Israel/OPT
12.07.01
Urgent Interventions
Israel: release of Mr. al-Rahman
Case ISR 060701.1
Follow-up of Case ISR 060701
Geneva, July 12th, 2001
The International Secretariat of OMCT has received new information regarding the following situation in Israel.
New information
The International Secretariat of OMCT has been informed by Al-Haq, a member of the OMCT network, of the release from detention of Mr. Mahammad Ahmed Abd al-Rahman, in Israel.
According to the information received, Mr. al-Rahman was released from the Maskabiya Detention Centre (Russian Compound) in Jerusalem on July 11th, after having been arbitrarily arrested by the Israeli authorities on April 13th, 2001.
Brief reminder of the situation
According to the information received, on April 13th, 2001, 38 year-old Mr. Al-Rahman, a resident of Bethlehem, was arbitrarily arrested by the Israeli authorities as he was leaving for Jordan to work on his studies. Mr. al-Rahman is currently employed by the Al-Quds Open University in Bethlehem, but is working on his doctoral dissertation through Jordan University.
According to the information received, Mr. al-Rahman was being held for the last three months by the Israeli authorities, under the suspicion that he is a member of Islamic Jihad, and he has been accused of carrying letters to and from Islamic Jihad activists in the West Bank and Jordan. Mr. al-Rahman has reportedly appeared before a judge on several occasions, but no evidence has been given and no witnesses have been called upon to testify, and consequently no charges have been brought against Mr. al-Rahman. His lawyers have been informed that he was arrested based on information from intelligence sources, and that he was being held on “secret evidence” that cannot be aired publicly.
Mr. al-Rahman reportedly testified during the hearings to having been subjected to torture during his detention, including extended periods of interrogation while handcuffed to a chair with his hands behind his back. It is thought that the aim of the interrogation was to force him to make false confessions, upon which the prosecution was hoping to base its case against. He had not offered any confession, despite the interrogation, which meant that the court kept remanding him back to prison, with a further court hearing being scheduled. Mr. al-Rahman’s wife was reportedly arrested for two hours, when visiting him during one of the court hearings, in order to further apply pressure on him, causing him to collapse and injure his head. He was also reportedly been held in a collaborator cell for two weeks during his detention, to try to extract a confession from him, but was then transferred to Maskabiya Detention Centre (Russian Compound) in Jerusalem.
Remarks
OMCT wishes to thank all those institutions, organisations and individuals who intervened on the detainees’ behalf.
Geneva, July 12th, 2001
Follow-up of Case ISR 060701
Geneva, July 12th, 2001
The International Secretariat of OMCT has received new information regarding the following situation in Israel.
New information
The International Secretariat of OMCT has been informed by Al-Haq, a member of the OMCT network, of the release from detention of Mr. Mahammad Ahmed Abd al-Rahman, in Israel.
According to the information received, Mr. al-Rahman was released from the Maskabiya Detention Centre (Russian Compound) in Jerusalem on July 11th, after having been arbitrarily arrested by the Israeli authorities on April 13th, 2001.
Brief reminder of the situation
According to the information received, on April 13th, 2001, 38 year-old Mr. Al-Rahman, a resident of Bethlehem, was arbitrarily arrested by the Israeli authorities as he was leaving for Jordan to work on his studies. Mr. al-Rahman is currently employed by the Al-Quds Open University in Bethlehem, but is working on his doctoral dissertation through Jordan University.
According to the information received, Mr. al-Rahman was being held for the last three months by the Israeli authorities, under the suspicion that he is a member of Islamic Jihad, and he has been accused of carrying letters to and from Islamic Jihad activists in the West Bank and Jordan. Mr. al-Rahman has reportedly appeared before a judge on several occasions, but no evidence has been given and no witnesses have been called upon to testify, and consequently no charges have been brought against Mr. al-Rahman. His lawyers have been informed that he was arrested based on information from intelligence sources, and that he was being held on “secret evidence” that cannot be aired publicly.
Mr. al-Rahman reportedly testified during the hearings to having been subjected to torture during his detention, including extended periods of interrogation while handcuffed to a chair with his hands behind his back. It is thought that the aim of the interrogation was to force him to make false confessions, upon which the prosecution was hoping to base its case against. He had not offered any confession, despite the interrogation, which meant that the court kept remanding him back to prison, with a further court hearing being scheduled. Mr. al-Rahman’s wife was reportedly arrested for two hours, when visiting him during one of the court hearings, in order to further apply pressure on him, causing him to collapse and injure his head. He was also reportedly been held in a collaborator cell for two weeks during his detention, to try to extract a confession from him, but was then transferred to Maskabiya Detention Centre (Russian Compound) in Jerusalem.
Remarks
OMCT wishes to thank all those institutions, organisations and individuals who intervened on the detainees’ behalf.
Geneva, July 12th, 2001