A/HRC/43/70 several days, during which time they were interrogated about their political affiliation and accused of collaborating either with Israel or with the Palestinian Authority, or of having ties with “foreign powers”. In the vast majority of the cases, victims were released without being officially charged. 55. On 28 February 2019, a member of the Palestinian Legislative Council of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, who is also an activist for women’s and prisoners’ rights, Khalida Jarrar, was released by the Israeli authorities after having served over 19 months of administrative detention, without trial, based on secret evidence. Ms. Jarrar was released on a plea bargain following charges of incitement and association with the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, for time served, a suspended sentence and a fine, conditions identical to those of the plea bargain she agreed to in June 2016 after 14 months of administrative detention.54 On 31 October 2019, the Israeli security forces again arrested her, reportedly on suspicions of involvement in “terror activity”.55 56. On 10 December 2018, a freelance journalist and a human rights defender working for the Jerusalem Legal Aid and Human Rights Center were detained by the Israeli security forces in Tulkarem and Ramallah. Both independently reported having been subjected to interrogations related to their work that lasted 14–20 hours a day, to threats of administrative detention unless they confessed to a crime and to being held in cells that were constantly illuminated and had no windows, leading to sleep deprivation and disorientation. In addition, the journalist was reportedly placed on a low chair during the interrogations, with his hands and feet cuffed to the back legs of the chair. The Israeli security forces reportedly hit the human rights defender’s head with a rifle during the arrest. Both individuals were released on plea bargains, on 16 and 24 January 2019 respectively, for served time, on conditional release and for paying fines. Both reported having falsely confessed, to avoid administrative detention – the journalist to membership of a student council in 2007 and the human rights defender to throwing stones at the Israeli security forces in 2014 and 2015. 57. On 25 August 2019, in Al Issawiya in East Jerusalem, the Israeli security forces arrested Mohammed Abu al-Hummos on the day that he had organized a recreational trip for 450 children. The Israeli security forces accused him of incitement to violence in a video that does not seem to show any incitement. He was released two days later, after refusing a plea bargain, on bail, and was banned from Al Issawiya until 15 September 2019. Previously, in March 2019, the Israeli security forces had arrested him for five hours on the day that he had organized a marathon. 58. On 2 January 2019, the Magistrate Court in Tulkarem acquitted a man, ruling that Facebook posts criticizing a campaign to pledge allegiance to the President of the State of Palestine, Mahmoud Abbas were within his right to freedom of expression, for which he had been detained one month in 2018 and reportedly been subjected to serious ill-treatment. On 28 January 2019, the Palestinian Authority security forces detained him again and interrogated him about Facebook posts in which he protested against the social security law. He was released after three days, without any charges. 59. In 2019, a gay man was interrogated by the Palestinian General Intelligence Service concerning a video posted on social media showing him with a male partner, disclosing his sexual relations and mentioning the names of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and intersex people and activists in the West Bank. He was threatened with further detention if he continued to have sexual relations with men. In another case in 2019, a transgender woman was detained by the Palestinian police for five days with the accusation of possessing narcotics. She was repeatedly kicked, beaten and sexually harassed through the use of derogatory terms about her gender identity, including invasive questions about her sexual life. 60. Arrests and detention seemingly on political grounds by Palestinian Authority security forces continued, raising serious concerns about the lack of basic fair trial 54 55 12 A/HRC/37/42, para. 55 and footnote 83, and A/HRC/WGAD/2016/15. www.timesofisrael.com/israeli-forces-re-arrest-senior-pflp-member-in-ramallah.

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