The Palestinian Authority (PA) security services continued to detain Yahya Farah, a member of the Student Council Conference at Birzeit University, for the fourth consecutive day despite obtaining a court release order.
On June 13, the Magistrate Court in Ramallah ordered Farah’s release on a bail. However, the Palestinian intelligence service refuses his release.
Ahmed, Yahya Farah’s brother, said that his brother is a fourth-year student at Birzeit University, and an ex-prisoner in Israeli jails. His only charge was providing assistance to his colleagues via the Student Union Council.
For her part; his mother, Amna Shabib, confirmed that she attended her son’s court session, where she clearly saw signs of beating and torture on his entire body.
During the court session, Yahya told his mother that he was threatened by the intelligence services if he talked about his torture.
Yahya Farah’s case stresses the need for the PA to adhere to international human rights standards, to respect court decisions, to release detainees who receive court release decisions, to ensure the protection of detainees, to provide them with safe detention conditions, and to hold accountable those responsible for these violations.
Such violations require the intervention of the international community and human rights organisations to put pressure on the PA to comply with the law and respect human rights.
