October 26, 2012

IC calls for immediate release of Palestinian human rights defender Ayman Nasser

The NLG International Committee and Free Palestine Subcommittee sent two letters, to the US State Department and Israeli officials, calling for the immediate release of imprisoned Palestinian human rights defender Ayman Nasser.

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Nasser is a staff researcher at the Addameer Prisoner Support and Human Rights Association.

On October 15, Nasser was arrested and has been held in detention since that time. He has been questioned about his human rights advocacy with Addameer, and with the Handala Centre, an arts and cultural centre in his hometown of Saffa.

This is not the first incident of persecution of Addameer staff and board members; Abdullatif Ghaith, the chair of the board of Addameer, is currently subject to a travel ban, and Addameer lawyers are regularly denied visits with their clients, Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails.

Human Rights Watch has also criticized Nasser's detention and the harassment/persecution of Addameer (http://www.hrw.org/news/2012/10/26/israel-end-arbitrary-restrictions-rights-group-officials) , and there is an action alert for individuals to sign on against Nasser's detention at Samidoun (http://samidoun.ca/2012/10/action-alert-free-human-rights-defender-ayman-nasser/).

Addameer has a profile of Nasser and updates at their site, http://addameer.org/etemplate.php?id=526. Addameer's profile of Nasser was sent to the recipients with the letters.