Almost one week after Hamas officials in the Gaza Strip closed the doors to a charity assisting children and teenagers, UN officials and international NGO Human Rights Watch released statements calling for the re-opening of the institution, and condemning the closure.
On Monday, the UN Secretary-General's Special Adviser on Sport and Development Wilfried Lemke issued a statement calling the closed Sharek Youth Forum a "a key implementing partner" for UN programs like the Summer Games, which saw Gaza children organized to break two word records in back-to-back camp programs in the northern Strip.
The camps faced at least two arson attempts ahead of the launch of the UN's annual Summer Games program, said at the time to have been likely carried out by Hamas or Islamist groups in the coastal enclave. The UN camps and Islamic camps which focus on martial arts and Quran memorization compete for campers in Gaza.
The organization, with locations in Gaza City, Jabaliya, Khan Younis, and Rafah, also provides psychosocial and vocational support for children, as well as running vocational programs. All of the branches were closed on 30 November following a police order which said the closure was temporary and pending investigations.
Members of the youth forum told Human Rights Watch that Hamas security officials told them four of its employees were being investigated, but gave no names or details about suspected offenses and did not explain why that justified closing down the organization throughout Gaza.
Middle East director at Human Rights Watch Sarah Leah Whitson said Monday that the closure of the organization "is just the latest evidence of Hamas’s authoritarian streak," and continued, accusing, "Hamas boasts that it was democratically elected, but it isn’t acting like a democratic government that respects civil society."
Sufian Mushasha, a member of Sharek’s board, told Human Rights Watch that since October, “Hamas internal security services personnel have repeatedly summoned and questioned directors and staff members about why we allow boys and girls to play together, why some of our women employees and girl students don’t wear the hijab, and sometimes asked insulting questions about whether we desire our colleagues.”
According to the HRW report, lawyers for Sharek have gone to the Ministry of Interior and the Attorney General since the closure to obtain the list of charges and the names of the people accused but have not been given the information.
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