Palestinian teenager Ahed Tamimi, currently serving an eight-month sentence for assaulting Israeli soldiers in December, claimed Monday that she was sexually harassed by an IDF officer during her interrogation.
The complaint, filed by defense attorney Gaby Lasky with the Attorney General's Office, stated that Tamimi was questioned jointly by a police officer and by another man, who presented himself as a military intelligence officer. The complaint claims the officer harassed and threatened Tamimi, violating her legal rights as a minor under investigation.
The officer "told my minor client that she has the face of an angel, commented on her blue eyes and blonde hair, and made other comments in a similar vein," Lasky said.
"These constitute harassment and caused great and excessive distress to my client. This amounts to the sexual harassment of my client while she was being questioned by a person of authority."
Lasky said the officer threatened Tamimi that her family would be arrested if she continued to exercise her right to remain silent during questioning.
"Ahed retained the right to remain silent during the interrogation," Lasky said. She reiterated her claim that the session had violated Tamimi's rights as a minor.
Lasky said she initially submitted the complaint in January, but it "was transferred to the Police Internal Investigations Department, which said that it does not have the authority to investigate an IDF officer. Therefore, I petitioned the Attorney General's Office to order the proper authority to investigate this issue.
"Since then, and even though an intelligence officer explicitly threatened to arrest members of the minor's family if she failed to cooperate, and abused his position by commenting on her appearance in blatant violation of the law, the relevant authorities have yet to launch an investigation against this officer."
Lasky said this was additional proof that law enforcement authorities undermine the rights of Palestinian minors.
