"If one of us has committed a crime there is a way to punish him by presenting him to the court. But to detain someone without any specific charge and without trial, and to punish him on the basis of suspicion, this kind of treatment needs to be exposed." - Ahmad Qatamesh

Ahmad Sulayman Musa Qatamesh, from Ramallah, was arrested on 1 September 1992. Upon his arrest, Ahmad was placed in interrogation for a period of two months, and reported torture and ill-treatment.

On 22 November 1992, he was formally charged on four counts: providing services for an illegal organization; possession of hostile material; refusal to give fingerprints; and forgery of documents issued by the military authorities (an ID card). On 3 December 1992, an administrative detention order was issued against Ahmad Qatamesh and was pending in his file, until the outcome of the trial, which was repeatedly postponed.

At a trial session on 14 October 1993, the judge ordered that Ahmad Qatamesh be released on bail arguing that the prosecutor had failed to provide evidence against him justifying his continued detention. The prosecution appealed, and was given 72 hours to present evidence against him. The decision to release him on bail was then confirmed on 20 October 1993. At that time, the Israeli military authorities decided to place Ahmad Qatamesh under administrative detention for six months.

Ahmad Qatamesh reported that the general prosecutor offered to release him if he publicly supported the Middle East peace process, but that if he opposed the talks he would stay in jail until after the self-rule arrangements were implemented. The file on the original charges against him is now closed.

"I've been in prison for four or five years, and I'm the longest administrative detainee. I would not mention what I went through because it does not differ from the ill-treatment other administrative detainees are subjected to,” stated Qattamesh during his detention. "The pressure I was subjected to did not stop: they prevented my wife from visiting me for months in late 1993, and in the last four months they prevented her again, claiming that she is not my wife, and my seven year old daughter... she might be a threat to their security! These restrictions are aimed to punish my wife, because she continued campaigning and lobbying the media and meeting members of the Knesset [Israeli parliament] to highlight my case."

One of the most painful features of administrative detention is the ability of the Israeli authorities to renew and extend a detention order arbitrarily. The detainees and their families all know when the current order will expire, but cannot know when they will be released. This form of indefinite imprisonment violates the basic human rights of the prisoners and their families.

Above: Haneen, Ahmad's daughter (center) celebrating her birthday on 4 September 1997. Her father was arrested three days before her birthday in 1992, which makes this time of year a painful time. Suha, Ahmad's wife once said, "Every birthday Haneen asks me if her father will be at her birthday next year. My answer to her is always that I just don't know."

Ahmad Qatamesh 's administrative detention order has now been consecutively renewed twelve times. The most recent renewal took place in April 1998, for a period of six months. His appeals against the administrative detention orders were all rejected and the Israeli High Court turned down two appeals against the illegal use of administrative detention in his case. Ahmad was finally released, after a total of 5 years and 8 months in detention and interrogation, on 15 April 1998.

The practice of administrative detention in the Occupied Territories violates fundamental human rights. All political prisoners, including those held in administrative detention, must be charged with a recognizable criminal offense and given a fair trial within a reasonable time, or else released. Article 9 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) makes clear that no-one should be subjected to arbitrary detention and that deprivation of liberty must be based on grounds and procedures established by law (para 1). Detainees must be informed at the time of arrest of the reasons for their arrest (para 2). They must also have access to a court empowered to rule without delay on the lawfulness of their detention and order their release if the detention is unlawful (para 4). All these requirements apply to "anyone who is deprived of his liberty by arrest or detention" and therefore apply fully to administrative detainees.

Administrative detention means that the detainee has not been charged with any crime. The detention orders are based on classified information, never revealed to the detainees or their lawyers. There is a possibility of appeal before a military judge, but here too the secret information is not revealed and there is no due process. An administrative detention order can be renewed at will.

Ahmad Qatamesh was freed. Another 250 Palestinians remain in administrative detention. Please support them. Protest now.