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UPDATE:
On Monday night 2.7.2001, as the latest extension of Mr.
Al-Ahmar’s detention came to an end, Military Commander
Ariel Peleg, after consultation with the Legal Advisor and
the General Security Services (GSS), ordered a 6 months
administrative detention. Mr. Al-Ahmar will be detained at
the Megiddo detention center. PHRMG and PCATI strongly
protest this latest development. Administrative detention is
a form of lengthy detention without charges or trial that
blatantly violates the right to due process of law. It is a
measure taken without hearing, with no need to present
evidence, and no defense for the detainee. In addition,
administrative detention can be renewed at will for 6 months
at a time. About 13 Palestinians from beyond the Green Line
are currently held under administrative detention. In the
case of Mr. Al-Ahmar, as his latest period of detention came
to an end, the GSS would have needed to present sufficient
evidence to justify a new extension of his detention. PCATI
and PHRMG therefore view the use of administrative detention
as a testimony to the absence of any kind of incriminating
evidence against Mr. Al-Ahmar. Clearly, the GSS felt that
administrative detention was the only way to keep him in
detention. This is simply harassment. BACKGROUND INFORMATION
Mr. Abed Rahman al-Ahmar is a well-known Palestinian human
rights activist, who works as a field researcher with the
Palestinian Human Rights Monitoring Group (PHRMG). Mr.
Al-Ahmar was arrested and beaten by Israeli security forces
on 24.5.2001 and has since been held in detention, first
at Gush Etzion military detention center, and since
Wednesday 30.5.2001 at the Russian Compound detention
center in Jerusalem. On Wednesday, 30.5.2001, Mr. al-Ahmar's
detention was extended by 20 days, without the presence or
the knowledge of Attorney Yossi Schwartz, who represents Mr.
al-Ahmar and had just visited him on 27.5.2001. Attorney
Schwartz filed an appeal of this extension on Monday,
4.6.2001, but the appeal was rejected the following day
(5.6.2001) by the Military Court of Appeals in Beit El, West
Bank. On 10.6.2001, Attorney Allegra Pacheco discovered that
Mr. Al-Ahmar had been tortured, shackled in tight handcuffs
to a slanting chair for the entire day. This method of
torture, known as “shabeh,” was outlawed by the Israeli
Supreme Court on 6 September 1999. The next day, 11.6.2001,
Attorney Pacheco filed a petition with the High Court of
Justice against the torture. The petition was rejected at a
hearing held on 12.6.2001. The court ruled that it could
find no evidence of torture although Mr. Al-Ahmar vomited in
Court and showed the red marks on his wrists to the
justices. On 18.6.2001, after the initial 20-days detention
period of Mr. Al-Ahmar came to an end, another hearing was
held on a further extension of his detention. Attorney
Pacheco was informed of the hearing only a few hours in
advance. After a lot of discussions several observers were
admitted into the courtroom. Although the GSS admitted
holding no incriminating evidence against Mr. Al-Ahmar, the
judge extended his detention by another 15 days. The lawyers
immediately appealed this decision and the appeal was heard
by the Military Court of Appeals in Beit El on 21.6.2001.
The Military Judge initially decided that the GSS did not
provide him with sufficient material to justify a new
extension of Mr. Al-Ahmar’s detention, but nonetheless
decided to grant the GSS more time. Somehow the GSS managed
between the evening of Thursday 21.6.2001 and Friday morning
22.6.2001 to come up with sufficient evidence and present it
to the Court. The appeal was rejected that same day, Friday
22.6.2001. Mr. al-Ahmar was imprisoned several times in the
past, most recently for two and a half years in
administrative detention until his release in 1998. He was
tortured repeatedly by the GSS while detained at the Russian
Compound and, as a result, still suffers from a hiatal
hernia and severe back problems. He sued the GSS for damages
but the decision is still pending. He has been adopted as
a Prisoner of Conscience by Amnesty International.
For further details
please contact: PCATI - Hannah Friedman: Tel.
02-5630073, 056-556442
PHRMG – Bassem Eid:
Tel. 02-5823372, 050-258594 APPEALS TO:
Prime Minister
Ariel Sharon
Office of the Prime Minister
3 Kaplan Street, PO Box 187
Kiryat Ben-Gurion
Jerusalem 91919
Fax: + 972 2 651 2631
Uzi Landau
Minister of Public Security
Ministry of Public Security (Police)
Kiryat Hamemshala
PO Box 18182
Jerusalem 91181
Fax: + 972 2 584 7872
Meir Shetrit
Minister of Justice
Ministry of Justice
29 Salah al-Din Street
Jerusalem 91010
Fax: + 972 2 628 8618
Eli Yishai
Minister of the Interior
Ministry of Interior
2 Kaplan Street
PO Box 6158
Kiryat Ben Gurion
Jerusalem 91061
Fax: + 972 2 670 1628
Elyakim Rubinstein
Attorney-General
Ministry of Justice
29 Salah al-Din Street
Jerusalem 91010
Fax: + 972 2 628 5438
Kindly send copies of
emails, faxes, or other correspondence regarding Mr.
al-Ahmar’s detention to: PHRMG <admin@phrmg.org>
Fax 02-5823385
PCATI pcati@netvision.net.ilFax
02-566 5477
ALL THE COPIES OF
YOUR LETTERS WILL BE KEPT AND GIVEN TO MR. AL-AHMAR AFTER
HIS RELEASE!
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