Khalida Jarrar, Palestinian leader, parliamentarian and feminist, has been issued a six-month administrative detention order imprisoning her without charge or trial, at the behest of the Israeli military commander in the West Bank, reported Addameer Prisoner Support and Human Rights Association – Jarrar’s lawyers – on April 5. TAKE ACTION: Demand freedom for Khalida Jarrar!
Mahmoud Hassan, lawyer with Addameer and director of its Legal Unit, reported that a military court session at Ofer will confirm the order on Wednesday, April 8, 2015. Jarrar is the former Executive Director of Addameer and Vice President of its Board of Directors, as well as the chair of the Palestinian Legislative Council Prisoners’ Committee and a member of the Palestinian national follow-up committee for the International Criminal Court.
In response to the order, Addameer noted that the use of administrative detention by the Israeli occupation is illegal and arbitrary detention and amounts to a war crime, “willfully depriving a prisoner of war or other protected person of their right to a fair and regular trial.” It urged the international community to work hard to end arbitrary administrative detention and free all Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails.
Hassan said further that he visited Jarrar this morning in HaSharon prison, that she is in good health and taking her prescribed medication, but that she needs ongoing health care. She is now one of nine members of the Palestinian Legislative Council held without charge or trial under administrative detention orders.
Administrative detention is the imprisonment of Palestinians without charge or trial and on the basis of secret evidence for up to six month periods, indefinitely renewable by Israeli military courts. The use of administrative detention dates from the “emergency laws” of the British colonial era in Palestine. Israel’s use of administrative detention violates international law; such detention is allowed only in individual circumstances that are exceptionally compelling for “imperative reasons of security.” In Palestine, however, Israel uses administrative detention routinely as a form of collective punishment and mass detention of Palestinians, and frequently uses administrative detention when it fails to obtain confessions in interrogations of Palestinian detainees.
For ongoing updates on the case of Khalida Jarrar, visit https://samidoun.net/khalidajarrar
Take Action to support Khalida Jarrar:
1. Click here: Send a message to the Israeli Occupation Forces and demand the immediate release of Khalida Jarrar.It is important that the occupation learns that Khalida has supporters around the world who will not be silent in the face of this injustice.
2. Sign the petition! Sign and share this petition, demanding freedom for Khalida Jarrar immediately.
3. Contact your Member of Parliament, Representative, or Member of European Parliament. The attack on Khalida is an attack on Palestinian parliamentary legitimacy and political expression. Parliamentarians have a responsibility to pressure Israel to cancel this order.
4. Use the Campaign Resources to inform your community, parliamentarians and others about Khalida’s case.
5. Protest at the Israeli consulate or embassy for Khalida Jarrar. Bring posters and flyers about Khalida’s case and hold a protest, or join a protest with this important information. Hold a community event or discussion, or include Khalida’s case in your next event about Palestine and social justice.
6. Boycott, Divest and Sanction. Hold Israel accountable for its violations of international law. Don’t buy Israeli goods, and campaign to end investments in corporations that profit from the occupation. Learn more at bdsmovement.net.
Letter Text: Free Khalida Jarrar Now!
To Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Brigadier General Dani Efroni:
I write today to demand the immediate release of Palestinian member of parliament Khalida Jarrar. Jarrar, a longtime prisoners’ rights activist and political leader, was arrested in her Ramallah home in the early morning hours of April 2, as her home was stormed by dozens of soldiers and her husband locked in another room.
The targeting of Palestinian political leaders for arrest by Israeli occupation forces is an obvious attempt to silence and suppress Palestinian demands for freedom from occupation and apartheid. The arrest of Khalida Jarrar is also an attack on Palestinian women’s leadership and organizing. She has been issued an arbitrary six-month administrative detention order without charge or trial, in violation of international law and on the basis of secret evidence.
Thousands of people and organizations around the world stood with Khalida Jarrar against the illegal forced transfer and expulsion by the IOF last fall, and we stand with her now and demand her immediate release.
The world is watching and we stand with Khalida against this injustice.
Sincerely,
