Israel/OPT
08.09.04
Urgent Interventions
Israel: incommunicado detention and torture of Mr. Bahij Mohammed Mahmud Bader
Case ISR 080904
Arrest / Incommunicado detention / 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 torture of Mr. Bahij Mohammed Mahmud Bader.
According to the information received, Mr. Bahij Mohammed Mahmud Bader, a 30-year-old resident of Ramallah, married and father of 3 children, was arrested at his home at 3:00 am on 27 July 2004. He is since then being held at the General Security Service (GSS) Interrogation Unit at the Russian Compound Detention Center in Jerusalem.
An Order Prohibiting Meeting with Counsel valid through 22 August 2004 was reportedly issued against Mr. Bader. His family appointed Attorney Husam Younis to represent him but, because of the Order, he was unable to meet with his client. On 17 August 2004, 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 asking whether any physical or psychological pressure was being used against Mr. Bader. No answer was received prior to the submission of the petition to the High Court of Justice.
That same day, Attorney Enas Younis, representing PCATI, reportedly filed an urgent petition to the High Court of Justice on behalf of Mr. Bader demanding that the Order Prohibiting Meeting with Counsel be lifted and that Mr. Bader be allowed to meet with his counsel. (HCJ 7633/04 Bahij Mohammed Mahmud Bader vs. the Minister of Defense and the General Security Service). His petition was rejected on 19 August 2004.
The Order Prohibiting Meeting with Counsel was reportedly lifted on 25 August 2004 and Attorney Daoud Sholdi from the office of Attorney Younis was able to meet with Mr. Bader at the Russian Compound Detention Center on 29 August 2004. He collected a sworn affidavit from Mr. Bader, which stated that he had been tortured during his interrogation.
The victim was allegedly interrogated for five consecutive days from morning until evening and was subjected to sleep deprivation (maximum three hours of sleep a day). Interrogation methods included: standing for hours facing the wall with his hands bound and his legs bent (a position that caused him severe pain in his back), interrogators slapping him so hard that his tooth broke, and being forced to sit on a small chair with his hands and feet bound and his body bent. Furthermore, his mother and wife were detained and interrogators threatened to arrest the whole family and to demolish his home if he did not confess.
The International Secretariat of OMCT is gravely concerned for the physical and psychological integrity of Mr. Bader, given the reported ill-treatment and torture to which he has been subjected. OMCT calls upon the Israeli authorities to guarantee the personal integrity of Mr. Bader, and to immediately release him in the absence of legal charges that are consistent with international law and standards. Furthermore, OMCT reiterates its grave concern over the use of incommunicado detention by the Israeli authorities, through the issuing of Orders Prohibiting Meeting with Counsel, as this represents a violation of the detainees’ rights under international law.
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. Bahij Mohammed Mahmud Bader and his family;
ii. guarantee that he is granted regular and adequate access to legal representation and family visits;
iii. order his immediate release 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;
iv. order a thorough and impartial investigation into the circumstances of these events, notably the allegations of torture, in order to identify those responsible, bring them to trial and apply the penal and/or administrative sanctions as provided by law;
v. 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
Geneva, 8 September 2004
Kindly inform us of any action undertaken quoting the code of this appeal in your reply.
Arrest / Incommunicado detention / 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 torture of Mr. Bahij Mohammed Mahmud Bader.
According to the information received, Mr. Bahij Mohammed Mahmud Bader, a 30-year-old resident of Ramallah, married and father of 3 children, was arrested at his home at 3:00 am on 27 July 2004. He is since then being held at the General Security Service (GSS) Interrogation Unit at the Russian Compound Detention Center in Jerusalem.
An Order Prohibiting Meeting with Counsel valid through 22 August 2004 was reportedly issued against Mr. Bader. His family appointed Attorney Husam Younis to represent him but, because of the Order, he was unable to meet with his client. On 17 August 2004, 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 asking whether any physical or psychological pressure was being used against Mr. Bader. No answer was received prior to the submission of the petition to the High Court of Justice.
That same day, Attorney Enas Younis, representing PCATI, reportedly filed an urgent petition to the High Court of Justice on behalf of Mr. Bader demanding that the Order Prohibiting Meeting with Counsel be lifted and that Mr. Bader be allowed to meet with his counsel. (HCJ 7633/04 Bahij Mohammed Mahmud Bader vs. the Minister of Defense and the General Security Service). His petition was rejected on 19 August 2004.
The Order Prohibiting Meeting with Counsel was reportedly lifted on 25 August 2004 and Attorney Daoud Sholdi from the office of Attorney Younis was able to meet with Mr. Bader at the Russian Compound Detention Center on 29 August 2004. He collected a sworn affidavit from Mr. Bader, which stated that he had been tortured during his interrogation.
The victim was allegedly interrogated for five consecutive days from morning until evening and was subjected to sleep deprivation (maximum three hours of sleep a day). Interrogation methods included: standing for hours facing the wall with his hands bound and his legs bent (a position that caused him severe pain in his back), interrogators slapping him so hard that his tooth broke, and being forced to sit on a small chair with his hands and feet bound and his body bent. Furthermore, his mother and wife were detained and interrogators threatened to arrest the whole family and to demolish his home if he did not confess.
The International Secretariat of OMCT is gravely concerned for the physical and psychological integrity of Mr. Bader, given the reported ill-treatment and torture to which he has been subjected. OMCT calls upon the Israeli authorities to guarantee the personal integrity of Mr. Bader, and to immediately release him in the absence of legal charges that are consistent with international law and standards. Furthermore, OMCT reiterates its grave concern over the use of incommunicado detention by the Israeli authorities, through the issuing of Orders Prohibiting Meeting with Counsel, as this represents a violation of the detainees’ rights under international law.
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. Bahij Mohammed Mahmud Bader and his family;
ii. guarantee that he is granted regular and adequate access to legal representation and family visits;
iii. order his immediate release 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;
iv. order a thorough and impartial investigation into the circumstances of these events, notably the allegations of torture, in order to identify those responsible, bring them to trial and apply the penal and/or administrative sanctions as provided by law;
v. 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, 8 September 2004
Kindly inform us of any action undertaken quoting the code of this appeal in your reply.