GIZ and BMZ: demand Baraa Odeh’s release from Israeli prison now!
GIZ and BMZ: demand Baraa Odeh’s release from Israeli prison now!
Das Problem
Click HERE for the German version.
We, as citizens of the world, friends and family of Baraa Odeh, are demanding her immediate release. Baraa is a 34 year old female development worker from Palestine, living in Ramallah. She has a Masters from Birzeit University in Community Psychology, and has been working for GIZ (the German Development Agency) for the past 10 years, mostly in youth welfare projects. Baraa is an incredibly sweet and captivating person, a great writer and an enthusiastic rock climber. She is married to a German citizen who she met through her development work in Palestine, and she regularly visits Berlin to visit her German family and her friends in the city.
On March 5th Baraa was arrested when entering the West Bank from King Hussein (Allenby) Bridge, returning home from Germany. She was taken to Damon prison where she is currently being held. For the past three months she has been imprisoned under what Israel calls “administrative detention”, which is prison without charge or trial, and without a clear release date. This is incredibly dangerous for the prisoners, who not only are subjected to inhumane conditions, but also have to live in fear of never coming out. The practice is illegal under international law, as the Right to a Fair Trial is an inalienable human right, signed in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights . On March 19th, a hearing took place in which Baraa was accused of being involved in a banned political group. No evidence has been offered against her to sustain this claim in any way, shape, or form, and no defense was made possible.
Not only has Baraa been held without a fair trial, she is being subjected to the horrifying environment of Israeli prisons, which are causing her extreme physical and emotional damage. According to her lawyer, who last visited her on 12 May 2024, she has contracted a severe infection due to the catastrophic state of the cells and the lack of clean water, food, hygiene products and clean clothes. She suffers from severe abdominal pain and the prison is refusing to provide her with medicine or any other treatment, despite her repeated requests - another violation of her human rights, and against Article 49 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights . Baraa has reportedly been “repeatedly strip-searched and physically assaulted.”
Baraa Odeh’s arrest and prolonged detention without due process makes her one of more than 3,400 Palestinians in prison under administrative detention. This is not only a violation of her individual rights but also a scandal involving Germany and GIZ, the institution she has spent 10 years working at, which is refusing to condemn the inhumane treatment of their employees.
The German government has also yet to respond to the arrest and illegal detention of one of their development and aid workers. BMZ (the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development) has told Al Jazeera that it does not comment on individual cases and “is working with all the resources at its disposal to clarify the background of the case”, but has yet to put pressure on the Israeli government for her release, right to a fair trial, or right to medical attention.
We urge GIZ and BMZ to act in accordance with their stated priority areas in Palestine, namely: “Governance, democracy and civil society & Peace-building and resilience”, as well as to secure the release of Baraa Odeh by all means at their disposal.
As any human in the world, Baraa is entitled to her rights to a fair trial, to immediate medical attention, and to full legal support for her case. Israel's actions are again being treated with impunity not only by the German government, but also its institutions like GIZ.
This aggression will not stand, and we must unite to demand her freedom now.
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Campaign media:
Instagram @free.baraa
Email free_baraa@proton.me
Information sources:
English
https://taz.de/Menschenrechtlerin-ueber-GIZ-Angestellte/!6009316/
English
https://menarights.org/en/case/baraa-awad-ahmed-odeh
https://menarights.org/en/articles/ngos-condemn-israels-targeting-palestinian-human-rights-defenders
Das Problem
Click HERE for the German version.
We, as citizens of the world, friends and family of Baraa Odeh, are demanding her immediate release. Baraa is a 34 year old female development worker from Palestine, living in Ramallah. She has a Masters from Birzeit University in Community Psychology, and has been working for GIZ (the German Development Agency) for the past 10 years, mostly in youth welfare projects. Baraa is an incredibly sweet and captivating person, a great writer and an enthusiastic rock climber. She is married to a German citizen who she met through her development work in Palestine, and she regularly visits Berlin to visit her German family and her friends in the city.
On March 5th Baraa was arrested when entering the West Bank from King Hussein (Allenby) Bridge, returning home from Germany. She was taken to Damon prison where she is currently being held. For the past three months she has been imprisoned under what Israel calls “administrative detention”, which is prison without charge or trial, and without a clear release date. This is incredibly dangerous for the prisoners, who not only are subjected to inhumane conditions, but also have to live in fear of never coming out. The practice is illegal under international law, as the Right to a Fair Trial is an inalienable human right, signed in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights . On March 19th, a hearing took place in which Baraa was accused of being involved in a banned political group. No evidence has been offered against her to sustain this claim in any way, shape, or form, and no defense was made possible.
Not only has Baraa been held without a fair trial, she is being subjected to the horrifying environment of Israeli prisons, which are causing her extreme physical and emotional damage. According to her lawyer, who last visited her on 12 May 2024, she has contracted a severe infection due to the catastrophic state of the cells and the lack of clean water, food, hygiene products and clean clothes. She suffers from severe abdominal pain and the prison is refusing to provide her with medicine or any other treatment, despite her repeated requests - another violation of her human rights, and against Article 49 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights . Baraa has reportedly been “repeatedly strip-searched and physically assaulted.”
Baraa Odeh’s arrest and prolonged detention without due process makes her one of more than 3,400 Palestinians in prison under administrative detention. This is not only a violation of her individual rights but also a scandal involving Germany and GIZ, the institution she has spent 10 years working at, which is refusing to condemn the inhumane treatment of their employees.
The German government has also yet to respond to the arrest and illegal detention of one of their development and aid workers. BMZ (the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development) has told Al Jazeera that it does not comment on individual cases and “is working with all the resources at its disposal to clarify the background of the case”, but has yet to put pressure on the Israeli government for her release, right to a fair trial, or right to medical attention.
We urge GIZ and BMZ to act in accordance with their stated priority areas in Palestine, namely: “Governance, democracy and civil society & Peace-building and resilience”, as well as to secure the release of Baraa Odeh by all means at their disposal.
As any human in the world, Baraa is entitled to her rights to a fair trial, to immediate medical attention, and to full legal support for her case. Israel's actions are again being treated with impunity not only by the German government, but also its institutions like GIZ.
This aggression will not stand, and we must unite to demand her freedom now.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Campaign media:
Instagram @free.baraa
Email free_baraa@proton.me
Information sources:
English
https://taz.de/Menschenrechtlerin-ueber-GIZ-Angestellte/!6009316/
English
https://menarights.org/en/case/baraa-awad-ahmed-odeh
https://menarights.org/en/articles/ngos-condemn-israels-targeting-palestinian-human-rights-defenders
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Petition am 21. Mai 2024 erstellt