Israel/OPT
01.04.05
Urgent Interventions
Israel: Arbitrary arrest and ill-treatment of Mr. Mohammed Issa Hamadan Kawazbeh
Case ISR 010405
Arrest / Incommunicado detention / Ill-treatment / Torture
The International Secretariat of OMCT requests your URGENT intervention in the following situation in Israel.
Brief description of the situation
The International Secretariat of OMCT has been informed by the Public Committee Against Torture in Israel (PCATI), a member of the OMCT network, of the arrest, incommunicado detention and ill-treatment of Mr. Mohammed Issa Hamadan Kawazbeh, 26 years old, currently held at the Russian Compound Detention Centre in Jerusalem.
According to the information received, Mr Kawazbeh- married and father of three children- was arrested at his home in Tekoa, Bethlehem, on 24 December 2004. He was brought to the Etzion Detention Centre where he was held for 11 days before he was transferred to the GSS Interrogation Unit at the Russian Compound Detention Center.
An Order Prohibiting Meeting with Counsel valid through 16 January 2005 was imposed against Mr Kawazbeh on 10 January. Mr Kawazbeh’s family appointed Attorney Enas Younis to represent Mr. Kawazbeh, but because of the above order, Attorney Younis was unable to meet with her client. On 10 January 2005, Attorney Younis submitted a pre-petition letter to the State Attorney’s office asking that the Order Prohibiting Meeting with Counsel be immediately lifted and inquiring whether any physical or psychological pressure was being used against Mr. Kawazbeh. No answer was received.
Representing PCATI, on 11 January Attorney Younis filed an urgent petition to the High Court of Justice on behalf of Mr. Kawazbeh demanding that the Order Prohibiting Meeting with Counsel be lifted and that Mr. Kawazbeh be allowed to meet with counsel. On 13 January the above petition was withdrawn after Attorney Gilad Shirman of the State’s Attorney’s Office informed Attorney Younis on 11 January that she may meet with Mr. Kawazbeh on the 13th .
According to the information received, in a sworn affidavit given by Mr. Kawazbeh to Attorney Mamoun Hashim at the Russian Compound Detention Centre, Mr. Kawazbeh has stated that during the first three days of his interrogation he was not allowed to sleep and that he was bound by hands and feet to his chair the whole time. He has also claimed the interrogators threatened to bring his wife in for interrogation and to arrest his parents. One of the interrogators reportedly slapped Mr. Kawazbeh in the face and swore at him. Furthermore, Mr. Kawazbeh has added that he is suffering from a backache due to the terrible detention conditions in the solitary cell in which he was held.
Mr. Mohammed Issa Hamadan Kawazbeh is still being held at the Russian Compound Centre in Jerusalem.
The International Secretariat of OMCT is gravely concerned for the physical and psychological integrity of Mr. Kawazbeh and by the use of incommunicado detention by Israeli authorities, through the issuing of Orders Prohibiting Meeting with Counsel, a violation of the detainee’s rights under international law, as well as the ill-treatment and torture which the detainee has been subjected to during this period.
Action requested
Please write to the authorities in Israel urging them to:
i. take all necessary measures to guarantee the physical and psychological integrity of Mr. Kawazbeh;
ii. order the immediate release of Mr. Kawazbeh in the absence of valid legal charges, and if such charges exist, to ensure that he is given a prompt and fair trial, in which his procedural rights are guaranteed at all times;
iii. order a thorough and impartial investigation into the circumstances of these events, notably the allegations of ill-treatment and torture of Mr. Kawazbeh, in order to identify those responsible, bring them to trial and apply the penal and/or administrative sanctions as provided by law;
iv. guarantee the respect of human rights and the fundamental freedoms throughout the country and the Occupied Territories in accordance with international human rights standards.
Addresses
Please also write to the embassies of Israel in your respective country.
Geneva, 01 April 2005
Kindly inform us of any action undertaken quoting the code of this appeal in your reply.
Arrest / Incommunicado detention / Ill-treatment / Torture
The International Secretariat of OMCT requests your URGENT intervention in the following situation in Israel.
Brief description of the situation
The International Secretariat of OMCT has been informed by the Public Committee Against Torture in Israel (PCATI), a member of the OMCT network, of the arrest, incommunicado detention and ill-treatment of Mr. Mohammed Issa Hamadan Kawazbeh, 26 years old, currently held at the Russian Compound Detention Centre in Jerusalem.
According to the information received, Mr Kawazbeh- married and father of three children- was arrested at his home in Tekoa, Bethlehem, on 24 December 2004. He was brought to the Etzion Detention Centre where he was held for 11 days before he was transferred to the GSS Interrogation Unit at the Russian Compound Detention Center.
An Order Prohibiting Meeting with Counsel valid through 16 January 2005 was imposed against Mr Kawazbeh on 10 January. Mr Kawazbeh’s family appointed Attorney Enas Younis to represent Mr. Kawazbeh, but because of the above order, Attorney Younis was unable to meet with her client. On 10 January 2005, Attorney Younis submitted a pre-petition letter to the State Attorney’s office asking that the Order Prohibiting Meeting with Counsel be immediately lifted and inquiring whether any physical or psychological pressure was being used against Mr. Kawazbeh. No answer was received.
Representing PCATI, on 11 January Attorney Younis filed an urgent petition to the High Court of Justice on behalf of Mr. Kawazbeh demanding that the Order Prohibiting Meeting with Counsel be lifted and that Mr. Kawazbeh be allowed to meet with counsel. On 13 January the above petition was withdrawn after Attorney Gilad Shirman of the State’s Attorney’s Office informed Attorney Younis on 11 January that she may meet with Mr. Kawazbeh on the 13th .
According to the information received, in a sworn affidavit given by Mr. Kawazbeh to Attorney Mamoun Hashim at the Russian Compound Detention Centre, Mr. Kawazbeh has stated that during the first three days of his interrogation he was not allowed to sleep and that he was bound by hands and feet to his chair the whole time. He has also claimed the interrogators threatened to bring his wife in for interrogation and to arrest his parents. One of the interrogators reportedly slapped Mr. Kawazbeh in the face and swore at him. Furthermore, Mr. Kawazbeh has added that he is suffering from a backache due to the terrible detention conditions in the solitary cell in which he was held.
Mr. Mohammed Issa Hamadan Kawazbeh is still being held at the Russian Compound Centre in Jerusalem.
The International Secretariat of OMCT is gravely concerned for the physical and psychological integrity of Mr. Kawazbeh and by the use of incommunicado detention by Israeli authorities, through the issuing of Orders Prohibiting Meeting with Counsel, a violation of the detainee’s rights under international law, as well as the ill-treatment and torture which the detainee has been subjected to during this period.
Action requested
Please write to the authorities in Israel urging them to:
i. take all necessary measures to guarantee the physical and psychological integrity of Mr. Kawazbeh;
ii. order the immediate release of Mr. Kawazbeh in the absence of valid legal charges, and if such charges exist, to ensure that he is given a prompt and fair trial, in which his procedural rights are guaranteed at all times;
iii. order a thorough and impartial investigation into the circumstances of these events, notably the allegations of ill-treatment and torture of Mr. Kawazbeh, in order to identify those responsible, bring them to trial and apply the penal and/or administrative sanctions as provided by law;
iv. guarantee the respect of human rights and the fundamental freedoms throughout the country and the Occupied Territories in accordance with international human rights standards.
Addresses
- Mr. Ariel Sharon, Prime Minister, Office of the Prime Minister, 3 Kaplan Street, PO Box 187, Kiryat Ben-Gurion, Jerusalem 91919, Israel. Fax: + 972 2 651 2631, E-mail: rohm@pmo.gov.il, pm_eng@pmo.gov.il
- Mr. Yosef Lapid, Minister of Justice, 29 Salah Eddin Street, Jerusalem 1010, Israel. Fax : + 972 2 628 8618, E-mail: sar@justice.gov.il
- Ambassador Yaakov Levy, Av. de la Paix 1-3, CH-1202, Genève, Suisse, e-mail: mission-israel@geneva.mfa.gov.il, mission.israel@gva.mfa.gov.il, fax: +4122 716 05 55
Please also write to the embassies of Israel in your respective country.
Geneva, 01 April 2005
Kindly inform us of any action undertaken quoting the code of this appeal in your reply.