Israel/OPT: Conditional release of Mr. Salah Hamouri

The Observatory has been informed by reliable sources about the conditional release of Mr. Salah Hamouri, a Franco-Palestinian lawyer who works with Addameer Prisoner Support and Human Rights Association (Addameer)[1] in the Occupied Palestinian Territory.

According to the information received, on July 7, 2020, the Israeli Court of First Instance in Jerusalem decided to release Mr. Salah Hamouri under three conditions. First, Mr. Hamouri has to pay a bail of 2,000 shekels (approximately 770 Euros) in addition to a personal financial guarantee and another third-party guarantee of 1,000 shekels each (approximately 256 Euros). Second, Mr. Hamouri was given a list of persons he is prohibited from contacting for three months. Third, he must make himself available for any court summons.

The Observatory recalls that Mr. Salah Hamouri was arbitrarily detained at the Moskobiyeh interrogation centre in Jerusalem from June 30 to July 7, 2020, without any explanation (see background information). To date, the reasons for his arrest and detention, as well as the potential charges against him, have not been disclosed.

The Observatory welcomes the conditional release of Mr. Salah Hamouri but recalls that he should never have been detained in the first place as his detention was arbitrary and only aimed at punishing him for his legitimate human rights activities, in particular in favour of Palestinian political prisoners.

The Observatory urges the Israeli authorities to immediately and unconditionally put an end to all forms of harassment, including at the judicial level, against Mr. Salah Hamouri and his family.

Background information[2]:

On March 13, 2005, Mr. Salah Hamouri was arrested by the Israeli military at Qalqiliya checkpoint and sentenced to seven years in prison for his alleged involvement in a plot to assassinate Rabbi Ovadia Yosef, spiritual leader of the religious and ultra-orthodox party Shas, and former Chief Rabbi of Israel. Mr. Salah Hamouri was to be released on March 13, 2012, but instead, was set free on December 18, 2011, as part of the Wafa Al Ahrar prisoner exchange deal[3].

Subsequent to his re-arrest on August 23, 2017, on August 29, 2017, the Jerusalem Magistrate Court ordered his conditional release and his placement under house arrest in Al-Reineh for 20 days. The Court also banned Mr. Salah Hamouri from entering Jerusalem, from travelling outside the country for three months and ordered a 10,000 NIS (approx. 2642 Euros) bail.

However, when Mr. Salah Hamouri’s family went to pay the bail, they were told he would not be released and had received a six-month administrative detention order, which had been issued on August 23, 2017 by the Minister of Defence without being notified to Mr. Salah Hamouri.

On September 5, 2017, the Jerusalem District Court reinstated a sentence against Mr. Salah Hamouri originally issued in 2005 and ordered him to serve the remaining three-month sentence. This represents the time that was left for Mr. Salah Hamouri to serve prior to his release as part of the Wafa Al Ahrar exchange deal. A representative from the French Consulate in Jerusalem and Mr. Salah Hamouri’s father were prevented from entering the courtroom.

On September 7, 2017, Mr. Hamouri was transferred from al-Mascobiyeh (The Russian Compound) interrogation facility in Jerusalem to Ketziot (al-Naqab) prison’s section III.

On September 13, 2017, the Israeli Supreme Court annulled the Jerusalem District Court decision from September 5, 2017.

On September 17, 2017, Jerusalem District Court confirmed a six month administrative detention[4] against Mr. Salah Hamouri. Mr Hamouri was reportedly accused by Israeli authorities of being a member of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) and a threat to national security in Jerusalem and surrounding areas in the West Bank.

On September 30, 2018, Mr. Salah Hamouri was released after spending 13 months in detention. The judge also banned Mr. Hamouri from celebrating his release. The exact motives and charges against Mr. Salah Hamouri have so far remained confidential, as it is generally the case for Palestinians subjected to administrative detention and Israeli military and civil courts.Mr. Hamouri regained his family home in Al-Ram, East Jerusalem.

On June 30, 2020 around 10 a.m., Mr. Salah Hamouri was arrested again by the Israeli authorities at a medical centre in Jerusalem where he was going to be tested for coronavirus before leaving for France where his wife and son live. He was then taken to the Moskobiyeh interrogation centre in Jerusalem, without being told the reasons for his arrest.

On July 1, 2020, a judge at the Israeli Court of First Instance ordered the extension of his detention until July 7, 2020, for the purposes of further interrogations. During these interrogations, the authorities mainly questioned him about his relationships and tried to force him to leave the country permanently. Addameer’s lawyer filed an appeal against the extension of M. Salah Hamouri’s detention, which was rejected during the appeal session of July 5, 2020.

Additionally, Mr. Salah Hamouri’s wife, Ms. Elsa Lefort, a French national, and their son, are banned by Israeli authorities from entering Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territory since 2016.