Ahed Tamimi's lawyer accuses her interrogators of sexual harassment

Ahed Tamimi's lawyer accuses her interrogators of sexual harassment
Gaby Lasky has filed a second complaint to Israel's Attorney General accusing interrogators of inappropriate behaviour amounting to sexual harassment against the 17-year-old.
2 min read
03 April, 2018
Ahed Tamimi with her lawyer Gaby Lasky [Getty]
The lawyer of jailed Palestinian teenager Ahed Tamimi filed a complaint on Monday accusing the 17-year-old's interrogators of sexual harassment, according to Arab 48.

Gaby Lasky, who represents Tamimi in what the international community considers a grossly unfair case, complained about the lack of investigation following her repeated accusations against one of the interrogators on the case, of what she described as "gross violation of the law", amounting to sexual harassment.

Lasky has twice complained to the attorney general on this issue, however no investigation was opened by the appropriate authorities into investigators from the Israeli military intelligence.

Lasky included in her complaint addressed to the attorney general that one of the interrogators questioned Ahed in a way inappropriate for a female minor including remarks about her looks that amounted to sexual harassment.

Lasky added that the interrogator in question threatened to arrest Tamimi's relatives and interrogate them too, if she continued to remain silent during questioning. 

Lasky also mentioned that despite her age – Ahed was 16 when she was arrested for slapping an Israeli soldier who would not leave her family's property – Tamimi was interrogated simultaneously by two men, without the presence of a female officer in the room or an interrogator  specialised in questioning minors.

"This proves that the [Israeli] law enforcement system infringes upon the rights of Palestinian minors," the complain concluded.

Video footage of Tamimi's interrogation leaked on Sunday to The Daily Beast reportedly shows the teenager enduring two hours of questioning on December 26.

The then 16-year old calmy asserts her right to remain silent as two male interrogators attempt a range of tactics to get her to talk.

"You have eyes like an angel," says one interrogator to Ahed in Arabic. He then tries to explain how she is like his sister who "spends all his money on clothes," according to the report by The Daily Beast.

Sexual harassment and abuse, including rape, is routinely used by Israeli authorities to humiliate and torture both female and male Palestinian prisoners.

Tamimi is currently serving an eight-month sentence in Ofer military prison after reaching a plea deal with prosecutors. 

She told reporters last month before the court accepted the plea bargain agreement that "there is no justice under occupation and this is an illegitimate court".