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CRIES FOR HELP FROM THE
PRISONS
The following is a letter to Justice Minister
Freih Abu-Medein, smuggled out of prison and sent to the PHRMG, so that it
could be forwarded to the Minister. The letter was forwarded over a month
ago, and no response has been forthcoming.
To His Excellency, Minister of Justice Freih Abu-Medein:
May peace be upon you. We know that you became Minister of Justice because
you are a fighter for truth and justice. I pray to god that you will be
able to save me. Please remember that the other prisoners and I will meet
you on the final day before God.
Sir, because there is no one else to help us in our miserable situation I
turn to you, hoping that you will hear my cry. Two years ago I was
unjustly arrested. I lent money to someone for a business project, but he
refused to pay me back. He felt safe because he knew that I had difficulty
returning to Palestine, because I left in 1974 and lost the right to
return.
My mother got permission for me to visit and attend my brother's wedding.
I wish I had never returned. The Palestinian security forces arrested me
at the bridge crossing from Jordan, and detained me for two months in the
prison of the Palestinian General Security Services (PGSS-Mukhabarat). I
was deprived of sleep, left without needed medicine, beaten, and forbidden
to pray. All of us have been beaten, humiliated and interrogated for long
hours. I was accused of plotting to kill Rabin, Sharon, Levinger, and
wanting to blow up the Knesset. Finally, I was accused of wanting to kill
President Arafat.
It is not true! I loved that man [Arafat] and was fired for supporting him
while in Saudi Arabia during the Gulf War. The men who have my money did
this to me, so that I be able to collect. I haven't been able to see my
family who are living where they don't know anybody. Your Excellency, I am
more than 45 years old, I lost my job and everything in Saudi Arabia, and
my family can't come here because they are not West Bank residents.
The interrogators swore to me that I am not the one they want, but that
there is a conspiracy to kill President Arafat and they want me to testify
against them, even though I don't know any of them. They said that they
don't need many details, and that one accusation is enough. If I would
testify against them, then President Arafat will forgive me. So I should
trust them and be released for the holiday (Eid). That is how they
convinced me in the end, to give false testimony. The investigators know
that this is all a lie, an endless fiction from beginning to end.
In this prison there are many tragedies and many innocent people that wait
to be rescued by you. Sir, after two months in prison I was moved to a
military jail and met the Military Prosecutor, [Muhammad Bishtawi] who
heard the whole story from me. I thought he would help me, but he beat me,
cursed me and put me in a punishment cell. He was worse then the others. I
became so sick from lack of sleep and the torture, that they brought a
doctor to take care of me. I insisted that I know nothing. Then I was
taken to the Civil Prosecutor. He wrote that I had no connection to the
case.
Why am I still in jail for more than two years since then?!
Please let me return to my family because everything is in your hands, and
I will not forgive you for making me the victim. If you are not
responsible, please help me anyway.
Sarih Hussein Nimer Mahamid
A wronged prisoner,
Central Prison - Jericho
Edited and abridged. The full text appears in the Arabic edition of this
newsletter.
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