Urgent calls to release Palestinian teenager administrative detainee facing high-risk of severe illness in Israeli prison
Occupied Palestine (QNN)- Two human rights groups have called to immediatly release 18-year-old Palestinian administrative detainee, Amal Nakhleh, who is facing high-risk of severe illness after contracting COVID-19 in Israeli prison.
The Defense for Children International – Palestine (DCIP) and Prisoner Support and Human Rights Association, Addameer, have called to immediately release Nakhleh as he suffers from myasthenia gravis, a rare neuromuscular disorder causing weakness in the skeletal muscles, which requires specialized medical care, regular medication, and constant monitoring of symptoms to avoid further health complications.
No one is exempt from Israel’s arbitrary policy of administrative detention and deliberate medical neglect, not even vulnerable Palestinian children or when grave health conditions emerge.#EndAdministrativeDetention#FreeThemAll pic.twitter.com/gC4UUazkRw
— Addameer –الضمير (@Addameer) January 25, 2022
BREAKING: Amal Nakhleh, 18, has tested positive for COVID-19 while in Israeli military detention. He has been held without charge for a year. He suffers from a chronic autoimmune disease that affects his breathing and swallowing. Israeli authorities must release Amal immediately. https://t.co/AnoEpspD8N
— Defense for Children (@DCIPalestine) January 25, 2022
We submitted a complaint to the UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention about the administrative detention of Amal Nakhleh. Israeli authorities have detained him for a year w/o charge.
Their conclusion: He should be released immediately.
Read more: https://t.co/Kt7tsDI7Rj pic.twitter.com/SHBbXneS9Z
— Defense for Children (@DCIPalestine) January 26, 2022
He is now facing a high-risk of severe illness after he contracted COVID-19 on Tuesday, and he was moved on Wednesday to the infamous Ramla prison clinic, which lacks specialists and adequate medical supplies.
On Jan. 13, 2022, the Israeli occupation authorities extended Nakhleh’s administrative detention order until May 18, 2022, representing the third renewal and fourth term of his administrative detention order since his arrest.
During the confirmation hearing on 18 January 2022, both Amal and his legal counsel were not present, due to Amal’s participation in the collective boycott of Palestinian administrative detainees against Israeli military courts, in protest of the Israeli occupation’s policy of administrative detention.
On Jan. 16, 2022, Amal turned 18 and it is worth mentioning that he was born three months prematurely.
Amal was a child, 17 years old, when he was re-arrested by Israeli Occupation Forces (IOF) from his home in Al-Jalazon Refugee Camp on 21 January 2021.
Since then, he continues to be held under administrative detention, without charge or trial, despite his age, and more seriously, the precarity of his health condition.
Just a few months prior to his detention, Amal underwent surgery to remove a cancerous mass.
Amal was previously arrested by IOF and later released after 40 days of incarceration on 10 December 2020 due to his young age and physical and psychological health.
Still, less than two months after, IOF raided Amal’s home, re-arresting him and placing him under administrative detention due to “secret material,” alleging he poses a “security risk to the region.”
According to medical reports, Amal has since faced new compounding health concerns requiring medical attention.
The severity of his detention, as a child detainee suffering from a multitude of health conditions, further compounded by the COVID-19 pandemic, led UN Human Rights experts and Special Rapporteurs to issue a communiqué on 25 February 2021 by expressing concern for Amal’s administrative detention and urging “all necessary interim measures be taken to halt the alleged violations and prevent their re-occurrence…[and] to ensure the accountability of any person responsible.”
Due to his health conditions, Amal cannot be vaccinated against COVID-19 and must take immune-suppressants, meaning that his life now is at high risk after contracting the COVID-19.
Neither Amal nor his family are aware of the charges against him and have been informed by the Israeli occupation authorities that it is a “confidential administrative case.”
Amal’s legal team stated that this is one of the most prolonged cases of administrative attention of a child that they have come across.
Last week, following the extension of his administrative detention, UNICEF, UNRWA and OHCHR called upon the Israeli occupation authorities to immediately release Amal Nakhleh.
“The administrative detention imposed on Amal without charges and based on classified evidence is a form of arbitrary detention not permissible under public international law. It deprives him of the appropriate care required by his underlying medical condition, exposing him to increased risks of aggravation of his health,” said the UN agencies in a statement.
“Amal Nakhleh’s case highlights the Israeli apartheid regime’s systematic targeting of Palestinian children, demonstrating that no one is exempt from Israel’s arbitrary policy of administrative detention and deliberate medical neglect, not even vulnerable Palestinian children or when grave health conditions emerge,” the Palestinian prisoners rights organization Addameer said.
“It should be further noted that IPS refused to grant Amal Nakhleh any of the COVID-19 vaccines, citing his medical condition. As such, Amal is at acute risk of developing severe illness from COVID-19, in addition to lasting health effects that could compound upon his pre-existing conditions,” it added.
