Prominent Palestinian human rights defender Mahmoud Nawajaa was taken from his family by Israeli occupation forces during a night raid.

Take a moment to write a letter to Canadian elected officials and diplomats.

The Trudeau government's complicity gives Israel carte blanche to commit human right abuses and international law violations without impunity.

Under Article 1 of the Fourth Geneva Convention, all High Contracting Parties, which includes Canada, are required to take action to ensure respect for the Convention “in all circumstances.”  

Note: The Canadian BDS Coalition and Just Peace Advocates join together for this letter writing campaign.

In this circumstance, at the very least, the transfer of Mahmoud, as is the case of other prisioners, as a civilian from the occupied area to the occupier's own territory is a war crime as defined by the Fourth Geneva Convention, Article 49.

Let us remind the Canadian government that the Fourth Geneva Convention provides for the protection of civilians who find themselves under the rule of a foreign power in the event of an international and internal conflict.

The Fourth Geneva Convention is based on the universally accepted principle that parties to a conflict should ensure that people living in an occupied territory should continue to live in as normal a manner as possible and in accordance with their laws, customs and traditions.

Articles 42 and 78 of the Fourth Geneva Convention permit administrative detention only if the security of the Detaining Power makes it absolutely necessary.

Note Amnesty International has called for immediate and unconditional release:

Israeli authorities must immediately and unconditionally release Palestinian human rights defender Mahmoud Nawajaa, 34, the General Coordinator of the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions movement (BDS) in the Occupied Palestinian Territories (OPT).... He has been detained solely for exercising his rights to freedom of expression and association and is therefore a prisoner of conscience.

Advocating for boycotts, divestment and sanctions is a form of non-violent advocacy and of free expression that must be protected. Advocates of boycotts should be allowed to express their views freely and take forward their campaigns without harassment, threats of prosecution or criminalization, or other measures that violate the right to freedom of expression.

Background of Mahmoud Nawajaa's detention

#FreeMahmoud #BDS

Mahmoud Nawajaa, a prominent Palestinian human rights defender, has been dragged away from his family by Israeli occupation forces in a night raid on Thursday July 30 and is currently held in Israel’s Jalameh high-security interrogation center, denied access to lawyers.

Mahmoud’s arrest comes in the context of Israel’s plans for de jure annexation of much of the occupied Palestinian West Bank, on top of its decades-long de facto annexation and apartheid. His arrest is part of Israel’s attempts to clamp down on human rights defenders, such as Mahmoud, and constitutes yet another element of Israel’s apartheid regime.

Mahmoud is one of the more than 4,700 Palestinian prisioners in Israeli jails. In the current circumstances, with the COVID19 virus spreading, mass detention aggravates health and safety risks to all detainees, adding to the common culture of torture and degrading as well as inhumane treatment of Palestinians in Israeli jails.

The Canadian context:

The Trudeau Liberal Government has expressed that it does not support boycotts, divestments or sanctions, despite these actions and opinions being civil liberties and constitutional rights.

Over 60 federal members of parliament have said they are against further annexation of the "West Bank" of Palestine.

Canada touted itself as the world leader who would help countries fight and recover from Covid-19, during its bid for the United Nations Security Seat, but this does not seem to extend to Palestine, nor Palestinian prisoners.

Under Article 1 of the Fourth Geneva Convention, all High Contracting Parties, which includes Canada, are required to take action to ensure respect for the Convention “in all circumstances.”  

See BDS National Committee for more information.

See Al-Haq for more information.