Journalist Support Committee: Five Female journalists Detained in the Occupation's Prison After the Arrest of Writer Lama Khater

The Journalist Support Committee (JSC) condemned the arrest of Palestinian Human Rights defender and writer Lama Khater, 42 years old, and transferring her to an unknown location while subjecting her to harsh and intensive interrogation at the Ashkelon detention centre, under the pretext of "incitement against the occupation through "Facebook".

The Committee said in a press release on Wednesday, July 25, 2018: "The arrest of writer Lami Khater came in the context of a broader campaign launched periodically by the occupation against Palestinian activists in the West Bank," noting that the arrest of Khater raises the number of women journalists in the Occupations' prison to five.

The Committee expressed its concern over the harsh treatment imposed on the writer Lama, asserting that what is exposed to the Palestinian activist and writer expresses an Israeli retaliation policy as it defends the right of the Palestinian people to self-determination and liberation from occupation.

According to press reports, the writer has been subjected to harsh treatment from the moment she arrived at the Ashkelon detention centre, where she underwent a harsh and intensive interrogation, she is also confined to a chair at all time where the interrogators deny her sleep as well as directing verbal abuse and constant yelling.

Lama Khater, a mother of five, is a writer and journalist active in the field of human rights defence and exposing human rights violations caused by the Israeli occupation while striving to highlight the crimes of occupation against the Palestinian people, their sanctities and history. It's worth noting that the IDF has already prevented her from travelling abroad.

The Journalist Support Committee considers the method of arresting activists and media personnel from their homes by the Occupation is only an ongoing policy of terrorism pursued by "Israel" against journalists, reporters and new media activists, to discourage them from continuing their role in exposing the violations of the occupation.

The Committee stressed that the continuing targeting of journalists, female journalists, reporters and activists and persecuting them against the backdrop of their opinions and personal posts, is contrary to all international conventions and treaties that guarantee freedom of opinion and expression, and disclose the falsity of the allegations of the occupation and its claims on possessing democracy and public freedoms.

The Israeli occupation forces continue to arrest 23 Palestinian journalists and reporters in its prisons, six of whom are serving sentences, they are: Mahmoud Issa, Ahmad Al-Saifi, Hammam Atili, Yousef Shalabi, Monzer Khalaf Mufleh and Mohammad Nimer Asida.

The Committee calls for concerted efforts to provide support and protection to journalists and activists, especially female journalists and activists, demanding the Israeli authorities for the immediate and unconditional release of writer Lama Khater, considering that her ongoing detention contravenes with resolution A/RES/43/173 of the Body of Principles for the Protection of All Persons under Any Form of Detention or Imprisonment adopted by the United Nations General Assembly resolution of 1988 (9 December 1988).

The Committee calls upon the International Federation of Journalists (IFJ), Reporters Without Borders (RSF) and all media organizations and institutions to abide by their responsibilities and put an end to the ongoing Israeli violations against journalists and activists.

Journalist Support Committee - Palestine
25 July 2018