Al-Marsad

Description

Al-Marsad, the Arab Human Rights Centre in Golan Heights, is an independent, non-religious, non-political human rights organization working in the Golan Heights. It was founded in October 2003 and is run from Majdal Shams, making it the first human rights organization founded in the Golan. It works to protect and promote human rights and the rule of law for the Syrian Arab population living under Israeli occupation.

The organization monitors and documents violations of human rights and humanitarian law committed against civilians and their property in the Occupied Syrian Golan. It focuses on issues such as forced displacement, family separation, land and water control, settlement expansion, annexation, landmines, and housing and planning restrictions. It bases its reports on international humanitarian law and international human rights law, tracing violations back to the start of the occupation in 1967.

Al-Marsad provides legal services to the community, including impact litigation before Israeli courts, and produces research and studies used to inform policy and advocacy. It submits parallel reports to United Nations bodies such as the Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination and raises cases with the UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights. It campaigns against Israel’s annexation of the Golan Heights and works to hold those responsible for violations accountable.