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Al-Haq calls upon the International Community to demand the release of Mohammad Ahmed
Abd al-Rahman from detention in Israeli prison. Al-Rahman (38) is a resident of Bethlehem, and
is married with six children. He is currently employed at the Al-Quds Open University of
Bethlehem and is working on his doctoral dissertation through Jordan University. He was
arrested on April 13, 2001 as he was leaving for Jordan to work on his studies.
According to information gathered by al-Haq from al-Rahmans lawyer, the Israeli authorities are
holding him under the suspicion that he is a member of Islamic Jihad. He has been formally
accused of carrying letters to and from Islamic Jihad activists in the West Bank and Jordan.
Al-Rahman has appeared before a judge on numerous occasions since his arrest. There has been
no evidence presented in any of these instances, and no witnesses have been called.
Al-Rahman has testified to being interrogated for extended periods while handcuffed to a chair with his hands
behind his back during his time in prison. However, he has not offered any confession. Due to
the lack of evidence presented against him and his own unwillingness to confess no charges
have been brought against him, but in each instance in which he has appeared before a judge he
has been remanded back to prison and a new court date is set. His lawyers have been told that
he was arrested based on information from intelligence sources, and that he is being held on
secret evidence that cannot be aired publicly.
During one of his appearances before the court, his wife, who had come to visit him, was arrested
for two hours. The stress of his wifes arrest combined with the difficulties of his own situation
caused him to collapse and strike his head on the wall causing moderate injury. For two weeks
he was kept in a collaborator cell in an attempt to get him to confess, and he has now been
transferred to the Moskabiya Detention Center (Russian Compound) in Jerusalem.
Al-Rahman has now been imprisoned for almost three months without having formal brought
against him. Mr. Al-Rahmans case is but one example of the fate of many Palestinians who have
been arbitrarily detained through court proceedings lacking in due process or through
administrative detention orders. Israeli laws and regulations legalize arbitrary detention in several
ways:
- The laws do not allow challenges to the lawfulness of detention, or for release if a detention is
illegal - They allow incommunicado detention, delays in charging a detainee, and delays in bringing him
or her before a judge.
- Interrogation by the Israeli intelligence system is systematically carried out without prisoners
being afforded the presence of an attorney. It is often carried out over extended periods of time
and in many cases prisoners are bound or handcuffed throughout the proceedings. These
methods are used in order to extract a confession based on the presumption that the detainee is
guilty.
- The 1945 British (Defense) Emergency Regulations which were revoked prior to the end of the
British Mandate have been improperly reinstated by the Israeli authorities and permit the lengthy
detention of persons, whom the military wishes to confine but whose alleged guilt it is unable to
prove in a public court of law, without charge or trial.
Since al-Haq was founded, evidence has been gathered by its fieldworkers and lawyers
concerning thousands of arbitrary and illegal detentions carried out by the Israeli authorities.
Following the outbreak of the current intifada the Israeli government began to intensify its use of
administrative detention and arbitrary arrest.
Al-Rahman has now spent three months arbitrarily detained in prison without evidence ever
having been presented against him. Al-Haq believes that al-Rahman is now at risk of being
administratively detained. Al-Haq therefore asks the International community, international human
rights organizations, and concerned individuals to take action and demand the immediate release
of Mr. al-Rahman. We also ask that the International community demand that Israel respect
Palestinians right to a fair trial, and request that they exert efforts aimed at ensuring that
international humanitarian law and human rights standards are enforced in the Occupied
Territories. |