Release Ahmad Manasra: a letter to the President of Israel
JVL Introduction
The Palestine Global, UK and other mental health networks have, in cooperation with his family and legal team, campaigned for over a year for the release of Ahmad Manasra, held in Israeli prisons since his arrest in 2015 at the age of thirteen.
The campaign has involved an online petition now standing at nearly 450,000 signatures https://www.change.
Since all other legal avenues seem to be exhausted, this approach to the Israeli president by medical practitioners is to emphasise Israel’s responsibility for the dire physical and mental state of this young man and for the illegal practices, such as brutal interrogation and solitary confinement which have contributed to it.
Alongside Ahmad are many other cases of children incarcerated by the Israeli state and subjected to inhumane practices proscribed by international law…
An open letter to the President of Israel
His Excellency Isaac Herzog,
President of the State of Israel,
The President’s Residence,
3 HaNasi Street,
Jerusalem, Israel.
23rd December 2022
Regarding Ahmad Manasra, aged 20. Currently held in Beersheva prison
Dear Mr. President,
We, the undersigned medical practitioners, are writing to ask you to urgently intervene in the case of Ahmad Manasra, who has been held in Israeli prisons since his arrest in 2015 at the age of thirteen. We are deeply shocked by the violent and unlawful treatment this young man has been subjected to for the past seven years by the Israeli judicial system, including the manner of his arrest, his illegal interrogation without lawyers or family present, his long periods held in solitary confinement and, now that he has served two thirds of his sentence, the refusal of the courts to even consider the weighty medical and psychiatric evidence which argues for his early release on compassionate and health grounds.
Ahmad Manasra was arrested at the age of 13, for being armed with a knife in the company of his cousin Hassan aged seventeen, who allegedly stabbed and seriously injured a thirteen year old Jewish Israeli boy. Hassan was killed on the spot. Ahmad suffered a skull fracture, having been hit by a car and was severely mistreated by the mob surrounding him. He was later seen being handcuffed in an Intensive Care Unit whilst in an induced coma. He was detained in a closed institution for criminal youths, and then transferred to another prison. A video, accessed by local and international media showed an interrogator bullying and insulting the terrified young prisoner who was completely alone and unrepresented. Ahmad at thirteen years old had not reached the age of criminal responsibility; yet his trial was delayed until he was fourteen years old. He was sentenced to twelve years in prison (subsequently reduced to nine years). It is important to emphasise that the judge at his trial recognised that Ahmad did not directly participate in any attack on a Jewish civilian.
During his lengthy imprisonment Ahmad Manasra has been deprived of visits from his parents and other relatives. He has been held in solitary confinement which is illegal under international law in the case of minors. All medical and psychiatric experts agree that solitary confinement has devastating and sometimes irrecoverable impacts on the neuro- development and mental health of adolescents. Under international law, solitary confinement for more than fourteen days is considered torture. The Israeli court has recently imposed a further four months of solitary confinement on the basis of ‘secret evidence’. Ahmad’s mental health has progressively deteriorated to the point that he is delusional and suicidal. His condition is worsening but, instead of considering the compelling psychiatric evidence that he can only be effectively treated in a psychiatric facility separate from a prison service, the courts have retrospectively applied anti-terrorist laws to his case, enabling them to refuse to even consider the application for early release to which he would otherwise be entitled. We find it hard to understand the cruelty and vindictiveness that these decisions appear to reveal.
There has been a powerful international campaign for the release of this young man. His case has been taken up by Amnesty International, by the UN Special Rapporteur and questions have been put to UK Government Ministers by Members of Parliament. All of this has been to no avail. We now turn to you.
We join our efforts with all those who have denounced these practices which are unworthy of a government purporting to abide by the rule of law. We ask you to urgently intervene to ensure that Ahmad Manasra is immediately freed and released to the care of his family and to the health professionals who can treat him.
We look forward to your response
Yours sincerely
Dr Derek Summerfield (Lead signatory)
Dr Elizabeth Berger (USA)
Sir Iain Chalmers MD
Lady Judith English FRCPsych,
Professor Colin Green
Dr Ghada Karmi
Professor Klim Macpherson
Dr Brooke Maddux (France)
Dr Ruchama Marton (Israel)
and 140 other medical practitioners
I imagine the Israeli authorities will be thinking ‘if he hated us then, imagine how he’ll feel after the way we’ve treated him, and what he might do. And what he’ll say to the world’. Poor mental health in that scenario will be seen as an additional risk to them. Compassion and legality are irrelevant to the IL authorities dealing with ‘security prisoners’. It’s a very tough case to win without an overall settlement, which isn’t imminent, so efforts will need to be maximum and perhaps a new angle is needed to address the points I raised.
Paul Seligman’s comment is particularly apt since it encompasses the causes of ongoing conflict and hatred, fueled by a mechanism of injustice, the result of which inevitably ensures that resolution becomes virtually impossible. Viewing Israel’s practices you could be forgiven for concluding that stoking tensions is a deliberate strategy so Israel can continue its policies of killing outraged Palestinians and finding alleged justification if Palestinian anger leads to stone throwing or assaults on Israeli army personnel.
Thank you to Jewish Voice for Labour for continuing to fight for justice and clemency for this young man who has spent so long locked up and often in solitary confinement. His treatment has been illegal and inhumane, and blackens Israel’s reputation worldwide.
Ahmad Manasra has spent his adolescence in occupation prisons and has been subjected to torture,leading to a severe deterioration in his health,,this is inhumane..No person should have to endure this traumatic abuse..#Freeahmadmanasra #Unchilding