rights Press tries to raise awareness locally as well as informing our international guests of the importance of recording, publishing and distributing all the video materials documenting human rights violations. Additionally YAS seeks to spread awareness about the crimes of human rights violations in Hebron nationally and abroad by publishing information on everything from war crimes like collective punishment to daily instances of harassment.
Photo and film training
Filming and photographing must be done in the right way in order to be able to use the footage in court or in the media. Having a camera is not enough if it is not used properly and if the documentarians do not know their rights. The occupation may not respect any the international rights framework, yet it is important for Palestinians to know their full rights under international law in order to resist the normalization of violations against Palestinians. Even though YAS members and their supporters work tirelessly to document human rights violations whenever it happens, they cannot cover everything. Therefore YAS and Friends of Hebron equip families with cameras and encourage locals to cover all the human rights violations that they encounter. In the beginning of this project, many of the local Palestinians needed to be convinced and encouraged to film because Palestinians who document human rights violations can easily become a target and experience more violence from Israeli forces and settlers. If we want to record the human rights violations we needed to know how to film and get clear images of the perpetrators' faces in the videos, as well as knowing the nature of human rights violations and international human rights law. Therefore YAS teaches Palestinian families and volunteers about using camera equipment in the proper way to produce video evidence of crimes.
Aftermath of human rights violations
In addition of audiovisual activities, Human Rights Press accompanies Palestinian adults and children who are particularly vulnerable to human rights violations. This includes talking to the families after they have been exposed to human rights violations, providing support. YAS helps families file complaints to the Israeli civil administration and provide legal support. It is important for victims to know that they are not alone in the fight against the occupation and that they are being supported—not only by other Palestinians but also people abroad. For this reason, YAS helps connect victimized families with international and Israeli Human Rights Organizations to get in contact with the victims. We have our media team working around the clock to document human rights violations and to be a bridge for 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 human rights violations in Palestine.
