New information
ISR 001 / 0917 / OBS 096.2
Release on bail /
Harassment
Israel /
Occupied Palestinian Territory
October 8, 2018
The
Observatory for the Protection of Human Rights Defenders, a partnership
of FIDH and the World Organisation Against Torture (OMCT), has received
new information and requests your intervention in the following
situation in Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territory.
New information:
The Observatory has been informed by reliable sources about the release on bail of Mr. Salah Hamouri, a Franco-Palestinian lawyer and field researcher with Addameer Prisoner Support and Human Rights Association (Addameer)[1] in the Occupied Palestinian Territory.
According to the information received, on September 30, 2018, Mr. Salah
Hamouri was finally released from Ketziot Prison’s section III (Neguev
desert), after more than a year in detention without charge or trial.
The judge also banned Mr. Hamouri from celebrating his release,
participating in any demonstration where flags are hold and in any
gathering, meeting or activity for an illegal organisation for a period
of 30 days. He was additionally ordered to pay a 3,000 shekels (709 EUR)
bail for his release. Mr. Hamouri regained his family home in Al-Ram,
East Jerusalem. There is no trial, investigation or other action
continuing from the Israeli State against Mr. Salah Hamouri.
Arrested and placed under administrative detention on August 23, 2017
over alleged “illegal activities” in the West Bank and Jerusalem, Mr.
Salah Hamouri spent 13 months in detention (see background information
below). The exact motives and charges against Mr. Salah Hamouri have so
far remained confidential, as it is generally the case for Palestinians
subjected to administrative detention and Israeli military justice.
The
Observatory recalls that Mr. Salah Hamouri’s wife, Ms. Elsa Lefort, a
French national, and their son, are banned by Israeli authorities from
entering Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territory since 2016.
The
Observatory welcomes the release of Mr. Salah Hamouri and thanks all
individuals, organisations and institutions who intervened in his
favour. It also recalls that he should have never been detained in the
first place, as his detention was arbitrary and clearly aimed at
punishing his legitimate human rights activities. The Observatory
condemns and calls on the Israeli authorities to stop the practice of
administrative detention targeting Palestinian civilians, including
Palestinian human rights defenders. The Observatory further calls on the
Israeli authorities to end any act of harassment, including at the
judicial level, against Mr. Hamouri, his family, and all the human
rights defenders in Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territory.
Background information:
On
March 13, 2005, Mr. Salah Hamouri was arrested by the Israeli military
at Qalqiliya checkpoint and sentenced to seven years in prison for his
alleged involvement in a plot to assassinate Rabbi Ovadia Yosef,
spiritual leader of the religious and ultra-orthodox party Shas, and
former Chief Rabbi of Israel. Mr. Salah Hamouri was to be released on
March 13, 2012, but instead, was set free on December 18, 2011, as part
of the Wafa Al Ahrar prisoner exchange deal[2].
Subsequent
to his re-arrest on August 23, 2017, on August 29, 2017, the Jerusalem
Magistrate Court ordered his conditional release and his placement under
house arrest in Al-Reineh for 20 days. The Court also banned Mr. Salah
Hamouri from entering Jerusalem, from travelling outside the country for
three months and ordered a 10,000 NIS (approx. 2642 Euros) bail.
However,
when Mr. Salah Hamouri’s family went to pay the bail, they were told he
would not be released and had received a six-month administrative
detention order, which had been issued on August 23, 2017 by the
Minister of Defence without being notified to Mr. Salah Hamouri.
On
September 5, 2017, the Jerusalem District Court reinstated a sentence
against Mr. Salah Hamouri originally issued in 2005 and ordered him to
serve the remaining three-month sentence. This represents the time that
was left for Mr. Salah Hamouri to serve prior to his release as part of
the Wafa Al Ahrar exchange deal. A representative from the French
Consulate in Jerusalem and Mr. Salah Hamouri’s father were prevented
from entering the courtroom.
On September 7, 2017, Mr. Hamouri was transferred from al-Mascobiyeh
(The Russian Compound) interrogation facility in Jerusalem to Ketziot
(al-Naqab) prison’s section III.
On September 13, 2017, the Israeli Supreme Court annulled the Jerusalem District Court decision from September 5, 2017.
On September 17, 2017, Jerusalem District Court confirmed a six-month administrative detention[3] against
Mr. Salah Hamouri. Mr Hamouri was reportedly accused by Israeli
authorities of being a member of the Popular Front for the Liberation of
Palestine (PFLP) and a threat to national security in Jerusalem and
surrounding areas in the West Bank.
Mr.
Salah Hamouri’s administrative detention was renewed on February 26,
2018 (4 months) and June 27, 2018 (3 months) by a Jerusalem District
Tribunal.
Actions requested:
Please write to the authorities of Israel urging them to:
i.
Guarantee in all circumstances the physical and psychological integrity
of Mr. Salah Hamouri as well as that of all human rights defenders in
Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territory;
ii.
Put an end to all acts of harassment, including at the judicial level,
against Mr. Salah Hamouri, his family, and all the human rights
defenders in Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territory;
iii.
Comply with the provisions of the UN Declaration on Human Rights
Defenders, adopted by the General Assembly on December 9, 1998, in
particular its Articles 1 and 12.2;
iv.
More generally, ensure in all circumstances the respect for human
rights and fundamental freedoms throughout Israel and the Occupied
Palestinian Territory in accordance with international human rights
instruments and satndards.
Addresses:
Please also write to the diplomatic representations of Israel in your respective countries.
***
Paris-Geneva, October 8, 2018
Kindly inform us of any action undertaken quoting the code of this appeal in your reply.
The
Observatory for the Protection of Human Rights Defenders (the
Observatory) was created in 1997 by FIDH and the World Organisation
Against Torture (OMCT). The objective of this programme is to intervene
to prevent or remedy situations of repression against human rights
defenders. FIDH and OMCT are both members of ProtectDefenders.eu, the European Union Human Rights Defenders Mechanism implemented by international civil society.
Addameer (Arabic for conscience) is a Palestinian NGO that works to
support Palestinian political prisoners held in Israeli and Palestinian
prisons offering free legal aid to political prisoners, advocating their
rights at the national and international levels, and working to end
torture and other violations of prisoners' rights. It is also a member
of OMCT SOS-Torture Network.
On October 18, 2011, 477 Palestinian prisoners were released from
Israeli prisons as part of an exchange deal in which Israeli soldier
Gilad Shalit, who had been abducted by Hamas in 2006, was released.
Several of the freed Palestinian prisoners have been re-imprisoned since
then.