Al Jazeera Ban Represents Dangerous Precedent, Risks Contributing To Impunity For Human Rights Violations: Experts

GENEVA (13 January 2025) – Independent human rights experts* today urged the Palestinian Authority to immediately end its ban on Al Jazeera and ensure that all journalists, local or international, can work freely and safely in the occupied Palestinian Territory.

“We are deeply alarmed by this attack on freedom of expression by the Palestinian Authority,” the experts said.

“To shut down a prominent international media outlet and one of the biggest in the region is a disproportionate, unnecessary and severe restriction of freedom of expression and obstructs the right to information of the Palestinian people and regional and global audiences,” the experts said.

On 1 January 2025, the Palestinian Attorney-General ordered the suspension of Al Jazeera in the occupied Palestinian territory. The decision prohibits Al Jazeera’s broadcasts and operations including the work of its affiliate journalists, employees and crews for allegedly “inciting content, misinformation, sedition and interference in Palestinian internal affairs.”

The suspension followed a letter from the Palestinian Minister of Culture, based on a decision issued by the Tripartite Committee – a specialised ministerial committee that includes the ministries of culture, interior and communications – responsible for licensing ground and satellite radio and television stations.

On 5 January the Magistrate Court of Ramallah ordered the closure of several highly popular Al Jazeera websites for four months, including aljazeera.net, aljazeera.net/live, aljazeera360.com and global.ajplus.net on grounds that their published material “threaten national security and incite the commission of crimes.”

“We note with serious concern that the decision by the Palestinian Authority to ban Al Jazeera came after the outlet’s critical reporting on the violent crackdown by Palestinian security forces since 5 December 2024 in the Jenin Refugee Camp and across the occupied West Bank. At least eight Palestinians were killed in the violence, including a young female journalist,” the experts said.

“The decision to ban Al Jazeera on the basis of vague and unsubstantiated allegations amidst escalating violence and human rights violations suggests that the real objective of the Palestinian Authority is to block international scrutiny and silence uncomfortable criticism,” they said.

“Free and independent media, including the presence of international media, is of vital importance to ensure transparency and accountability for war crimes and crimes against humanity in the occupied Palestinian territory.

“The Palestinian Authority must not follow the path of the Israeli government, which banned Al Jazeera in Israel and the Occupied Territory and closed its office in Ramallah last year and has blocked access to Gaza for the international media,” the experts said.

“Without independent reporting, potential human rights abuses and violations of international law may go unreported, creating an environment where impunity thrives,” they said. “We call on the Palestinian Authority to respect its international obligations and uphold media freedom by removing the ban on Al Jazeera.”

The experts have raised concerns on freedom of expression and crack down journalists with the Israeli and Palestinian Government.

*The experts: Francesca Albanese, Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the Palestinian territories occupied since 1967;Irene Khan, Special Rapporteur on the right to freedom of opinion and expression; George Katrougalos, Independent Expert on the promotion of a democratic and equitable international order and Gina Romero, Special Rapporteur on the Rights to Freedom of Peaceful Assembly and of Association.

The Special Rapporteurs, Independent Experts and Working Groups are part of what is known as the Special Procedures of the Human Rights Council. Special Procedures, the largest body of independent experts in the UN Human Rights system, is the general name of the Council’s independent fact-finding and monitoring mechanisms that address either specific country situations or thematic issues in all parts of the world. Special Procedures’ experts work on a voluntary basis; they are not UN staff and do not receive a salary for their work. They are independent from any government or organization and serve in their individual capacity.

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