Alistair Burt MP

Parliamentary Under Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs

Foreign and Commonwealth Office

King Charles Street

London SW1A 2AH

Date: 3^rd June 2013

Dear Alistair,

I am appealing to you for help in the case of Sireen Sawafteh, the sister of Rashid Sawafteh whom I met when he came to Brighton last year as part of his work with the Jordan Valley Solidarity Campaign in my constituency.

Sireen, a 24 year old woman from Tubas, is active in the non violent campaign for human rights in Palestine. She studied computer science at the Open University in Tubas. During her studies she was actively involved in a twinning project between Tubas and the University of Sussex, taking part in a delegation of students which visited the UK from Palestine to strengthen links and foster friendships.

Sireen was detained by the Israeli authorities last Tuesday. In the early hours of Wednesday, Sireen’s family home was raided whilst her father Khalid Sawafteh, her mother, three brothers, sisters in law and their two young children were sleeping. I understand that 25 Israeli army jeeps entered the town of Tubas -  20 officers went into the Sawafteh family home and over 100 remained in the street cornering off the house. The family and young children were all taken into one room whilst their home was ransacked. The Israeli authorities took all the computers in the house leaving Sireen's relatives in shock.

Since her detention, Sireen has been forcibly transferred out of the Occupied Palestinian Territories to an Israeli prison in Haifa located in the north of Israel, a practice illegal under international law.  Article 49 of the Fourth Geneva Convention states that individual or mass forcible transfers, as well as deportations of protected persons from occupied territory to the territory of the Occupying Power or to that of any other country, occupied or not, are prohibited, regardless of their motive. While Article 76 states clearly that protected persons accused of offences shall be detained in the occupied country, and if convicted they shall serve their sentences therein.

I am told Sireen is currently being held in Al Jalameh prison. Her family and friends fear for her safety. Sireen has been denied access to a lawyer and she has not been allowed to make any contact with her loved ones since her abduction. Last Thursday, lawyers acting for Sireen tried to visit the prison inside Israel where she is being held. I am told they were refused entry. Sireen has since appeared in court and had her imprisonment extended by seven days.

As Tubas is located in Area A, as designated under the Oslo Accords, it is officially under total Palestinian civil and military control. As a result, the incursion by Israel troops on Wednesday morning is seen as illegal and sparked protests in Tubas. According to reports, Israeli forces fired tear gas and sound grenades at local residents as they gathered.

I am very alarmed by this case and hope you might be able to intervene to raise concerns about the detention of political prisoners by the Israeli authorities and press for Sireen’s basic rights to be met, at the very least.

I look forward to your response.

Yours sincerely,

Caroline Lucas, MP, Brighton Pavilion

Read the Minister's response here.