Lawyers for Palestinian Human Rights (LPHR) and Addameer Prisoner Support and Human Rights Association (Addameer) can report that Shatha Hasan, a 22 year old Palestinian female undergraduate student at Birzeit University in the occupied West Bank, was released from Israeli military administrative detention on Thursday 21 May 2020 after being arrested from her home in the middle of the night on 12 December 2019.
LPHR and Addameer submitted a joint complaint to the UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention because of our concern at Ms Hasan’s young age, and therefore, particular vulnerability, at being detained on secret evidence for nearly six months without charge or trial. Her family, particularly her parents and sister, were extremely concerned about Ms Hasan’s well-being owing to the likely effect that a harsh prison setting will have on a young female who has never lived away from home.
Ms Hasan is in the fourth year of her undergraduate studies and lives with her parents at her family home along with her siblings. She is the head of Birzeit University’s Student Union’s Council and is therefore a visible individual at the educational institute. She had not had any previous engagement with the law and this was her first experience with the Israeli military forces, courts and prisons.
Military arrest and unlawful arbitrary detention of Ms Hasan without charge or trial
Ms Hasan’s home was raided by Israeli military forces on 12 December 2019 at approximately 2am. She was arrested and transported to Ofer Prison, then to Hasharon Prison and finally to Damon Prison – the latter two facilities being inside the state of Israel. The transfer of a protected person outside of occupied territory for the purpose of detention constitutes a clearly apparent breach of the Fourth Geneva Convention.
Whilst at Ofer Prison, Ms Hasan was taken to an investigation room and was questioned by officers in relation to her student activity for approximately two hours. After this she was transferred to Hasharon Prison inside Israel, on an unknown date. Whilst at Hasharon Prison, Ms Hasan was subjected to poor detention conditions. Notably, the toilet flooded her cell ‘constantly’. Further, Ms Hasan was placed in a cell next to criminal prisoners and has reported the noise from the prison to be distressing and upsetting.