December 5, 2014, New York – In response to reports that Palestinian-American activist Rasmea Odeh has been held in solitary confinement in a Michigan jail for twelve days, the Center for Constitutional Rights issued the following statement:

“It is heartbreaking, cruel, and outrageous that 67-year-old community leader Rasmea Odeh is being held in solitary confinement, now for 12 days. Authorities targeted Ms. Odeh, who was brutally tortured at the hands of the Israeli government, in a politicized trial as a result of her activism and continue to punish her behind bars. Solitary confinement is a practice with devastating psychological and physical effects recognized by the UN Special Rapporteur on Torture to be a form of torture. St. Clair County Sheriff Tim Donnellon’s decision to place a torture survivor in solitary confinement shocks the conscience.”