Take Action: Condemn Deportation of Human Rights Defender Salah Hammouri
Breaking News: French-Palestinian human rights lawyer Salah Hammouri, held under administrative detention, was just notified of his forcible deportation to France on Sun. Dec. 4. This comes after his Jerusalem residency revocation under “breach of allegiance.”
Take one minute to write to Foreign Minister Joly and Head of Mission in Ramallah Da Silva. Canada is complicit in Israel's violation of international law in regard to Human Rights Defencer Salah Hammouri.
Third party countries need to activate universal jurisdiction in accordance with Article 147 of the Fourth Geneva Convention to ensure that Israel is held accountable and does not enjoy impunity for the grave violations it commits against Palestinians, including arbitrary detention and forced displacement.
Condemn and reject the Israeli decision to revoke the Salah Hammouri’s Jerusalem residency based on a secret file and allegations of disloyalty to the occupying power.
This is a violation of the international law per Article 43 of the Hague Convention on the Rules of Land War 1907 and Article 64 of the Fourth Geneva Convention of 1949, which prohibit an occupying power to act as the owner of sovereignty over the occupied territory. Israel’s practices also violate Articles 45 of the Hague Convention and 68 (3) of the Fourth Geneva Convention, which prohibit an occupying power from demanding loyalty from the inhabitants of the occupied territory.
This is illegal in international humanitarian law as forcibly deporting inhabitants of an occupied territory is considered a war crime under Article 8 of the Rome Statute. In fact, when forcible deportation is part of a widespread and systemic policy against civilians—as it is in Israel—it also is considered a crime against humanity under Article 7 of the Rome Statute.
Furthermore, revoking the residency of human rights defenders and others in Jerusalem violates various rules of international human rights law such as the right to family life, the right to freedom of movement, including the right to leave and return to one’s homeland, and the right of expression and peaceful assembly in accordance with Articles 19, 21 and 22 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights.
These deportation practices also contradict declarations made by the UN Security Council and the General Assembly that it is illegal to change the status quo in terms of demographics in the city of Jerusalem.
Finally, emptying the city of its Arab residents is a blatant application of the internationally condemned practice of apartheid.
Canada is obliged under Article 1 of the Fourth Geneva Convention, to ensure that violations of the Fourth Geneva Convention do not occur under any circumstance.
Salah Hammouri’s case illustrates the Israeli authorities’ apartheid regime, including the widespread and systematic practice of illegal deportation and demographic manipulation, as manifested through its laws, policies, and practices, to maintain an institutionalized regime of domination and oppression over the Palestinian people as a whole.
It is part of a larger attack on Palestinians living in occupied Palestine, and Palestinian residents of Jerusalem in particular, including with regard to Israel’s policy of forcible transfer and persecution, whether through residency revocation – under so-called “breach of allegiance” to the State of Israel or by failing to prove that Jerusalem is their “centre of life” – or through forced evictions, home demolitions, denial of building permits or other facets of Israel’s coercive environment imposed on the Palestinian people to drive them out of Jerusalem, and Palestine at large.
Read more about Salah's case: Justice for Salah
In June 2022, a letter was sent to the Canadian Head of Mission in Ramallah, Robin Wettlaufer signed by more than 30 civil society organizations from Canada, Palestine and elsewhere, and more than 100 lawyers, academics, faith leaders and others, most from Canada. Signatories included former UN rapporteur Richard Falk, academic Noam Chomsky, and author Yann Martel. They urged Wettlaufer to visit human rights defender and lawyer Salah Hammouri in Ofer prison, and to pressure Israeli authorities for; Salah Hammouri’s immediate and unconditional release. About 1,000 letters were written to around this time to Global Affairs Minister Joly and the Ramallah based Head of Mission Wettlaufer.
An Access to Information and Privacy (ATIP) request received by Just Peace Advocates shows that the Head of Mission in Ramallah seems to have just dismissed letters as part of a campaign.
The Justice for Salah campaign is calling for a Twitter storm on Thursday, 1 December, from 3 pm to 5 pm Jerusalem time (5 am to 7 am Pacific time, 8 am to 10 am Eastern time, 2 pm to 4 pm central Europe) to demand justice and liberation in Palestine for Salah Hamouri. Follow the latest updates from the campaign website.
#JusticeForSalah
Follow on twitter: @JusticeforSalah
Letter writing initiated by:
