9 July 1996
Urgent Action Alert:

"FULL-YEAR DETENTION ORDERED
AGAINST BIRZEIT UNIVERSITY STUDENT
WITHOUT CHARGE OR TRIAL"

from the Public Relations Office

Birzeit--On Thursday, July 4, 1996, Israeli military authorities issued a one-year administrative detention order against Birzeit University student Ahmad Ibrahim Said of Nablus, after subjecting him to 50 days of interrogation in Ashkelon Prison. The issuance of year-long administrative detention orders was only re-permitted in February 1995 (Israeli Military Order 1424). Ahmad is the first Birzeit student since then to be ordered detained for 12 months at one time; other students have been detained by consecutive 5- or 6-month sentences for up to 20 months.

Ahmad was arrested by the Israeli military on 14 May 1996 and held for two days at various checkpoints in the West Bank before being transferred into the interrogation section of the Ashkelon Prison. During interrogation Ahmad was subjected to sleep deprivation, position abuse, and prolonged isolation. Ahmad is now being detained in the Megiddo Prison.

Administrative detention is imprisonment without trial, by order of an Israeli military officer. It is not considered a sentence for a crime committed, rather a preventative measure against a "suspected individual". According to Israeli military law in the occupied Palestinian territories, each detention order may sentence a person to up to 12 months in prison. There is no limit on how many orders may be issued against one person.

Administrative detention stands in direct violation of basic tenants of international human rights. Article 9 of the International Bill of Human Rights declares, "No one shall be subjected to arbitrary arrest, detention, or exile." Article 10 continues, "Everyone is entitled in full equality to a fair and public hearing by an independent and impartial tribunal, in the determination of his rights and obligations and of any criminal charge against him."

Eight Birzeit University students, including Ahmad, are currently detained in Megiddo Prison in the lower Galilee. The location of the prison--inside Israel--makes family visits extremely difficult.

[ENDS]