The Observatory for the Protection of Human Rights Defenders, a joint programme of the World Organisation Against Torture (OMCT) and the International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH), has received new information and requests your urgent intervention in the following situation in Israel.
New information:
According to the information received, on September 13, 2006, a third administrative detention order was issued against Mr. Hassan Zaga for an additional four months. Since his arrest, on January 11, 2006, Mr. Zaga has been held at the Ketziot Detention Centre for “endangering the security of the region”, without being informed of the grounds for his detention (See background information).
On September 20, 2006, at the end of a hearing on the extension of Mr. Zaga’s administrative detention, the judge of the Ofer Military Court however decided on a “substantive” reduction of Mr. Zaga’s administrative detention to a period of two months, as the General Security Service (GSS) seemed to have no new evidence on which to base this extension. As a consequence, Mr. Zaga is now due to be released on November 15, 2006. The fact that Mr. Zaga’s detention was “substantively” reduced means that an additional administrative detention order may not be imposed against Mr. Zaga on the basis of existing evidence.
The Observatory expresses its deepest concern regarding Mr. Zaga’s detention, since, according to the Israeli law, the status of administrative detention denies all civil and political rights to detainees. Therefore, the authorities do not have to charge the prisoner, nor to bring him to trial.
The Observatory considers that Mr. Zaga’s detention is in flagrant violation of article 9 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, to which Israel is party, which states that “anyone who is arrested shall be informed, at the time of arrest, of the reasons of his arrest and shall be promptly informed of any charges against him”. It also contravenes the provisions of the UN Declaration on Human Rights Defenders, adopted by the General Assembly on December 9, 1998, which guarantees every person’s right “to promote and to strive for the protection and realisation of human rights and fundamental freedoms at the national and international levels” (article 1).
Background information:
On January 11, 2006, Mr. Hassan Mustafa Zaga, also the legal coordinator for the northern West Bank of the Palestinian organisation “Ansar Asajeen”, which provides legal aid to Palestinian prisoners, was arrested by the Israeli Defence Forces (IDF) at a checkpoint between Nablus and Tul Karem in the Occupied Palestinian Territories, and taken to the Hawarah military detention centre near Nablus. During a meeting with his lawyer, Mr. Zaga stated that he had been beaten by IDF agents at the time of his arrest.
As a field researcher, Mr. Zaga collected medical information for PCATI and investigated into complaints of human rights violations perpetrated by Israeli security forces against Palestinians.
On January 17, 2006, a six-month detention order was issued against him by the IDF Regional Commander, for “endangering the security of the region”.
In a letter dated January 23, 2006, the IDF military prosecutor justified Mr. Zaga’s administrative detention because of “his membership in Hamas, his international activism and the funding of various Hamas activities in the city of Nablus and its surroundings”. The prosecutor stressed that he could not reveal the evidence supporting these charges.
On February 2, 2006, the Ofer Military Court confirmed Mr. Zaga’s administrative detention, but reduced it to four months’ detention, which was then due to end on May 17, 2006.
On May 22, 2006, the Ketziot Military Court upheld the decision, issued by the GSS, to extend the administrative detention of Mr. Zaga for an additional four months. This second administrative detention order was also based on the fact that Mr. Zaga would “endanger the security of the region”. Mr. Zaga was not given the opportunity to deny or refute the charges brought against him.
Attorneys Habib Labib and Eliahu Abram submitted a petition to the High Court of Justice against Mr. Zaga’s second administrative detention order. The petition was based, among other things, on the fact that Mr. Zaga was not interrogated at all and was not given the opportunity to respond to any charges brought against him. This petition led to a police interrogation of Mr. Zaga on the eve of the scheduled hearing at the High Court of Justice on August 21, 2006. In the statement given by Mr. Zaga to the police, he detailed his work in the field of human rights and denied belonging to the Hamas or taking part in its activities. The petition was withdrawn on the recommendation of the High Court of Justice after the judges saw the “confidential evidence” from the GSS against Mr. Zaga.
Action requested:
Please write to the authorities in Israel, urging them to :
i. guarantee in all circumstances the physical and psychological integrity of Mr. Hassan Mustafa Zaga, and in particular ensure that Mr. Zaga be not subjected to torture or other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment during his detention;
ii. order the immediate and unconditional release of Mr. Hassan Zaga, since his detention is arbitrary;
iii. comply with the provisions of the UN Declaration on Human Rights Defenders, in particular its above-mentioned article 1, and article 12(2), which provides that “the State shall take all necessary measures to ensure the protection by the competent authorities of everyone, individually or in association with others, against any violence, threats, retaliation, de facto or de jure adverse discrimination, pressure or any other arbitrary action as a consequence of his or her legitimate exercise of the rights referred to in the present Declaration” and article 1 mentioned above;
iv. more generally, ensure in all circumstances the respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms throughout the country and the Occupied Palestinian Territories in accordance with international human rights instruments ratified by Israel, including the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and the UN Convention Against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment.
Addresses:
Mr. Ehud Olmert, Acting 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. Tzipi Livni, Minister of Justice, Fax: + 972 2 628 7757; + 972 2 628 8618
Mr. Yair Lotstein, Legal Advisor to the Israeli Army in the West Bank, Fax: 972 2 997 7326
Mr. Menahem Mazuz, Attorney General, Fax: + 972 2 627 4481; + 972 2 628 5438; + 972 2 530 3367
President of the Appeal Court for Administrative Issues Shlomi Kochav Administrative Court Section Ofer, Fax: +972 (0)2 588 44 45
Ambassador Itzhak Levanon, Permanent Mission of Israel to the United Nations in Geneva, Avenue de la Paix 1-3, CH-1202, Geneva, Switzerland, E-mail: mission-israel@geneva.mfa.gov.il, Fax: +41 22 716 05 55
Ambassador Stefan Gohanneson, Embassy of Israel in Brussels, 40 avenue de l’Observatoire, 1180 Uccle, Belgium, Fax: + 32 2 373 56 17, Email: brussels@israel.org
Please also write to the diplomatic mission or embassy of Israel in your respective country.
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Geneva - Paris, September 27, 2006
Kindly inform us of any action undertaken quoting the code of this appeal in your reply.
The Observatory, a FIDH and OMCT venture, is dedicated to the protection of Human Rights Defenders and aims to offer them concrete support in their time of need. The Observatory was the winner of the 1998 Human Rights Prize of the French Republic.
To contact the Observatory, call the emergency line:
E-mail: Appeals@fidh-omct.org
Tel and fax FIDH + 33 (0) 1 43 55 20 11 / +33 1 43 55 18 80
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