Human rights researcher slammed with six months in administrative detention

An Israeli court slammed human rights researcher Salah Hamouri with a six-month administrative detention order, the human rights group Addameer said on Wednesday.

It said that the Israeli Magistrate Court of Jerusalem had first ordered the conditional release of Hamouri, 32, a dual Palestinian-French citizen from Jerusalem and former prisoner, which included exile to a town inside Israel, ban from entering Jerusalem and from leaving the country for three months, in addition to posting a bail of around $3000.

However, when his family went to pay his release bail shortly after the court ruling, it was informed that Hamouri will not be released after all and that he was served with a six-month administrative detention order that ends on February 22.

“This practice of arbitrary detention is a grave violation of international laws and human rights standards, particularly articles 78 and 72 of the Fourth Geneva Convention which state that an accused individual has the right to defend himself. This also violates article 66 of the Fourth Geneva Convention and the basic standards of fair trial,” said Addameer.

Hamouri was released from Israeli prison in 2011 in a prisoners exchange deal after spending seven years in jail. He was rearrested last week at his home in the East Jerusalem neighborhood of Kufr Aqab.

(WAFA)