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Main Witness to Testify Tomorrow in Trial of West Bank Protest Organizer, Bassem Tamimi

23 October 2011 | Popular Struggle Coordination Committee

Islam Dar Ayyoub, the 14 year-old who incriminated Tamimi after being unlawfully interrogated, will take the stand tomorrow at the Ofer Military Court. Tamimi has been incarcerated for seven months, in which only one witness testified.

The Military Prosecution will resume making its case against West Bank protest organizer from Nabi Saleh, Bassem Tamimi, at the Ofer Military Court tomorrow morning. Fourteen year-old Islam Dar Ayyoub – one of two main witnesses against Tamimi – is scheduled to give evidence to the court tomorrow, despite a motion by the defense to delay it. The defense has requested the postponement, as procedures by the boy’s own defense team to rule his testimony inadmissible, have not yet concluded.

Islam Dar Ayyoub, also from Nabi Saleh, was taken from his bed at gunpoint on the night of January 23rd. In his interrogation the morning after his arrest, Islam alleged that Bassem and Naji Tamimi organized groups of youth into “brigades”, charged with different responsibilities during the demonstrations: some were allegedly in charge of stone-throwing, others of blocking roads, etc.

During a trial-within-a-trial procedure in Islam’s trial, motioning for his testimony to be ruled inadmissible, it was proven that his police interrogation was fundamentally flawed and violated the rights set forth in the Israeli Youth Law in the following ways:

Despite being a minor, he was questioned in the morning following his arrest, having been denied sleep.

He was denied legal counsel, although his lawyer appeared at the police station requesting to see him.
He was denied his right to have a parent present during his questioning.
He was not informed of his right to remain silent, and was even told by his interrogators that he is “expected to tell the truth”.
Only one of four interrogators present was a qualified youth interrogator.

The audio-visual recording of another central witness against Tamimi, 15 year-old Mo’atasem Tamimi, proves that he too was questioned in a similarly unlawful manner.

Tamimi has been behind lock and key for the past seven months, in which only one out of over twenty prosecution witnesses have testified before the court. On September 25th, Major Michelle Dahan, who was commander of the military forces in the area and in charge of suppressing Nabi Saleh demonstrations, admitted to having dispersed demonstrations that were entirely peaceful, and alleged that Tamimi ordered youth to throw stones based on the fact that he saw him on rooftops during demonstrations.

Background

Bassem Tamimi is a veteran Palestinian grassroots activist from the West Bank village of Nabi Saleh, north of Ramallah. He is married to Nariman Tamimi, with whom he fathers four children – Wa’ed (14), Ahed (10), Mohammed (8) and Salam (5).

As a veteran activist, Tamimi has been arrested by the Israeli army 11 times to date, though he was never convicted of any offense. Tamimi spent roughly three years in administrative detention, with no charges brought against him. Furthermore, his attorney and he were denied access to “secret evidence” brought against him.

In 1993, Tamimi was falsely arrested on suspicion of having murdered an Israeli settler in Beit El – an allegation of which he was cleared of entirely. During his weeks-long interrogation, he was severely tortured by the Israeli Shin Bet in order to draw a coerced confession from him. During his interrogation, and as a result of the torture he underwent, Tamimi collapsed and had to be evacuated to a hospital, where he laid unconscious for seven days. As a result of the wounds caused by torture, Tamimi was partially paralyzed for several months after his release from the hospital.

At the opening of his trial on June 5th, Tamimi pleaded “not guilty” to all charges against him, but proudly owned up to organizing protest in the village. In a defiant speech before the court he said, “I organized these peaceful demonstrations to defend our land and our people.” Tamimi also challenged the legitimacy of the very system which trys him, saying that “Despite claiming to be the only democracy in the Middle East you are trying me under military laws […] that are enacted by authorities which I haven’t elected and do not represent me.” (See here for Tamimi’s full statement).

The indictment against Tamimi is based on questionable and coerced confessions of youth from the village. He is charged with’ incitement’, ‘organizing and participating in unauthorized processions’,’ solicitation to stone-throwing’, ‘failure to attend legal summons’, and a scandalous charge of ‘disruption of legal proceedings’, for allegedly giving youth advice on how to act during police interrogation in the event that they are arrested.

The transcript of Tamimi’s police interrogation further demonstrates the police and Military Prosecution’s political motivation and disregard for suspects’ rights. During his questioning, Tamimi was accused by his interrogator of “consulting lawyers and foreigners to prepare for his interrogation”, an act that is clearly protected under the right to seek legal counsel.

As one of the organizers of the Nabi Saleh protests and coordinator of the village’s popular committee, Tamimi has been the target of harsh treatment by the Israeli army. Since demonstrations began in the village, his house has been raided and ransacked numerous times, his wife was twice arrested and two of his sons were injured; Wa’ed, 14, was hospitalized for five days when a rubber-coated bullet penetrated his leg and Mohammed, 8, was injured by a tear-gas projectile that was shot directly at him and hit him in the shoulder. Shortly after demonstrations in the village began, the Israeli Civil Administration served ten demolition orders to structures located in Area C, Tamimi’s house was one of them, despite the fact that part of the house was built in 1965 and the rest in 2005.

Legal background

On March 24th, 2011, a massive contingent of Israeli Soldiers raided the Tamimi home at around noon, only minutes after he entered the house to prepare for a meeting with a European diplomat. He was arrested and subsequently charged.

The main evidence in Tamimi’s case is the testimony of 14 year-old Islam Dar Ayyoub, also from Nabi Saleh, who was taken from his bed at gunpoint on the night of January 23rd. In his interrogation the morning after his arrest, Islam alleged that Bassem and Naji Tamimi organized groups of youth into “brigades”, charged with different responsibilities during the demonstrations: some were allegedly in charge of stone-throwing, others of blocking roads, etc.

During a trial-within-a-trial procedure in Islam’s trial, motioning for his testimony to be ruled inadmissible, it was proven that his interrogation was fundamentally flawed and violated the rights set forth in the Israeli Youth Law in the following ways:

Despite being a minor, he was questioned in the morning following his arrest, having been denied sleep.

He was denied legal counsel, although his lawyer appeared at the police station requesting to see him.
He was denied his right to have a parent present during his questioning.
He was not informed of his right to remain silent, and was even told by his interrogators that he is “expected to tell the truth”.
Only one of four interrogators present was a qualified youth interrogator.

The audio-visual recording of another central witness against Tamimi, 15 year-old Mo’atasem Tamimi, proves that he too was questioned in a similarly unlawful manner.

Since the beginning of the village’s struggle against settler takeover of their lands in December of 2009, the army has conducted 80 protest related arrests. As the entire village numbers just over 500 residents, the number constitutes approximately 10% of its population.

Tamimi’s arrest corresponds to the systematic arrest of civil protest leaders all around the West Bank, as in the case of the villages Bil’in and Ni’ilin.

Only recently the Military Court of Appeals has aggravated the sentence of Abdallah Abu Rahmah from the village of Bilin, sending him to 16 months imprisonment on charges of incitement and organizing illegal demonstrations. Abu Rahmah was released on March 2011.

The arrest and trial of Abu Rahmah has been widely condemned by the international community, most notably by Britain and EU foreign minister, Catherin Ashton. Harsh criticism of the arrest has also been offered by leading human rights organizations in Israel and around the world, among them B’tselem, ACRI, as well as Human Rights Watch, which declared Abu Rahmah’s trial unfair, and Amnesty International, which declared Abu Rahmah a prisoner of conscience.

Nablus joins West Bank and Gaza in support of prisoner strike

by Alistair George

3 October 2011 | International Solidarity Movement, West Bank

Hundreds marched in Nablus today to protest against the harsh conditions endured by Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails and to show solidarity with over 150 prisoners currently on hunger strike.

Prisoners from the leftist PFLP (Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine) movement began open-ended hunger strikes – eating no food and drinking only salted water – on 27 September 2011 in several Israeli prisons, including Nafha, Askhalan and Ramon.

Palestinian prisoners issued a statement on 25 September 2011 demanding the Israeli authorities end solitary confinement for all prisoners and “end the policy of systematic humiliation by the occupation army against the Palestinian people at checkpoints and crossings, particularly targeting visitors to prisons, and end the arbitrary denial of visits to the prisoners, especially the prisoners from the Gaza Strip.”

Protesters are also demanding access to secondary and higher education in prisons – according to Addameer Prisoners Support and Human Rights Association there are at least 340 Palestinian children being held in Israeli prisons and protesters claim that many have been refused education and denied books whilst in Israeli prisons. According to protesters, prison authorities have frozen the accounts of some inmates, which they use to buy food and other supplies.

The protests have gathered momentum in the past week, spreading to several other prisons. Prisoners allied to other political parties have begun ‘limited’ hunger strikes – accepting no food from prison authorities and fasting for 2-3 days a week. Several people began a hunger strike today in Nablus in solidarity with family members in prison. They plan to stay in tents in Duwar, central Nablus, from the 4 October 2011 onwards as part of their protest.

Protesters converged outside the Red Crescent building in Nablus at 11:30 am today where several speakers, including the Mayor of Nablus and the Chairman of the Popular Committee to Support Palestinian Rights, spoke from a makeshift stage mounted on the back of a truck to call for Israeli to recognise the Geneva Conventions and respect prisoner rights in accordance with international law. They also called on the international community and Secretary-General of the United Nations, Ban Ki Moon, to pressure Israel to end the illegal occupation of Palestinian territory.

Protesters chanted and called for solidarity with political prisoners in Israeli jails and urging them to continue to resist. Many waved flags and held up photographs and placards bearing the faces of political prisoners. After the speeches were finished protesters marched past the western cemetery through the centre of the city Duwar, where the protest ended.

A significant number of the protesters were allied to the leftists group PFLP, alongside many supporters of Fatah and members of humanitarian organisations such as the Palestinian Prisoners Society. There were dozens of female protestors, many of whom were clutching photographs of family members currently incarcerated in Israeli prisoners. Protestors allied to Hamas and the smaller political parties were also present.

One female protestor, who declined to give her name, said that she was protesting to support the prisoners on hunger strike.

“I have a son in prison, he is serving a life sentence as he was a fighter with the PFLP. He has been on a hunger strike for seven days and he is in solitary confinement, but I have not been allowed to see him”.

Tahani Al-Shati’s husband has served 11 years of an 18 year sentence for being a fighter in the PFLP.

She said, “ I am worried about my husband as I heard today that he has been taken to an isolation cell because he began a hunger strike. Me and my children are very upset about this so I came to protest and to be in the struggle with the families of other prisoners.”

Bassam Gyias and Wafa Gyias were protesting to show support for their son Hassan who has served 3 ½ years of a 5 year sentence and began a hunger strike last week in protest at prison conditions. Yesterday, Hassan was transferred to an unknown location, along with 27 other prisoners affiliated to the PFLP.

Bassam said that they “are suffering because he hasn’t eaten anything for a few days; we feel sad but appreciate his resistance.”

According to the Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics there were over 7,000 Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails in 2010.

Myassar Atyani is the Director of the Cultural Committee in the PLO’s General Women’s Union and has campaigned on behalf of political prisoners from all parties for six years. She spent a month in solitary confinement in 2009.

“It was very small, dirty and cold. It was winter but they put a fan at the window and I was only given one blanket. I was shivering all the time. The tap constantly dripped, which gave me a headache and I couldn’t sleep as it was so noisy; either the guards were shouting or the Israeli prisoners were shouting, laughing or singing.” She says that being held in solitary confinement took a huge psychological toll on her; in addition to not being able to communicate with anyone, she was disturbed by a mirror placed in her tiny cell, which distorted her reflection. Atyani was only allowed to see her lawyer after eight days in prison – twice in total during the month.

Atyani says that prisoners in isolation cells are usually allowed one hour’s exercise a day, taken alone. She was not allowed any exercise whilst in prison and the cell was underground, so it was hard to tell whether it was day or night. Atyani says she kept track of the time through meal times and through the daily ritual of being made stand to attention in her cell at 6am, 10am, 6pm and 10pm. She scored marks into the walls to keep track of the days. She was only taken from her cell for interrogations, during which she sat in silence and picked at her nails.

She says that she was on hunger strike for a month, only having coffee and water with salt. “I was very ill; eventually I couldn’t stand or talk. I also had a severe earache whilst in prison and the Israeli’s didn’t let me have my medicine. Now, if there are loud noises, I find it hard to hear well and follow conversations”.

Atyani was released after a month; however her brother, who was arrested at the same time as her, was kept for a year in administrative detention – a practice in complete violation of human rights as sentences are based on confidential material kept from the detainee and their lawyer. According to Addammeer there are at least 750 Palestinians currently detained in Israeli jails without charge or trial.

Atyani is hopeful that the hunger strikes will help to unite different Palestinian factions; “Outside the prisons we need to be united and be stronger across all political parties so that the prisoners will also be strong.”

She is also keen to raise awareness abroad of the plight of Palestinian prisoners – “Some prisoners have been in solitary detention for 15 years and no one hears about this.”

Alistair George is an activist with International Solidarity Movement (name has been changed).

Help us release Ni’lin’s Ibrahim Srour from Israeli prison

11 September 2011 | Popular Struggle Coordination Committee

When I was in prison for organizing protest in my village of Bil’in, I knew that if I make bail or have to pay a fine to be released, someone would pay it. Worrying about such technicalities was literally the last thing on my mind. But now that I am free and other protesters are in prison, that knowledge has turned into a responsibility. My responsibility is to make sure other don’t have to worry about it as well.

Ibrahim Srour, a resident of Nil’in, has been imprisoned by Israel for nearly two years for participating in local protests. He will be released from prison on October 2nd, if the immense 12,000 NIS (3,250 USD) fine placed by a military court judge is raised in time.

Ibrahim Srour, 20, was arrested on January 7th, 2010, during a nighttime raid on his village, Ni’ilin. The soldiers who snatched him from his bed at gunpoint had been sent to arrest him for his participation in demonstrations held in protest of the construction of the Wall and the theft of some 30% of Ni’ilin’s lands. Protests, in which five unarmed protesters, including a 10 year-old boy, were killed by the Israeli army.

Prior to his arrest, Ibrahim was the main breadwinner to a large and poor family, including a sick father. Based on flimsy evidence, he was eventually sentenced by a military tribunal to twenty months in prison and a 3,250 USD fine. Ibrahim’s family cannot afford to pay the fine. Please help us raise the money to secure his release.

Ibrahim was arrested and charged based on statements drawn from a mentally challenged youth from the village. These coerced statements were used to against not only Ibrahim, but dozens of Ni’ilin’s protestors. The statements themselves and the man who gave them were so unreliable, that even a military judge was forced to disqualify them and acquit a defendant in another case.

The practice of pressuring weak individuals into making incriminating statements in order to put protesters and protest leaders behind bars is in common use by the Israeli army, as in the case of Nabi Salah, where the coerced confession of a 14 year-old boy during an unlawful interrogation brought about the arrest of more than 20 people.

Please click here to make a donation that will help us finally release Ibrahim from prison and fight Israeli repression.

Sincerely,
Mohammed Khatib

Trial of West Bank organizer, Bassem Tamimi, to resume Sunday

30 August 2011 | Popular Struggle Coordination Committee

After telling the judge that he does not recognize the legitimacy of the court and of military law during his arraignment on June 5th, Bassem Tamimi’s trial is expected to open this coming Sunday, when prosecution witnesses will take the stand for the first time. On June 14th, the EU has expressed its concern over Tamimi’s incarceration in a statement given during the 17th session of the UN’s Human Rights Council.

Tamimi is incarcerated since late march and the coming hearing, after more than 5 months of imprisonment, is the first in which the allegations will actually be discussed in court. Proceedings in the case have been prolonged after prosecution witnesses did not bother to show up to a previous hearing on June 27th.

Among those scheduled to testify on Sunday is 14 year-old Islam Dar Ayyoub, also from Nabi Saleh, who was taken from his bed at gunpoint on the night of January 23rd. In his interrogation the morning after his arrest, Islam alleged that Bassem and Naji Tamimi organized groups of youth into “brigades”, charged with different responsibilities during the demonstrations: some were allegedly in charge of stone-throwing, others of blocking roads, etc.

Despite being a minor, he was questioned in the morning following his arrest, having been denied sleep.
He was denied legal counsel, although his lawyer appeared at the police station requesting to see him.
He was denied his right to have a parent present during his questioning.
He was not informed of his right to remain silent, and was even told by his interrogators that he is “expected to tell the truth”.
Only one of four interrogators present was a qualified youth interrogator.

Background

As a veteran activist, Tamimi has been arrested by the Israeli army 11 times to date and has spent roughly three years in Israeli jails, though he was never convicted of any offence. He spent roughly three years in administrative detention, with no charges brought against him. Furthermore, his attorney and he were denied access to “secret evidence” brought against him.

In 1993, Tamimi was falsely arrested on suspicion of having murdered an Israeli settler in Beit El – an allegation of which he was cleared entirely. During his weeks-long interrogation, he was severely tortured by the Israeli Shin Bet in order to draw a coerced confession from him. During his interrogation, and as a result of the torture he underwent, Tamimi collapsed and had to be evacuated to a hospital, where he laid unconscious for seven days.

At the opening of his trial on June 5th, Tamimi pleaded “not guilty” to all charges against him, but proudly owned up to organizing the protest in the village saying in a defiant speech before the court. He said, “I organized these peaceful demonstrations to defend our land and our people.” Tamimi also challenged the legitimacy of the very system which trys him, saying that “Despite claiming to be the only democracy in the Middle East you are trying me under military laws […] that are enacted by authorities which I haven’t elected and do not represent me.” (See here for Tamimi’s full statement).

The transcript of Tamimi’s police interrogation further demonstrates the police and Military Prosecution’s political motivation and disregard for the suspect’s rights. During his questioning, Tamimi was accused by his interrogator of “consulting lawyers and foreigners to prepare for his interrogation”, an act that is in no way in breach of the law.

Legal background

On the March 24th, 2011, a massive contingent of Israeli Soldiers raided the Tamimi home at around noon, only minutes after he entered the house to prepare for a meeting with a European diplomat. He was arrested and subsequently charged.

Ever since the beginning of the village’s struggle against settler takeover of their lands in December of 2009, the army has conducted 73 protest related arrests. As the entire village numbers just over 500 residents, the number constitutes approximately 10% of its population.

Tamimi’s arrest corresponds to the systematic arrest of civil protest leaders all around the West Bank, as in the case of the villages Bil’in and Ni’ilin.

Israeli soldiers violently suppress demo; sweep through houses to carry out arbitrary arrests in Nabi Saleh

29 July 2011 | Popular Struggle Coordination Committee

Military checkpoints were set up early in the morning on all roads leading in and out of Nabi Saleh this Friday, as the Israeli army does every Friday in its attempt to prevent people from outside the tiny village to support the villagers in their struggle for land and dignity under the Occupation.

A few hours before the demonstration was scheduled to begin, a number of armored military vehicles drove into the village and unloaded dozens of soldiers into its single street. In the clashes that ensued with local youth, the soldiers shot volleys of tear-gas and took over two houses. In the first of what seemed to be a systematic attempt to stifle media coverage, a Palestinian cameraman was beaten and then detained despite having showed his accreditation with the al-Ayyam daily newspaper, only to be released a few hours later without his camera’s memory card.

Meanwhile, and American activist on his way to the protest, was detained by the soldiers manning the checkpoint at the main entrance to the village. His wallet, phone, passport and driver’s license were taken away from him as he could see smoke and hear shooting coming from the direction of the village.

Eventually, his possessions were returned to him and he was told to turn around and head back to Ramallah. A military jeep was sent trailing his car to make sure he indeed does so. Shortly after regaining his phone, the activist found out that soldiers at the checkpoint used his logged-in twitter account to post anti-protest messages in broken English.

After the Friday midday prayer, people were able to gather next to the village’s mosque, but were attacked less than a hundred meters after the peaceful march began in a hail of tear-gas shot from multiple directions. Every attempt to regroup and resume marching was again answered by a shower of tear-gas projectiles, many of them shot directly at demonstrators. Three protesters were injured that way, including one in her head.

At some point, soldiers begun sweeping through houses, going door to door, randomly detaining people in the street or from inside their houses. Three Palestinians and three international activists were detained this way, only to be released later with no charge and without even being questioned. Soldiers also detained an Israeli cameraman who tried to film the soldiers wanton rampage through the village. His camera was violently snatched from him, causing it to break. Like the other detainees, he, too, was released shortly after.