Bassem Tamimi's administrative detention extended for another 6 months without charge or trial

On 25 April 2024, Israeli authorities issued a new 6-month administrative detention order against human rights defender Bassem Tamimi. A judicial review hearing to confirm the new order is scheduled for 7 May 2024.

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Bassem Tamimi is a Palestinian human rights defender and leader of the grassroots group Nabi Saleh Popular Struggle Coordination Committee in the occupied West Bank, a non-violent collective protesting against Israel's ongoing occupation of the Palestinian Territory and illegal Israeli settlements in the West Bank. He has faced harassment, intimidation, and arbitrary detention by Israeli authorities multiple times, having endured more than three years in administrative detention without charge or trial at one point.

On 25 April 2024, just three days before the expiration of the initial 6-month administrative detention order, another 6-month administrative detention order was issued against Bassem Tamimi, extending his detention until 27 October 2024. The initial order, issued by the Israeli military commander of the West Bank on 6 November 2023, was given without any charge or trial, ordering his detention until 28 April 2024, six months from his arrest date. A judicial review of the initial order was conducted on camera on 15 November 2023, confirming the detention. Bassem Tamimi is currently held at Ramon Prison.

On 29 October 2023, Bassem Tamimi was arrested at the Allenby Bridge, also known as the King Hussein Bridge. He was not interrogated until four days later, on 2 November 2023, at the Ofer interrogation center. According to his legal counsel, the interrogation transcript indicates that it lasted only 12 minutes. The only question posed concerned his suspected involvement with a Palestinian activist in carrying out a "security activity." This brief interrogation was the only questioning Bassem Tamimi underwent since his arrest.

The Israel Security Agency, known as Shin Bet/Shabak, cited this suspicion as the basis for the initial administrative detention order, while the Palestinian activist linked to this suspicion was released without charge 25 days after his arrest on 21 November 2023.

Bassem Tamimi has been arrested and detained over a dozen times, and has experienced torture during past detentions. In his current administrative detention, the human rights defender has been denied access to legal counsel, except for a single time a few months ago, and to his family, leaving them without information about his health or possible ill-treatment.

Bassem Tamimi, as other Palestinian and Israeli human rights defenders, has voiced grave concerns about the escalating violence perpetrated by both the Israeli military and Israeli settlers in the West Bank, especially since 7 October 2023. This surge in violent attacks has reached unprecedented levels, prompting peaceful advocacy against the aggression. Despite these efforts, human rights defenders face arrest, intimidation, and harassment. While the Israeli authorities continue to suppress human rights defenders, they have long reported to Front Line Defenders the authorities' blatant failure to hold violent settlers and Israeli military personnel accountable, effectively granting them impunity for their actions.

Front Line Defenders views the detention of the human rights defender as part of an alarming pattern resulting in the imprisonment of thousands of Palestinians, including human rights defenders, across the occupied Gaza Strip, West Bank, East Jerusalem, and Israel since 7 October 2023. During this period, human rights defenders, journalists, and activists have increasingly faced harsh conditions and reported ill-treatment in Israeli prisons, while some have been in incommunicado detention for months.

Front Line Defenders is deeply concerned about the ongoing detention of Bassem Tamimi and the broader trend of Israeli authorities targeting Palestinian human rights defenders with administrative detention. It is also seriously worried about the lack of fair trial guarantees for human rights defenders in accordance with international standards, viewing Bassem Tamimi's continued detention as a form of intimidation against him for his legitimate and peaceful work in defence of human rights.

Front Line Defenders urges Israeli authorities to:

1. Immediately and unconditionally release human rights defender Bassem Tamimi and all other detained Palestinian human rights defenders;
2. Ensure Bassem Tamimi's physical and psychological well-being is protected and guaranteed while in prison, in accordance with international standards;
3. Guarantee Bassem Tamimi's access to his family and legal representation;
4. Cease targeting all human rights defenders in the Occupied Palestinian Territory and Israel, guaranteeing that they can carry out their legitimate and peaceful human rights work without fear of reprisals or judicial harassment.