Urgent Action Update: Activist Risks Charges Over Forced “Confession” (State of Palestine: UA 203.18)

January 23, 2019

On 9 January 2019, Suha Jbara was released after spending over two months in detention where she says she was tortured by interrogators. She spent over 26 days on hunger strike in protest against her treatment by security forces and prosecutors. Suha Jbara still has not been read her charges in court and her upcoming hearing is scheduled for 15 May. She is at risk of being charged based on information obtained under torture, although the prosecutor’s office has not provided any credible evidence against her. On 13 December 2018, the Palestinian Attorney General’s office concluded a brief investigation into her allegations of torture without finding any wrongdoing. Amnesty International believes the investigation was not independent, impartial, or thorough and was very limited in scope.

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Mr. Rami Hamdallah
Prime Minister
Ramallah, State of Palestine
Fax: +970 (2) 2968989
Email : [email protected]

Your excellency,

On 9 January 2019, Palestinian social justice activist Suha Jbara was released after spending over two months in arbitrary detention. On 13 December 2018, the Palestinian Attorney General’s office that investigated her allegations of torture and other ill-treatment, concluded that there was no wrongdoing. Based on the information available to Amnesty International, we are concerned that the investigation conducted by the Attorney General’s office was not prompt or effective. In fact, the forensic doctor examined Suha Jbara more than five weeks after she first made her torture allegations. We are also concerned that the investigation may not have been impartial or independent. Suha Jbara faces the possibility of being charged based on information obtained under torture as the prosecutor’s office hasn’t provided any credible evidence against her. Suha Jbara’s next court hearing is on 15 May.

I urge you to act in accordance with Palestine’s international human rights obligations and order a prompt, impartial, independent and effective investigation into Suha Jbara’s allegations of torture and other ill-treatment in Jericho Detention and Interrogation Center; to ensure that any officials identified as responsible are immediately suspended and subjected to disciplinary and criminal proceedings; and to ensure that any proceedings against her adhere fully to international fair trial standards, including the exclusion of evidence extracted under torture and other ill-treatment.

Yours sincerely,

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