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forwarded by Maxine Kaufman Nunn
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From:   INTERNET:law@lawsociety.org, INTERNET:law@lawsociety.org
TO:     (unknown), INTERNET:lawemailing@alquds.net
DATE:   26/03/98 05:53

LAW WINS ACQUITTAL FOR NINE ARRESTED IN EL KHADER VILLAGE

THREE RELEASED, SIX REMAIN IN JAIL

26 March 1998

Yesterday, 25 March, after two years of unjust imprisonment, the
Palestinian District Court in Ramallah unconditionally acquitted nine
defendants from El Khader village near Bethlehem of charges of murder.
The Palestinian Military Intelligence arrested the nine in early 1996
on charges of murder, severely tortured them, and refused them legal
counsel for a prolonged period of time. Yesterday the court ordered
the police to release the defendants immediately, but the police have
released only three so far.  The six others have been transferred to
the jail in Bethlehem, where they should be released this afternoon. =


The Military Intelligence arrested the nine in March 1996, where they
were held and tortured until August 1996, when they were transferred
to the regular jail in Jericho.  LAW, while it obtained powers of
attorney from the families of the defendants in July 1996, was refused
permission to visit their clients until their transfer to the police
jail in Jericho in August 1996.  The nine defendants (with their
current ages) are: =

Hussein Ya'acoub Daduah, 37 years old =

Jaffar Ya'acoub Daduah, 27 years old =

* Ahmad Shawqat Salah, 26 years =

* Jaffar Mahmoud Sbeih, 28 =

Ahmad Mahmoud Dar Mussa, 30 years =

Nabil Mahmoud Salah, 26 =

Ali Ahmed Guneim, 26 =

Nassir Khalil Issa, 27 =

* Imad Yussef Mussa, 26

(Those marked with a * were released yesterday.  The rest remain in
jail).

The Military Intelligence held the nine for four months in the
detention center of the Military Intelligence in Bethlehem in
substandard conditions before bringing the case before the Bethlehem
District Attorney. Throughout these four months, they were tortured
through beatings, burning all over the body, tying of hands and feet
in painful positions for prolonged periods, insertion of police batons
into the rectum, and attempted rape.  Eventually all nine were forced
to sign statements confessing to the murder of  seven: five residents
of El Khader, one from Bethlehem and one from Ortas village, and one
attempted murder of a resident of El Khader.

When they were presented to the District Attorney to testify about the
murders, the District Attorney saw that they had been tortured and
ordered Ahmad Mahmoud Dar Mussa immediately to be transferred to the
local hospital.  The medical report shows he had sustained burns over
15% of his body from the torture he had received.  He was released
back into the custody of the Military Intelligence, where the torture
began again for him and the others.  On 10 June 1996, the Attorney
General gave a written order to the Military Intelligence to remand
them to the police jail in Jericho.  The Military Intelligence ignored
this order.  Only after intervention from the Palestinian Attorney
General and the Minister of Justice were they subsequently
transferred, some two months later, to the regular jail.  =


In November, Nassir Khalil Issa was transferred to the hospital in
Bethlehem for medical treatment from injuries sustained from the
torture by the Military Intelligence.  The Military Intelligence
kidnapped him from the hospital and took him back to the Military
Intelligence jail in Bethlehem.  The police interfered on the same
day, re-obtained custody of the defendant, and transferred him back to
the jail in Jericho.

Only after the intervention of LAW and the Palestinian Legislative
Council did the District Attorney's office give the case to the
District Court in Ramallah in May 1997.

The District Court held the first hearing after more than a year of
incarceration.  The court, during the trial sessions, heard evidence
and testimony that contradicted the prosecution's claims of murder. =

In court, the defendants were able to prove, through concrete alibis,
that they were innocent of the charges.  Nabil Mohammed Salah showed
that he had been held in an Israeli prison at the time of the murder
of which he was accused.  Hussein Ya'acoub Daduah showed that he was
at a party for a football team at the time of another murder.  In all,
the nine showed that they could not have participated in the murders
of which they were accused.  The Prosecution had no evidence;
forensic, circumstantial or otherwise, except for the confessions
obtained under torture.

Finally, on 25 March, in a 73-page decision, the District Court ruled
that the confessions acquired through torture were inadmissible in the
court, acquitted all nine of all the charges against them, and ordered
their immediate release.

LAW commends the decision of the District Court, and condemns the
illegal arrest and the long period of incarceration of the nine
defendants.  LAW also totally condemns the use of torture in the
prisons of the PNA security services.  The court decision implicitly
requires the PNA immediately to abolish the illegal practices of the
security organizations, and that their work must be regulated
according to the rule of law.
________________________________________________
LAW - The Palestinian Society for the Protection of Human Rights and
the Environment is a non-governmental organization, dedicated to
preserving human rights through legal advocacy.  LAW is also an
affiliate member of the Paris-based International Federation for Human
Rights.

LAW - the Palestinian Society for the Protection of Human Rights =

and the Environment
PO Box 20873
Jerusalem, via Israel
Tel: (972) (2) 5812364/5824559
Fax: (972) (2) 5811072
email: law@lawsociety.org
web site: http://www.lawsociety.org/