The PNA government in Ramallah, led by Prime Minister Salam Fayyad, continued their policy of suspending salaries of public sector employees in an arbitrary fashion.
This policy is a reflection of the sharp political division that afflicts the entire Palestinian political system and society.
The salary suspensions in this case are illegal and violate the rights and freedoms protected under the Palestinian law.
According to Al Mezan's information, the PNA's Government in Ramallah continues to suspend the salaries and benefits of employees of the Ministry of Education, including teachers, and members of the Palestinian National Security.
These actions come despite frequent disapproval by civil society on previous occasions.
Al Mezan considers such conduct illegal.
Al Mezan documented the suspension of the salaries of 164 teachers, supervisors and administrators working in the Directorate of Education in Rafah alone, including its Director of Education.
Of those, 117 have not been paid since January 2008.
This trend continues in other areas of the Gaza Strip.
In Khan Younis, there are about 185 employees and 63 of them found their salaries were suspended starting in January 2008 without prior notification.
There are also 81 employees in the education sector working in the Middle Gaza Governorate, of which 35 are without pay since January 2008.
In Gaza City, there are 158 employees, and in northern Gaza there are 67 employees, 25 of whom have not been paid during the same period.
Furthermore, employees working at the Ministry of Health face the same consequences of this policy.
The information available to Al Mezan details that of the 2,800 health employees, salaries for 698 of them were suspended since January 2008.
Six hundred out of the total number of health employees working on a contractual basis are still awaiting pay.
This is in addition to thousands of security personnel and civil servants whose salaries were suspended in the same way.
Al Mezan Center for Human Rights denounces the continuation of this policy, which constitutes a grave violation of human rights.
This policy is not only considered as a violation of the employee's right to receive salary, but it affects the standard of living of families and their right to life.
The side effects of this policy implemented by the PNA's government in Ramallah are a lowered standard for education and health services, besides being a violation of human rights that adds to the devastating rates of poverty and unemployment in the Gaza Strip.
It should be stressed that both the Palestinian Basic Law and Civil Service Law have provided a set of safeguards to ensure that an employee has the right to receive salary, and it is inadmissible to suspend, restrict, or cut salary arbitrarily.
Under the law, this is only permissible according to specific procedures, including an administrative investigation, allowing an employee to defend him/herself in case of accusation of administrative or penal violations, and granting the employee the right to appeal and complain.
According to Al Mezan field investigations and through dozens of complaints that were received by the Center, many salaries of employees were suspended.
These employees have not had charges brought against them, and there were no administrative investigations carried out prior to the suspension of their salaries.
Therefore, the employee does not have the opportunity to verify the reasons for this action, or to defend him/herself according to the law.
Al Mezan Center for Human Rights expresses its outrage for this policy which causes the suffering of employees and contribute tothe decline of the already deteriorating humanitarian situation in the Gaza Strip.
The suspended salaries of the public sector employees represent breaches of the law and human rights.
Al Mezan demands a re-payment of salaries and benefits for all the employees immediately and retroactively, in accordance with the law.
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