Amnesty International called for Israeli occupation authorities “to immediately release teenage Palestinian activist Ahed Tamimi,” a statement said on Monday.
The statement said that Tamimi’s “continued detention is a desperate attempt to intimidate Palestinian children who dare to stand up to repression by occupying forces.”
It added: “Ahed Tamimi’s trial is due to start tomorrow [Tuesday] in Ofer juvenile military court in the occupied West Bank.”
According to Amnesty International, “she faces 12 charges, including aggravated assault, after a video was posted on social media showing her shoving, slapping and kicking two Israeli soldiers in her village on 15 December.”
Deputy Director of Amnesty International for the Middle East and Africa Magdalena Mughrabi said: “By refusing to release Ahed Tamimi since her arrest on 19 December, the Israeli occuaption authorities have shown nothing but contempt for their obligations under international law to protect children.”
She added: “As an unarmed girl, Ahed posed no threat during the altercation with the two Israeli soldiers who were heavily armed and wearing protective clothing.
“Nothing she has done can justify her continued detention and the long, aggressive interrogation sessions she has been forced to endure during the first two weeks of her detention.
“Yet again, the Israeli authorities have responded to acts of defiance by a Palestinian child with measures that are entirely disproportionate to the incident in question.”
Under the Convention on the Rights of the Child, to which Israel is a state party, the arrest, detention or imprisonment of a child must be used only as a measure of last resort and for the shortest appropriate period of time.
Ahed Tamimi, who spent her 17th birthday in detention, could face up to 10 years in prison if convicted. Her trial is expected to last several months.
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