Jordan
02.03.01
Urgent Interventions
Jordan: 7 members of anti-normalization committee released on bail
Case JOR 300101.1
Follow-up to Case JOR 300101
Geneva, 2 March 2001.
The International Secretariat of OMCT requests your URGENT intervention in the following situation in Jordan.
New Information
The International Secretariat of OMCT has received information from a reliable source that all seven members of the Anti-Normalization Committee of the Union of Professional Associations have been released on bail.
Brief reminder of the situation
The International Secretariat of OMCT was informed that seven members of the Anti-Normalization Committee of the Union of Professional Associations (anti-normalization with Israel), were arrested on January 27th 2001.
Those arrested are:
1) Ali Abu Sukar, an engineer, the head of the Anti-Normalization Committee
2) Muhammad Abu Jbara, an attorney
3) Ahmad Armouti, a surgeon
4) Abdul Rahim Barakat, an agronomist
5) Issam Abu Farha, an engineer (needs special medicine for his blood-sugar level)
6) Subhi abu Zaghlan, an engineer
7) Ghassan Doughar, an engineer
It is reported that early in the morning of January 27, 2001, around 2 am, the houses of some of the members of the Anti-Normalization Committee of the Union of Professional Associations were simultaneously overrun by security troops. Seven members of the Anti-Normalization Committee, including the head of the Committee, were then arrested. This came on the heels of the Committee’s publication of a second list of Jordanian and Palestinian normalizers including the names of some of the top government officials like Fayez Taraouneh, the Chief of Staff of the Royal Court, and others. The house of Ali Hattar, another member of the Anti-Normalization Committee, was also raided, but he was in Iraq at the time attending a conference.
All eight houses were attacked the same way. Around quarter till two in the morning, large trucks would download about fifty security personnel and swat teams wearing black masks (that only show their eyes and mouths), bullet-proof vests, and helmets. They would enter the houses with an official search warrant carrying the accusation of ‘organizing illegally’. Aiming machine guns at the residents of the house, they would then go directly to the main bedroom in the house were they would place leaflets carrying the signature of the Jordanian Islamic Jihad Resistance Movement and a small black bag by hand in front of the residents of the house. The “intelligence” officer in charge would pull a pair of scissors out of his pocket. He would proceed to cut the bag open. A tiny red ribbon would appear. A masked man would scream: “Watch out! These might be explosive detonators”. The other parts of the house would typically be left alone. The member of the Anti-Normalization Committee who lives in that house would then be whisked away to the dungeons of the Jordanian Mukhabarat.
In the case of Ali Abu Sukar, the head of the Anti-Normalization Committee, however, was not so lucky. The second he responded to the knocking of security personnel on his door around two in the morning, they ran and beat him down to the floor. He was then shackled with a machine gun aimed at his head. The attack in this case was carried out as described.
Action requested
Please write to the authorities in Jordan urging them to:
i. Guarantee that they are brought before an impartial and competent tribunal and guarantee their procedural rights at all times;
ii. order a thorough and impartial investigation into the circumstances of these arrests and reported false charges in order to identify those responsible, bring them to trial and apply the penal, civil and/or administrative sanctions as provided by law;
iii. guarantee the respect of human rights and the fundamental freedoms throughout the country in accordance with national laws and international human rights standards.
Addresses
Prime Minister, Ali Abu Al-Ragheb, PO Box 80, 352 Amman, Jordan. Fax No: 00962 6 4 642520.
Interior Ministry, Fax No: 00962 6 464 0404
The Diplomatic Representatives of Jordan in your country.
Geneva, 2 March 2001
Kindly inform us of any action undertaken quoting the code of this appeal in your reply.
Follow-up to Case JOR 300101
Geneva, 2 March 2001.
The International Secretariat of OMCT requests your URGENT intervention in the following situation in Jordan.
New Information
The International Secretariat of OMCT has received information from a reliable source that all seven members of the Anti-Normalization Committee of the Union of Professional Associations have been released on bail.
Brief reminder of the situation
The International Secretariat of OMCT was informed that seven members of the Anti-Normalization Committee of the Union of Professional Associations (anti-normalization with Israel), were arrested on January 27th 2001.
Those arrested are:
1) Ali Abu Sukar, an engineer, the head of the Anti-Normalization Committee
2) Muhammad Abu Jbara, an attorney
3) Ahmad Armouti, a surgeon
4) Abdul Rahim Barakat, an agronomist
5) Issam Abu Farha, an engineer (needs special medicine for his blood-sugar level)
6) Subhi abu Zaghlan, an engineer
7) Ghassan Doughar, an engineer
It is reported that early in the morning of January 27, 2001, around 2 am, the houses of some of the members of the Anti-Normalization Committee of the Union of Professional Associations were simultaneously overrun by security troops. Seven members of the Anti-Normalization Committee, including the head of the Committee, were then arrested. This came on the heels of the Committee’s publication of a second list of Jordanian and Palestinian normalizers including the names of some of the top government officials like Fayez Taraouneh, the Chief of Staff of the Royal Court, and others. The house of Ali Hattar, another member of the Anti-Normalization Committee, was also raided, but he was in Iraq at the time attending a conference.
All eight houses were attacked the same way. Around quarter till two in the morning, large trucks would download about fifty security personnel and swat teams wearing black masks (that only show their eyes and mouths), bullet-proof vests, and helmets. They would enter the houses with an official search warrant carrying the accusation of ‘organizing illegally’. Aiming machine guns at the residents of the house, they would then go directly to the main bedroom in the house were they would place leaflets carrying the signature of the Jordanian Islamic Jihad Resistance Movement and a small black bag by hand in front of the residents of the house. The “intelligence” officer in charge would pull a pair of scissors out of his pocket. He would proceed to cut the bag open. A tiny red ribbon would appear. A masked man would scream: “Watch out! These might be explosive detonators”. The other parts of the house would typically be left alone. The member of the Anti-Normalization Committee who lives in that house would then be whisked away to the dungeons of the Jordanian Mukhabarat.
In the case of Ali Abu Sukar, the head of the Anti-Normalization Committee, however, was not so lucky. The second he responded to the knocking of security personnel on his door around two in the morning, they ran and beat him down to the floor. He was then shackled with a machine gun aimed at his head. The attack in this case was carried out as described.
Action requested
Please write to the authorities in Jordan urging them to:
i. Guarantee that they are brought before an impartial and competent tribunal and guarantee their procedural rights at all times;
ii. order a thorough and impartial investigation into the circumstances of these arrests and reported false charges in order to identify those responsible, bring them to trial and apply the penal, civil and/or administrative sanctions as provided by law;
iii. guarantee the respect of human rights and the fundamental freedoms throughout the country in accordance with national laws and international human rights standards.
Addresses
Prime Minister, Ali Abu Al-Ragheb, PO Box 80, 352 Amman, Jordan. Fax No: 00962 6 4 642520.
Interior Ministry, Fax No: 00962 6 464 0404
The Diplomatic Representatives of Jordan in your country.
Geneva, 2 March 2001
Kindly inform us of any action undertaken quoting the code of this appeal in your reply.