3 April 1996

STUDENTS MARCH ON PALESTINIAN COUNCIL MEETING

DEMAND MEETING WITH PRESIDENT ARAFAT

Land and Water Establishment

PO Box 20873

Jerusalem

Tel: (972) (2) 812364/824559

Fax: (972) (2) 811072

email: lawe@netvision.net.il

Today thousands of Palestinian students from An Najah University in Nablus, Bir Zeit University in Bir Zeit near Ramallah and Bethlehem University gathered in Bir Zeit and marched to the army headquarters building in Ramallah to protest the increasing human rights abuses on the part of the Palestinian Authority. In particular they wished to protest the recent shooting death of 22 year old Taysir Lowzi, a shooting for which the Palestinian police have given no explanation, and the raid on An Najah University during which 12 people were injured.

This morning the Palestinian police ordered buses not to transport the students from Bir Zeit to Ramallah in an effort to stop the march, so the students marched from Bir Zeit to the army headquarters in Ramallah. Here the Palestinian police stopped the demonstrators, and shot into the air attempting to disperse the protest. The students refused to leave and demanded to speak to a member of the Council or President Arafat. President Arafat then agreed to meet with a representative committee of the students.

The students have the following demands:

• That the Palestinian Authority respect their freedom of speech, and not restrict their freedom of movement by ordering buses not to carry students;
• To release all political prisoners;
• To publish the investigations of the An Najah University incident and the shooting death of Taysir Lowzi;
• Bring those responsible to justice.

Land and Water Establishment condemns the dangerous practice of shooting into the air, and calls for stricter regulations against this. LAWE in particular condemns the efforts on the part of the Palestinian Authority to prevent this peaceful protest, and calls for the protection of the basic freedoms of speech and congregation.

LAWE is a Palestinian NGO, which seeks to defend human rights through legal advocacy. LAWE is also the West Bank affiliate of the Paris-based International Federation for Human Rights.