Detained Young Woman Tasneem Awda: Arrested Over Old Posts and Held in Harsh Conditions

SadaNews - The lawyer from the Palestinian Prisoners and Freed Prisoners Affairs Commission reported after her recent visit to Damon Prison that the occupation forces arrested the young woman Tasneem Barakat Awda (22 years old) from the city of Jerusalem on 12/12/2024, while she was transporting students in her own car; she is a final-year law student at Abu Dis University.

The lawyer clarified in a statement issued by the commission that the occupation forces took young Awda from in front of the school without providing an immediate explanation for the arrest, after individuals in civilian clothes stormed her car, confiscated her phone and her "iPad", and then transferred her to interrogation at the Moscowia center for 14 days, under the pretext of old posts on Facebook from 2022 in which she mourned her father. During this time, the imprisoned woman underwent daily harsh interrogations lasting from 6 to 7 hours, which included repeated insults and curses.

She noted that after the interrogation ended, she was transferred to Sharon Prison, where she spent one night under extremely poor conditions, including a full-body search and deprivation of heating facilities. She was then moved to Damon Prison.

Tasneem added: "During one of the trial sessions at the Magistrates' Court in Jerusalem, I was beaten on the head and face by one of the guards, and I was held in the bus for more than two hours with the air conditioning and engine turned off, which led to a suffocating situation where I nearly lost consciousness."

The imprisoned woman also indicated that the prison forces recently stormed the wing using police dogs and tear gas, searched the rooms, and the female prisoners faced collective punishments for trivial and illogical reasons, such as: the existence of old scribbles on the walls. Among the punishments was a ban on going out for fresh air for seven days. Moreover, the cells in Damon Prison are completely closed with no ventilation, despite overcrowding and high temperatures, where 43 female prisoners are currently held.