New information:
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.