ADDAMEER
UPDATE: MILITARY JUDGE REJECTS APPEAL ON CONTINUED DETENTION OF SALWA SALAH AND
SARA SIUREH
Dear Friends,
I
am writing to inform you that on
Background
Salwa and Sara were both
arrested from their homes in the
Addameer expresses its deep concern about the situation of Salwa
Salah and Sara Siureh and, in particular, the fact that their administrative
detention does not respect international human rights standards. Neither Salwa
nor Sara have been informed of any charges against them, nor the reason
for their arrest and detention, thereby violating fundamental due process
and rendering their detention illegal and arbitrary under international law. The
twin principles of proportionality and the duty on a state to take into
consideration the child’s well being underline much of the detail found in
international law concerning the aims, restrictions and prohibitions on the
sentencing of children. The United
Nations Standard Minimum Rules for the Administration of Juvenile Justice
requires that any reaction to the juvenile offenders should ‘always be in
proportion to the circumstances of both the offenders and the offence’. Another
fundamental principle of sentencing is that the deprivation of liberty, if used
at all, should only be used as a measure of last resort and for the shortest
appropriate period of time (Art. 37 (b), CRC).
Clearly this is not the case for these two young girls. The Court did not abide by these legal standards
laid out for all detained minors. This
is the first time that both girls have been in prison. Currently, there
are approximately 750 Palestinians now in administrative detention. Of these there are approximately 13
Palestinians under the age of 18 years old.
ACT NOW TO SUPPORT
SALWA AND SARAH:
Register your outrage to
imprisonment without trial. PLEASE WRITE to the Israeli government,
military and legal authorities demanding: the immediate release of all administrative detainees
in the absence of valid legal charges, or, if such charges exist, bring them
before an impartial, independent, competent and fair tribunal and guarantee
their procedural rights at all times.
In particular letters should be addressed to:
Major General Gadi Shamni.
Commander, West Bank
Central Commander Office
64, Military
Mail 02367 – IDF,
Fax: +972 2 5305741
President Shimon Peres
President of the State of
The Office of the President
Fax: +972 2 561 1033 or +972 2 566 4838
email: public@president.gov.il
president@president.gov.il s_peres@netvision.net.il
www.president.gov.il
Ehud
Barak
Minister of Defence
Ministry of Defence,
Fax: +972 3 691 6940
Email: minister@mod.gov.il
PLEASE WRITE
TO the International Bar Association (IBA), asking its members and Human Rights
Institute to put pressure on the Israeli Bar Association to ensure that all
subjects under Israeli jurisdiction be granted the basic principles of rule of
law - transparent processes which do not allow for arbitrary justice or
governance - to which the IBA's Human Rights Institute (HRI) claims to be
dedicated to: "The HRI is now a leading voice in the promotion of the
rule of law worldwide." Please
send your letters of concern to the Director of the Human Rights Institute of
the International Bar Association, Fiona Paterson, and copy it the Chairs of
the Council, Ambassador Emilio Cardenas (Argentina) and Justice Richard Goldstone
(South Africa).
Fiona Paterson
Director of Human Rights Institute. International Bar Association
10th Floor. 1Stephen St
Tel: +44 (0)20 7691 6868
Fax: +44 (0)20 7691 6544
Israeli Embassies and Consulates in your own country
A directory of Israeli
embassies can be found on the website of the Israeli Ministry of Foreign
Affairs. To access it, please go to the following link: http://www.mfa.gov.il/MFA/Sherut/IsraeliAbroad/Continents/
Kindly inform us of any action
taken by copying Addameer at addameer@p-ol.com so we can keep track of the letters of support.