In the aftermath of the Nabi Musa Shrine incident
AMAN calls the Ministries of Tourism and Waqf to establish the truth and take responsibility
Ramallah – The Coalition for Accountability and Integrity (AMAN) has been following with grave concern the unfolding events of the incident at the Nabi Musa (Prophet Moses) Shrine. In spite of the dispute over how appropriate the Shrine is as a historical, archaeological, and religious site to carry out the activity in question, AMAN is of the view that responsible bodies, namely the Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities (MoTA), should take responsibility for the incident. At any rate, citizens many not held accountable for the decisions made by the officials concerned.
As an institution that promotes integrity, transparency, and accountability, AMAN stresses the need for holding to account defaulting officials for failure to perform their duties. Integrity and transparency require that the MoTA and Ministry of Waqf and Religious Affairs (MoWRA) clarify facts as soon as incidents occur to citizens. There should be no room for the descending into the chaos of taking law in the hand, which has led to cases of bullying that caused damage to the Palestinian people.
Accordingly, AMAN calls for the immediate release of Sama Abdul Hadi in line with relevant legal processes. Public office should not be abused in order to appease public outrage. AMAN also calls for reconsidering membership of the fact finding commission and replacing representatives of the MoTA and MoWRA. As they are under investigation, both ministries should be substituted by representatives of the Independent Commission for Human Rights, State Audit and Administrative Control Bureau, and civil society.
