On 2nd November
2020, Israeli forces raided Ms. Khitam Al-Saafin's home in Ramallah, arrested
her and placed her under six months of administrative detention. Khitam, 59, is the Head of the
Union of Palestinian Women's
Committees – UPWC, secretariat member of the
General Union of Palestinian Women and a prominent Human Rights Defender and
activist in Palestine. Her work is well renowned at the regional and
international level and is recognised for “empowering Palestinian
women and advocating against human rights violations resulting from the Israeli
occupation”. She is active at the World Social Forum and a member of the
Regional Coalition for Women Human Rights Defenders in Middle East and North
Africa – and framed within the definition of the European Union in its
Guidelines on Human Rights Defenders.
Following
her arrest, on 9 November, the Israeli military commander announced that Khitam
would be incarcerated for 6 months under an administrative detention (AD) order
and sent her to Ofer Prison. After an appeal from her lawyers, Khitam will be
held for at least 4 months under AD without charges, trial or conviction nor a
definite date of release, as AD orders remain subject to renewal. It is only on
the last day of her current AD order – which will be 1 March 2021 - that she
will be informed if she will be released or held for an extended period of 4-6
months, a practice that amounts to a form of psychological torture, along
with other ill-treatment practices
suffered systematically by Palestinian women during arrests and illegal
detentions, under interrogation and in Israeli jails, specially Hasharon and Al-Damun
Prisons, where Khitam was and will be held.
The attacks
and harassment of human rights activists in Palestine is a continuation of
Israel's policy of silencing those who defend and express their opposition to
the policies of the Israeli occupation, including human rights defenders,
leaders of civil society, as well as members of the Legislative Parliament. In
the case of Ms. Al-Saafin, she is targeted by the Israeli authorities
“solely as a result of her peaceful and legitimate work in defence of human
rights”.
The
arbitrary use of administrative detention is a serious violation of international humanitarian
and human rights law, particularly articles 66, 72 and 78 of the Fourth Geneva
Convention, which provide protected persons with the right to fair trial unless
“imperative security reasons” exist. Recognising its “promiscuous use” by the
Israeli authorities, UN Special Rapporteur Michael Lynk recently issued a statement calling upon Israel to “abolish
its practice of administrative detention, release those detainees it presently
holds, and strictly follow international law in the application of its security
operations”.
Israel
systemically and extensively holds Palestinian political prisoners and
detainees without trial or charge and without disclosing evidence; i.e.,
administrative detention. As of November 2020, 4,500 Palestinians were held in Israeli prisons,
370 of them in administrative detention.
The undersigned condemn the detention of Ms. Al-Saafin, which adds to hundreds of arbitrary arrests that Israel has committed against Palestinian rights. We also condemn the growing environment of prosecution and harassment of human rights defenders, women human rights defenders and human rights organizations.
We call on the European Union - in line with the EU’s already-established positions on Israel’s practice of administrative detention, and the protection of human rights defenders and civil society - to take all the actions at their disposal to:
We call on MEP Member of DROI/Delegations for relations with Palestine, to immediately raise the case of Ms. Khitam Al-Saafin in the European Parliament and relevant European Union institutions, such as the European Commission and EEAS, reiterating the EU's longstanding and repeated "concern" against Israel's use of administrative detention without formal charges, and calling on Israel to respect international humanitarian law towards all Palestinian prisoners and detainees, and put an end to Israel's practice of administrative detention. More specifically, we call on you to:
Signatories
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