President of the State of Palestine Mahmoud Abbas today received the 2025 Annual Report of the Independent Commission for Human Rights (ICHR), during a meeting with an ICHR delegation at the Presidential Headquarters in Ramallah.
The delegation was headed by ICHR Commissioner-General Mr. Issam Arouri and Director-General Dr. Ammar Dweik, and included members of the Board of Commissioners and ICHR staff.
The ICHR delegation presented the key findings, observations, and recommendations contained in the report concerning the human rights situation in Palestine, foremost among them the catastrophic consequences of the genocidal war waged by the Israeli occupation authorities on the Gaza Strip, the escalation of violations by the occupation forces and attacks by settlers in the West Bank, including occupied Jerusalem, and the resulting grave and systematic violations of the rights of the Palestinian people.
The delegation also briefed the President on ICHR’s efforts to document and follow up on violations committed by the occupation at the local, regional, and international levels, as well as its cooperation with international and United Nations human rights institutions and mechanisms, with the aim of strengthening international accountability and protecting the rights of the Palestinian people.
On the domestic front, the ICHR delegation presented a number of issues and challenges addressed in the report, stressing the need to strengthen the rule of law, safeguard public rights and freedoms, implement court decisions, and enhance oversight and accountability mechanisms, thereby contributing to the protection of citizens’ dignity and rights.
In the context of preparations for general elections, ICHR called for the issuance of a presidential decree to strengthen and guarantee public rights and freedoms throughout the electoral process, thereby providing an enabling political and human rights environment for the conduct of elections and ensuring freedom of opinion and expression, peaceful assembly, and political and media activity.For his part, President Mahmoud Abbas underscored the important role played by the Independent Commission for Human Rights in protecting citizens’ rights and promoting accountability, transparency, and the rule of law.
The President also stressed the need for cooperation between official institutions, the Independent Commission, and human rights organizations, and for enabling the ICHR to visit places of detention in order to strengthen oversight of such facilities, contribute to addressing citizens’ complaints, and improve the human rights situation.
For its part, the ICHR delegation expressed its appreciation to the President for the cooperation extended by official authorities and institutions to the ICHR in carrying out its mandate, stressing the importance of maintaining and further developing such cooperation in a manner that ensures the ICHR’s ability to exercise its legal and oversight mandate independently and effectively, and ensures that its observations and recommendations are addressed and citizens’ complaints are followed up.
