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The Palestinian Human
Rights Monitoring Group (PHRMG) is proud to announce that
the High Court of Justice ruled on 9 December 2000 in favor
of a petition presented by the organization in the name of
Farouk Salameh Abu-Hassan. The Court decided "[to
issue] a decisive order for the unconditional release of the
petitioner, and [to commit] the petitioned to compensate the
petitioner because he unlawfully used power in detaining the
petitioner for six years".
A father of three,
Farouk Abu Hassan was arrested on 8 November 1994 by the
Military Intelligence, a security force headed by Musa
Arafat, on suspicion of collaboration. In 1981, while
serving a 13-years prison sentence in Israel for belonging
to the PFLP, he had managed to smuggle a letter out of the
prison to congratulate Egyptian President Anwar Sadat for
the peace agreement between Israel and Egypt. The letter,
also signed by four other inmates, emphasized Abu Hassan's
faith in peace negotiations. It was warmly received by the
Egyptian authorities, which publicized it widely. But to
most of the Palestinians at that time, Sadat's gesture
equated to treason of their struggle.
13 years later, as the
Palestinian Authority was established and the peace process
was under way, Abu Hassan was summoned by the Military
Intelligence and questioned about the letter. He has been
detained ever since, without having ever been brought to
trial. The Palestinian Human Rights Monitoring Group has
long attempted to find a lawyer willing to take his case.
Abdel-Raouf al-Halabi and Nizam Owida have finally decided
to accept the challenge, and the PHRMG wishes to extend its
warm gratitude to these two lawyers. The High Court's
decision is a tribute to their work.
The next step will be
for this decision to be implemented. The PHRMG calls upon
the Military Intelligence to accept the decision of the High
Court and to release Farouk Salameh Abu-Hassan from Gaza
central prison. Unfortunately, in the Palestinian Authority,
such authoritative decisions are not automatically
implemented. So far, in the year 2000, the High Courts in
Gaza and the West Bank have issued 17 decisions to release
unlawfully detained prisoners, but only 3 decisions have
actually been carried out. The PHRMG will continue to
monitor this case and will keep you informed of any further
developments.
Please contact the
PHRMG for further information. Tel: +972-2-582 3372/3, Fax:
+972-2-582 3385, Email: admin@phrmg.org
Mireille Widmer
Public relations officer PHRMG |
