The Campaign to Free Ahmad Sa'adat

Amnesty International has issued several statements concerning the case of Ahmad Sa'adat. In 2002, Amnesty demanded Sa'adat's release, and in 2006, Amnesty emphasized its concern for Sa'adat and the other Palestinians kidnapped from Jericho, emphasizing that they must receive fair trials, which they certainly have not. See below:

Israel/Occupied Territories/Palestinian Authority: Ahmad Sa'adat must be released and his safety ensured
Posted: 13 June 2002
Amnesty International

The United Kingdom (UK) and the United States (US) must also ensure that the PA and Israel respect Ahmad Sa'adat's rights. Both countries were involved in concluding the agreement whereby Ahmad Sa'adat was being kept in detention, and are providing a team of observers who are monitoring his detention.

Ahmad Sa'adat, General Secretary of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP), was arrested on 15 January 2002 by the Palestinian General Intelligence Service. He was then transferred to Force 17 (the Palestinian Presidential bodyguard), and held after that in President Arafat's compound in connection with the killing of the Israeli Minister of Tourism, Rehavam Ze'evi, on 17 October 2001. The PFLP has claimed responsibility for the killing. Ahmad Sa'adat was not formally charged with any recognizable criminal offence.

After a petition was brought to the Palestinian High Court of Justice in Gaza calling for the release of Ahmad Sa'adat, the High Court of Justice requested the PA General Intelligence Service to bring evidence against him. The Intelligence Service failed to do so. The High Court then, on 3 June 2002, ordered the immediate release of Ahmad Sa'adat as he had never been charged or brought before a judge. However, the Palestinian Cabinet, on 4 June 2002, while expressing respect for the Court's decision, decided that Ahmad Sa'adat should not be released "due to Israeli threats of assassinating Sa'adat as there was an overt announcement of that by Sharon's spokesman".

The announcement referred to was apparently a statement by Ra'anan Gissin, an Israeli government spokesperson, warning that if "he is not brought to justice, we will bring justice to him. You can't let murderers free." The Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) have previously extrajudicially executed Palestinians suspected of attacks on Israelis and killed Mustafa Zabri (Abu 'Ali Mustafa), the previous General Secretary of the PFLP in Ramallah by a missile from an Apache helicopter on 27 August 2001.

On 29 March, the IDF had attacked the compound of President Yasser Arafat of the PA where Ahmad Sa'adat was being held with five others: Basel al-Asmar, 'Ahed Abu Ghalma, Majdi al-Rimawi and Hamdi Qar'an, accused of having carried out the killing of Rehavam Ze'evi; and Fuad Shubaki, held without charge or trial in connection with the Karine A, a ship allegedly carrying arms to Gaza.

The compound of President Arafat remained under siege by the IDF for a month. During this time the four accused of the murder of Rehavam Ze'evi were tried inside the compound before a special 'field court', after grossly unfair proceedings, and sentenced to up to 18 years' imprisonment. One of the Israeli demands was that the six detained should be handed over to the Israeli authorities. On 1 May the siege was lifted in a deal whereby the six Palestinians detained in the compound were taken to Jericho where they remain detained under the monitoring of UK and US observers.

Both Israel and the PA have held detainees without charge or trial. After pressure from Israel to detain those accused of armed attacks on Israel, the PA has detained members of opposition groups for up to four years without charge or trial. It has also sentenced Palestinians after grossly unfair trials. Amnesty International has frequently raised concerns about such detentions.

On 29 May, President Arafat ratified the basic law which had been passed by the Palestinian Legislative Council in 1996. The Basic Law affirms the independence of the judiciary and recognizes rights of all people living under the jurisdiction of the PA as contained in international human rights treaties such as the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights.

In line with these standards, no one should be held without charge or trial. Anyone suspected of a recognizably criminal offence should be charged and tried fairly. The UK, the US and the international community at large should work to ensure that both the PA and Israel respect international human rights standards.

AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL

Public Statement

AI Index: MDE 15/022/2006 (Public)
News Service No: 066
16 March 2006

Israel/Occupied Territories: Amnesty International concerned about Jericho Prison events and their aftermath

Amnesty International is calling on the Israeli authorities to ensure that all the Palestinians detained after Israel's attack on Jericho prison on 14 March are allowed immediate access to lawyers and their families, and medical treatment if they need it, and are protected against possible torture or ill-treatment. Those held should be afforded due legal process - notably, anyone who is not charged with a recognizably criminal offence and promptly brought to trial should be released, and those who are charged should be brought promptly to trial in proceedings which comply fully with international standards for fair trial.

According to the Israeli army, some 200 Palestinians were detained when Israeli forces attacked the Palestinian Authority-run (PA) prison in the West Bank town of Jericho following the withdrawal of US and UK guards, though there has been no independent verification of the number of those detained. The army said it would keep in custody those whom it classified as “wanted” and free the rest.

Those now being held by the Israeli army include the six men who, Israeli official sources said, were the key target of their attack on the prison. These are Ahmad Saadat, the leader of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP), and four PFLP members (Majid al-Rimawi, Hamdi Qar’an, Ahed Abu Ghalmiyeh and Basel al-Asma), as well as senior Fatah official, Fuad Shubaki. All six had been arbitrarily detained by the PA since 2002 under the supervision of US and UK guards.

Ahmad Saadat and his four co-detainees were arrested by the PA at Israel’s request in early 2002, following the murder of former Israeli Minister of Tourism Rehevam Ze’evi in October 2001. The PFLP claimed responsibility for the murder and said it was committed in reprisal for the assassination by Israeli forces of PFLP leader Abu Ali Mustafa in August 2001. Fuad Shubaki, who was arrested by the PA in early 2002, was accused of involvement in the well known “Karine A” case of arms smuggling into the Gaza Strip in January 2002.

Neither Ahmad Saadat nor Fuad Shubaki were ever charged with any offence by the PA or brought to trial. In 2003 the Palestinian Supreme Court ordered their release, but the PA ignored the order and continued to detain them without charge or trial. The four PFLP members were tried before an ad-hoc military court hastily convened by the late PA President Yasser Arafat in April 2002 inside the PA presidential compound, which at the time was under Israeli army siege. They were convicted of involvement in Rehavam Ze’evi’s murder and were sentenced to between one and 18 years’ imprisonment.

The trial of the four violated the most fundamental provisions of internationally recognized fair-trial standards and was carried out as part of a political arrangement to end to the Israeli army siege on the late President Arafat’s compound. An agreement was reached between the PA, Israel and the UK and US according to which the six would be detained in the PA prison in Jericho under the supervision of US and UK guards.

After the announcement of the agreement, Amnesty International delegates visited the detainees at Jericho prison in late April 2002 and the organization repeatedly expressed concern to the PA about their arbitrary detention, calling for Ahmad Saadat and Fuad Shubaki to be tried promptly and fairly or released, and for the other four PFLP prisoners to be re-tried in full compliance with international standards for fair trial. PA officials told Amnesty International in response to its appeals that they were obliged to keep the six in custody because Israel had vowed to assassinate them if they were released.

Amnesty International also raised its concerns with the UK and US governments about their role in supervising detainees held outside any legal framework and in violation of the provisions of international human rights treaties which the UK and US have ratified and have a duty to uphold – notably Articles 9 and 14 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), which guarantee the rights to liberty and fair trial and the corresponding prohibition of arbitrary detention.

Having contributed to perpetuating these violations for the past four years, the UK and the US withdrew their guards from Jericho prison in the morning of 14 March, minutes before the Israeli army attack. Amnesty International is now urging the UK and US governments to ensure that Israeli authorities respect the rights of all those seized from Jericho prison by the Israeli army, that those charged with a recognizably criminal offence are promptly brought to trial in proceedings which comply fully with international standards for fair trial, and that all others are released without further delay.