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Jerusalem:
22 August, 1998
Imad
Awadallah's Family Under House Siege
PSS members deprived his 5-year-old
daughter from attending the first day at school
Wala',
Imad Awadallah's five year old daughter was deprived from
attending the first day at school on Saturday morning, 22
August, 1998.
She
cried continuously, but the PSS members sent her school bus
away, and told her mother Shifa'a Muhammad Saleh "Um Ahmad,"
that according to orders from high security forces, the
child is forbidden from attending her school that is
connected to the Islamic Charitable Institution in Al-Bireh.
The PSS men, who have placed the house of Imad Awaddalah
under siege since the announcement that he escaped from
prison in Jericho on 15 August 1998, told the mother: "if we
allow Wala' to go to school, we will be imprisoned."
According to a testimony by Um Ahmad, all the residents in
her home are under strict house siege. Imad's brother
Ja'afar, (17), who is now in 10th grade, was also
deprived from attending his school (Al-Bireh al-Jadideh).
Imad's father Isami'l (70), was forbidden from attending the
Friday prayers at the mosque. Shifa'a's mother Nai'meh was
not allowed to visit her daughter and grandchildren. Shifa'a
is not allowed to step outside the house. The food supplies
which her family brings to her are searched carefully before
handed to Shifa'a.
Um
Ahmad added: "we are living in fear, especially at night.
PSS men roam around the house, look through the windows
fiddling their weapons. This worries us a great deal, and we
cannot go to sleep. They searched the house four times after
one in the morning. They used to bring extra security forces
from the police and GI, who were also armed, and they took
pictures of everything in the house, such as the furniture,
and even my kids who were asleep."
She
also added: "one PSS general in charge of the force sieging
our house, threatened to shoot Imad if he does not turn
himself in within two days. I told him that we do not know
his whereabouts, or whether he is still alive. I told him
that he does not call us and we do not him. How can we
possibly call him when we are under siege?
The
Palestinian Human Rights Monitoring Group (PHRMG) calls upon
the PNA to respect human rights. To respect the freedom of
movement, education, and worship rights of Awadallah family.
The PHRMG also asks the PNA to stop the harsh treatment
against the family.
The
PHRMG asks that the house siege be lifted, so that the
peaceful family could continue leading a normal life,
according to the universal declaration of human rights which
the PNA claims to have committed to and applied.
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