Explanation

The case of Ms. Layan Nasir, 24 year old Palestinian Anglican woman detained by Israeli Security Forces

Layan Nasir, a young adult Palestinian Anglican was re-arrested by the Israeli military in the early hours of April 7, 2024 at her family home in Birzeit.

Layan is currently the only known Palestinian Christian woman held in Israeli Administrative Detention. She and her family are members of St. Peter’s Anglican Church in Birzeit in the occupied West Bank.

Layan was first arrested by Israeli military forces in the summer of 2021, reportedly because of her nonviolent educational and organizing efforts at Birzeit University, where she was an undergraduate student.

Layan was one of more than twenty students arrested in a sweep by the Israeli military. She was interrogated, mistreated and held without trial in an Israeli military prison for several months before public pressure, actions by her lawyer, and payment of bail by her parents saw Layan released to her home and family in the occupied West Bank.

Since the fall of 2021, Layan had been living in her Birzeit family home, together with her parents and two brothers. She completed her studies and graduated from Birzeit University with a Bachelor of Science degree in Nutrition. Immediately prior to her current detention, Layan was employed by the Ramallah based NGO Women’s Capacity Development, socializing with friends and trying to put the trauma of her 2021 arrest and imprisonment behind her.

Despite having met all the conditions of her bail, including multiple court hearings, Layan and her family were awakened at 4 AM on Sunday, April 7th when, according to her father, four armored Israeli personnel carriers with at least 15 heavily armed soldiers, stormed the Nasir family home, held her parents at gunpoint, thoroughly searched the house, blindfolded and handcuffed Layan, and took her away.

The soldiers offered no explanation or indication of what charges were being made against Layan or where she would be taken. The family has since learned she was one of eight young people abducted by the army that morning. The Nasir’s family lawyer later learned that she was transported across the border into Israel, itself a violation of international law, and returned to Damon prison.

Unsurprisingly, Layan has not been allowed to speak with members of her family and has only spoken with her lawyer a few times for very short periods of time. Family visits are not permitted, and despite requests, her priest Fr. Fadi Diab has not been permitted access to Layan although it is a right under Israeli law. The family are deeply concerned for her physical and emotional well-being.

According to reports by Palestinian, Israeli, and international prisoners' rights groups, life has become far more difficult for imprisoned Palestinians since October 7th. The Israeli military has arrested thousands of Palestinian men, women and children, so overcrowding, in unsanitary conditions, is typical.

Credible reports about sleep deprivation, stress positioning, psychological pressure, and including physical torture and sexual abuse, denial of, or poor-quality food, withheld beds and bedding, and denial of soap and female hygiene items are widely circulating. The International Committee of the Red Cross, which normally oversees treatment of prisoners, is currently being denied access to Israel's prisons.

Recently, the Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby publicly criticized Israel over Layan’s ongoing detention. The Executive Council of the Episcopal Church has also urged “the end of continued detention of thousands of Palestinians without charge, as particularly highlighted by the case of Layan Nasir.”

 

Requested Actions:

1. Pray for Layan’s immediate release and for her safety until then

2. Write to your political representative asking that the petition for her release and for access to Layan from her priest

3. Object in all possible ways to Israel’s practice of administrative detention

4. Sign the petition to secure Layan’s release, organized by a member of the Episcopal Diocese of Los Angeles, via Change.org here.

 

More Information and Sources:

-Church Times: Archbishop of Canterbury voices concern at Israeli arrest in West Bank (April 10, 2024)

-The Guardian: ‘Shhh or I’ll shoot you’: family of jailed Christian woman tell of Israeli raid (April 13, 2024)

-Resolution on Gaza - MB 013 (April 18-20, 2024)

-ZENIT - Español: Israel sigue violando derechos humanos de cristianos solo por ser palestinos (Abril 22, 2024)

-Sky News: Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby criticises Israel over Palestinian Christian woman in detention (April 28, 2024)

-Episcopal News Service (ENS): Archbishop of Canterbury expresses deep concern for Palestinian Anglican woman held by Israel without charges (May 1, 2024)

-Diocese of Chelmsford (Church of England): Bishop Guli’s Prayer Pledge to detainee Layan Nasir’s mother (June 6, 2024)

-Office of Government Relations (TEC): Episcopal Church Statement on Layan Nasir and Detained Palestinians (June 18, 2024)

 

Background Information Regarding Administrative Detention

Administrative detention has been defined as the “arrest and detention of individuals by the state without trial,” often for so-called “security reasons.” or as a means to “combat terrorism or rebellion,” or to “otherwise protect the ruling regime.” As this measure is supposed to be preventive, it has no time limit although there might be given an initial term, 3, 4 or 6 months but this can be indefinitely extended.

The person is detained without legal proceedings, by order of the regional military commander, based on classified evidence that is not revealed to them. This leaves the detainees helpless – facing unknown allegations with no way to disprove them, not knowing when they will be released, and without being charged, tried or convicted.

There is a process of legal review through the Military Court of Appeal and ultimately to the High Court of Justice but in practice this process is rarely permitted. When it is, evidence on which a decision is made continues to be kept confidential excluding the defense.

There are currently more than 3,400 Palestinians held in administrative detention by Israel Security Forces. Of these approximate 30 are aged 12-18.

It is illegal under international law to transfer people out of their own land (Occupied Palestinian Territory) to imprison them in another country (Israel).

Since the creation of the Geneva Conventions there have been significant developments, mainly under international human rights law, which places restrictions on the possibility to detain individuals indefinitely without charging them. Human rights law establishes:

1. An obligation to inform the individual of the reasons for their detention;

2. An obligation to bring a person arrested on a criminal charge promptly before a judge; and

3. An obligation to provide a person deprived of liberty with an opportunity to challenge the lawfulness of detention (habeas corpus).
 

The Resolution C038 “Call for Basic Rights and Protection of Palestinian Children” was written in 2018 to enable the Office of Government Relations of the Episcopal Church to advocate on legislation introduced by Rep. Betty McCollum of Minnesota. The Office of Government Relation’s active alert on this legislation can be found here, and has been highlighted every year since 2018.

As already mentioned above, the Executive Council of the Episcopal Church recently urged “the end of continued detention of thousands of Palestinians without charge, as particularly highlighted by the case of Layan Nasir.”

 

Sources

-B’Tselem: www.btselem.org

-Military Court Watch: www.militarycourtwatch.org

-Addameer: www.addameer.org 

-Wikipedia: wikipedia.org/wiki/Administrative_detention 

-ZENIT - Español: Israel sigue violando derechos humanos de cristianos solo por ser palestinos (Abril 22, 2024)

-Resolution C038: Call for Guaranteed Basic Rights and Protection of Palestinian Children (2018)

-Office of Government Relations: Episcopal Church Statement on Layan Nasir and Detained Palestinians (June 18, 2024)

 

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