17 November: PEN International condemns the continued detention of Palestinian writer and activist Ahed Tamimi, who faces trial before an Israeli military court. PEN International urges the Israeli authorities to release Tamimi immediately. Pending her release, she must be granted regular access to her family and lawyers of her choosing. PEN International once again calls on the Israeli authorities to end their arbitrary detention of Palestinians.

On 16 November 2023, an Israeli court in Ofar, in the occupied West Bank, extended Ahed Tamimi’s pre-trial detention for another six days after the authorities failed to bring charges against her. On 13 November, a week following her arrest, Tamimi was presented to court for the first time via video link from Damun Prison in Haifa, Israel, where she is currently being held. The court extended her detention to allow the authorities to bring charges against her.

According to her family, based on her lawyer’s account, Tamimi remained silent during her second hearing on 16 November, which also took place via video link. She is still being denied any form of communication with her family and was not able to communicate freely with the lawyer who volunteered to represent her during both court hearings. Her family also raised concerns about her right to a fair trial as she faces being tried by a military court.

Trying civilians in military courts violates international human rights norms. Israeli human rights organisations have condemned the use of military trials to prosecute Palestinians, where judges and prosecutors are Israeli soldiers in uniform applying military law. Over decades, hundreds of thousands of Palestinians, including children, have been brought before these courts and systematically deprived of basic fair trial guarantees. In most cases, Palestinians face a high conviction rate, and their trials end with plea deals to avoid longer sentences and prolonged remand detentions. According to Amnesty International, 95-99% of cases heard by Israeli military courts in the occupied West Bank end in conviction.By contrast, Israeli settlers in the occupied Palestinian Terroritory are prosecuted by Israeli civilian courts.

Background

On 6 November, Israeli forces stormed and ransacked the house of prominent Palestinian writer and activist Ahed Tamini in the occupied West Bank, handcuffed her, and took her to an undisclosed location. Her family told PEN International that soldiers brought her mother, Nariman Tamimi, to another room during the arrest, yet she was able to hear Tamimi scream through the walls, raising concerns she had been assaulted. A soldier reportedly threatened that Tamimi’s mother and her sons would be next. According to media reports, the Israeli army arrested her on suspicion of ‘inciting violence and terrorist activities’ online. Her family dismissed these allegations, explaining that her social media account had been hacked – a regular occurrence for Tamimi.

Ahed Tamimi is a prominent Palestinian activist and co-author of They Called Me a Lioness: A Palestinian Girl's Fight for Freedom, in which she reflects on her personal experience and the daily struggles of life under Israeli occupation. She was arrested in December 2017, at the age of 17, following a video of her altercation with Israeli soldiers. She was later sentenced to eight months in prison over charges including ‘aggravated assault.’

For more information about Tamimi’s arrest – which came amid a surge in arbitrary detention of Palestinians living in the West Bank – please click here.

For more information, please contact Mina Thabet, Head of the MENA Region, at PEN International, email: [email protected]

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