[Pnews] Palestinian Civil Society Submit Urgent Appeal to UN Special Procedures on the Arbitrary Detention and Harassment of HRD Shatha Odeh

[Prisoner News]

addameer.org <https://www.addameer.org/news/4469> Palestinian Civil Society
Submit Urgent Appeal to UN Special Procedures on the Arbitrary Detention
and Harassment of HRD Shatha Odeh
August 12, 2021
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12-08-2021

On 12 August 2021, the Palestinian Human Rights Organizations Council
(PHROC) and the Palestinian NGO Network submitted an urgent appeal to the
United Nations Special Procedures on the arbitrary detention and harassment
of Ms. Shatha Odeh.

Ms. Shatha Odeh, 60, serves as the Director of the Health Work Committees
(HWC), a leading Palestinian non-governmental organization that promotes
health services for hundreds of thousands of Palestinians, and the
chairwoman of PNGO, a coalition of 142 Palestinian civil society
organizations. On 7 July 2021, Israeli Occupation Forces (IOF) stormed her
house, deploying gas grenades and forcibly arresting her despite the lack
of an arrest warrant or a confiscation order.

The nature of the charges brought against Ms. Odeh primarily revolves
around her leadership role in the HWC, deemed “unlawful” by Israeli
military orders. The arbitrary charges levied against her reflect an
increasing brazenness by Israeli occupying authorities in clamping down on
and criminalizing Palestinian human rights defenders and civil society
organizations that challenge Israel’s entrenched regime of
settler-colonialism and apartheid and work towards achieving international
justice and accountability for Israel’s human rights violations, war crimes
and crimes against humanity.

Moreover, despite that Ms. Odeh’s health is extremely compromised, wherein
she suffers from numerous chronic illnesses and is prescribed various
medications,[2] she was subjected to ill-treatment and medical negligence.
IPS denied Ms. Odeh’s request to access one of her critical medications up
until 15 July 2021, after her lawyer presented documentation proving the
necessity of this medication. The IPS systematic medical negligence
violated Ms. Odeh’s right to health and well-being as enumerated in Article
25 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) and Article 12 of
the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR).

The arbitrary detention of Ms. Odeh serves as one of the latest escalation
of attacks by IOF against Ms. Odeh herself, the Health Work Committee
(HWC), and more broadly, Palestinian civil society and human rights
defenders. Israel’s crackdown on Palestinian civil society and human rights
organizations continues to intensify,[3] as evidenced by the recent raid on
the headquarters of the Union of Agricultural Work Committees (UAWC) and
the delivery of a military order forcing the office to close for six
months, the most recent military raid on Defense for Children
International-Palestine’s headquarters,[4] and the concurrent raid on the
headquarters of the Bisan Center for Research and Development.[5]

In light of the above, PHROC and PNGO urges the relevant UN Special
Procedure mandates to call on Israel, the Occupying Power, to:

   1. Immediately release Palestinian detainee Ms. Odeh, whose health is
   compromised, and guarantee her right to liberty and freedom from arbitrary
   arrest and detention;
   2. Ensure and uphold Palestinian detainee Ms. Odeh’s right to the
   highest attainable standard of health and mental health, as well as the
   right to life;
   3. Ensure due process, including through the provision of translation of
   Hebrew to Arabic at all stages of the court proceedings
   4. Put an end to the systematic and ongoing practice of targeting
   Palestinian civil society organizations, including HWC, and intimidating
   Palestinian human rights defenders, including Ms. Odeh, contrary to
   international law and as inhumane acts of apartheid;
   5. End its practices of deportation of Palestinian prisoners outside the
   occupied territory, preventing families from visiting those incarcerated
   without charge; and
   6. Cease all practices and policies intended to intimidate and silence
   human rights defenders, in violation of their right to freedom of
   expression, including through arbitrary detention, torture and other
   ill-treatment, institutionalized hate speech and incitement, residency
   revocation, deportations, and other coercive or punitive measures.

Read the full urgent appeal *here*
<https://www.addameer.org/sites/default/files/Urgent%20Appeal%20on%20the%20Arbitrary%20Detention%20and%20Harassment%20of%20Human%20Rights%20Defender%20Shatha%20Odeh%2012.08.pdf>.

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[2] See annexed medical certificate dated 7 July 2021, noting the need for
continuous observation, medication, and monitoring due to her chronic
illnesses and older age.

[3] “PHROC: International Community’s Silence Incentivizes Israel’s
Continued Shrinking of Palestinian Civil Society Space”. *Al-Haq*. 5 August
2021. Available at: https://www.alhaq.org/advocacy/18706.html.
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