arch/ive/ief (2000 - 2005)

Abla Sa'adat placed in administrative detention with 2 other Palestinian women

For Immediate Release
25 January 2003

On the evening of 22 January 2003, Mrs. 'Abla Sa'adat, along with 2 other
Palestinian women, Iman Abu Farra and Fatmeh Zayed, held at Beit El
military detention center, were issued 4 month administrative detention
orders. Addameer's lawyer was able to visit Beit El on Thursday evening,
when he was informed of the administrative detention orders for the three
women. Mrs. Sa'adat also informed the lawyer that if they were not
transferred to adequate detention facilities, they would begin an
open-ended hunger strike. There is no information on their current
situation as of the time of writing, as visits to detainees are not allowed
during Fridays and Saturdays.

Mrs. Sa'adat was detained while traveling to the World Social Forum in
Brazil as a delegate representing Addameer on 21 January 2003. She was
transferred on the same day in an Israeli military jeep from the Karamah
Border Crossing to Jordan at approximately 4 pm. She was held in the jeep
until 10 pm, with the military authorities refusing to accept her at Beit
El due to a lack of detention facilities for women at the holding
center. Mrs. Sa'adat was placed in an isolation cell, with another female
detainee, without being questioned or interrogated. Her personal
belongings were taken from her, including her mobile phone, address book,
airline ticket to Brazil, and her money.

Mrs. Sa'adat is being held in an isolation cell measuring 2m x 2.5 meters,
with 1 and a half mattresses. The cell is extremely cold, and the female
detainees share a toilet located outside of the cell with male
detainees. She was first allowed to use the toilet and leave her cell when
her lawyer visited her on Thursday, 2 days after her detention. Mrs.
Sa'adat was suffering from diarrhea at the time, causing great discomfort,
and also suffers from a slipped disc and low blood pressure.

Two other female administrative detainees, 24-year-old Iman Ibrahim Abdel
Qader Abu Farra, from Sourif, Hebron, and 23 year old Fatmeh Ibrahim
Mahmoud Zayed, from Yamoun, Jenin, are also being held in Beit El military
detention center. They are both fourth year students at the Religious
Studies College of Al Quds University, Abu Dis. The two roommates were
arrested from their apartment in Im Al Sharayit, a suburb of Ramallah, on
20 January 2003.

Beit El military detention center has no facilities for female detainees,
and the conditions of detention of the three women are inhumane. They are
allowed to go to the toilet only 3 times a day, are not allowed to walk
outside for fresh air, are not allowed a change of clothing and are being
held in cold isolation cells. The only fluids allowed are tap water,
breakfast and dinner consist of a piece of bread with a small tub of
yogurt, and lunch consists of a small plate of rice with beans and a small
piece of meat.

Addameer is concerned that the use of administrative detention against
female Palestinians will become a new trend in Israel's systematic use of
administrative detention as a form of collective punishment. There are
currently over 1,200 Palestinians in administrative detention, living in
inhumane conditions. Since the beginning of the current Intifada, only 2
other women were placed in administrative detention in 2002. Prior to this,
the last female administrative detainee was Itaf Eliyan, who was given 3
months administrative detention in October 1997, and released in January
1998.

Addameer calls on the international community to voice its protest against
Israel's use of administrative detention as a form of collective
punishment, illegal under international law. Addameer also urges the
international community to intervene on behalf of Mrs. 'Abla Sa'adat,
calling for a halt to the detention and harassment of Palestinian human
rights defenders.

Letters of protest should be addressed to the following:

Ariel Sharon
Prime Minister
Office of the Prime Minister, 3 Kaplan Street, P O Box 187, Kiryat
Ben-Gurion, Jerusalem 91919 Fax: +972 2 651 2631
Telex: 25279 MPRES IL
E-mail: rohm@pmo.gov.il

Uzi Landau
Minister of Public Security
Ministry of Public Security (Police), Kiryat Hamemshala, PO Box 18182,
Jerusalem 91181
Fax: +972 2 584 7872

Meir Sheetrit
Minister of Justice
Ministry of Justice, 29 Salah al-Din Street, Jerusalem 91010
Fax: +972 2 628 8618
E-mail: sar@justice.gov.il

Eli Yishai
Minister of the Interior and Deputy Prime Minister
Ministry of Interior, 2 Kaplan Street, PO Box 6158, Kiryat Ben Gurion,
Jerusalem 91061
Fax: +972 2 670 1628
E-mail: sar@moin.gov.il

Elyakim Rubinstein
Attorney-General/Legal
Advisor to the Government
Ministry of Justice, 29 Salah al-Din Street, Jerusalem 91010
Fax: +972 2 628 5438

-end-

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_____________________________________________________
ADDAMEER - Prisoners' Support and Human Rights Association
PO Box: 17338, Jerusalem.
Ramallah, West Bank.
Tel: +972-2-2960446 Fax: +972-2-2960447
E-mail: addameer@planet.edu
URL: http://www.addameer.org/
_____________________________________________________