My sister Ibtissame Betty Lachgar has been detained for 45 days in cruel and degrading conditions that amount to psychological torture and violate her integrity. She is still being held in solitary confinement. This is inhumane! No human being should be treated this way.

My sister Ibtissame Betty Lachgar is a survivor of Ewing’s sarcoma, a bone cancer diagnosed when she was 20 years old. She has been living with a disability ever since and wears a prosthesis on her left arm. In France, she has ALD status, which is a long-term illness.

The latest medical reports warn of major osteolysis of the distal humerus, with no reasonable possibility of preservation. She needs an operation to replace her prosthesis. Without this surgery, the possible outcome is continued osteolysis, mobilisation of the stem outside the humerus and infections.

What does this mean? Without appropriate intervention, she risks losing her arm.

All of this causes severe night-time pain and she is dependent on others for many everyday tasks.

Her conditions of detention make this situation even more alarming. She is subjected to a particularly harsh regime that further weakens her condition:

She still has no mattress to sleep on, must take her walks alone, and is only allowed two telephone calls per week, lasting a maximum of ten minutes each, and only to a single number. This is deliberate isolation, cutting her off from us, her family, and her support network. In contrast, other inmates clearly have access to the telephone every day and can call up to five numbers.

Such deprivation of contact and social stimulation inevitably leads to serious psychological consequences. Beyond the operation and the specialised medical care essential to her condition, she needs appropriate psychological support, as recommended for people with chronic and disabling illnesses. Denying her this care jeopardises not only her physical health but also her mental health.

Why is my sister Ibtissame Betty Lachgar being subjected to harsher treatment? The only explanation is that this is punishment, not for what she has done, but for who she is and what she represents.

These restrictions are not motivated by security concerns. They are a deliberate attempt to break her spirit, to silence a committed feminist activist who has spent her life defending human rights and individual freedoms. She has never incited hatred and her struggle has always been peaceful!

The authorities know she is strong, so they resort to psychological pressure: isolation, sleep deprivation, cutting off regular contact with her family… This is psychological and physical torture!

I am very worried and very angry. My sister’s health and dignity are at stake every day. I demand that the authorities end her isolation, provide her with a mattress and humane treatment, and restore her right to communicate freely with us, her family, and her friends. Betty should not be punished twice: once by an unjust sentence, and a second time by these abusive and inhumane conditions of detention.

I call on human rights organisations, the feminist movement and all those who care about individual freedoms and freedom of expression to mobilise in support of my sister Ibtissame Betty Lachgar and to condemn both the decision to imprison her and her inhumane conditions of detention.

Her struggle is not only for herself, but for all women who are silenced, punished or criminalised for demanding their freedom and expressing their opinions.

We will not remain silent while she is tortured in prison and we will continue to fight for her until she is free!

She does not belong in prison and you know it!
#FreeBetty