Faizel Patel, Radio Islam News – 27-07-2018
Amnesty International has welcomed the release of a Palestinian child activist Ahed Tamimi but says it serves as a reminder of Israel’s continued human rights violations against Palestinian children.
Tamimi was set free on Friday, 21 days short of completing an eight-month prison sentence following her wrongful imprisonment by Ofer military court in the Israeli-occupied West Bank.
The 17-year-old was arrested after her mother Nariman Tamimi, also a prominent activist, posted footage of her shoving, slapping and kicking two heavily armed Israeli soldiers in her home village of Nabi Saleh on 15 December 2017 went viral on Facebook.
Nariman was also released on Friday after being sentenced to eight months in prison on similar charges.
Saleh Higazi, Head of Office in Jerusalem for Amnesty International says Tamimi’s release is a huge relief for her loved ones.
“But their joy will be tempered by the injustice of her imprisonment and the grim knowledge that many more Palestinian children still languish in Israeli jails, many despite not having committed any recognizable crime.”
Tamimi’s father, Bassam told Amnesty International that despite his family’s joy in welcoming Ahed and Nariman home, he was still worried about his son, Wa’ed, who was arrested in May.
The 22-year-old has been detained in Ofer military prison ever since facing charges related to his activism against the occupation.
“My son is still in Israeli prison for the duration of military court proceedings against him, which is a reminder that Israel’s occupation is always seeking to punish us because our existence contradicts the existence of the occupation.”
Amnesty International says the Israeli army prosecutes hundreds of Palestinian children in military courts every year, often after arresting them in night raids and systematically subjecting them to ill-treatment, including blindfolding, threats, harsh interrogations without the presence of their lawyers or families, solitary confinement and in some cases physical violence.
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