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Follow up on PHRMG and PCATI Urgent
Action Appeal Concerning Palestinian Human Rights Activist
Abed Rahman al-Ahmar .
Next hearing on November 5
UPDATE:
Abed al-Ahmar is still held under administrative
detention without charge or trial at Megiddo Detention
Center. A hearing on his case is scheduled on 5.11.2001 at
the Military Court in Megiddo, to decide on whether to
extend the detention. As this deadline approaches, we call
on all our friends and supporters to renew their pressure
and write to the Israeli Authorities on Abed’s behalf. You
can copy and paste the sample letter below, or write your
own letter. Thank you for your support!
[Sample letter]
Dear Sir:
I demand that Abed Rahman al-Ahmar be released from
administrative detention. There is no justification for the
detention of any person without charges, let alone for so
many months, and a new extension of this detention would be
an outrage. Administrative detention should not be used as a
substitute for evidence admissible at trial; nor can it be
used as a collective and general punishment for political
instability in the region. Keeping Palestinians in detention
for months without charges will not promote justice and
harmony for the two communities. The continuing detention of
Abed al-Ahmar and others in prison without trial or charges
reflects the weakness and insecurity of the Israeli
Government, its loss of control and its need to resort to
illegal and unjust measures to sustain the occupation. End
administrative detention! Free Abed al-Ahmar now!
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 represented 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 torture method,
known as “shabeh,” was outlawed by the Israeli Supreme Court
on 6 September 1999. The next day, 11.6.2001, Attorney
Pacheco, in the name of Mr. Al-Ahmar, the Public Committee
Against Torture in Israel (PCATI) and the Palestinian Human
Rights Monitoring Group (PHRMG), filed a petition with the
High Court against the torture, but the petition was
rejected in a hearing held on 12.6.2001. Although Mr. Al-Ahmar
vomited in Court and showed the red marks on his wrists to
the justices, the court ruled that it could find no evidence
of torture.
On 18.6.2001, the initial 20-days interrogation period of
Mr. Al-Ahmar came to an end and the judge extended his
detention for 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.
On Monday night 2.7.2001, as the latest extension of Mr. Al-Ahmar’s
detention came to an end, the Military Commander ordered a 6
months administrative detention, thereby saving the GSS from
having to present new evidence against him. Mr. Al-Ahmar was
immediately transferred to Megiddo Detention Center. This
decision was upheld by the Military Court on 15 July, 22
August and 10 October 2001, although no new evidence seems
to have been presented by the GSS.
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 now 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
Write to Abed to express your support:
Abed al-Rahman al-Ahmar
Administrative Detainee
Megiddo Prison
Military Mail 02287
Protest Abed’s administrative detention:
Chief Military Attorney
Brigadier Menahem Finkelstein
Lishkat HaPatzar
HaKirya, Tel Aviv
Fax: +972 -3- 569-2094
Elyiakim Rubinstein
Attorney-General
Minsitry of Justice
29 Salah ad-Din Street
Jerusalem 91010
Fax: +972-2-628 5438
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
Meir Shetrit
Minister of Justice
Ministry of Justice
29 Salah al-Din Street
Jerusalem 91010
Fax: + 972 2 628 8618
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.il> Fax 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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