August 10, 2001
BY FACSIMILE AND
FIRST CLASS MAIL
Working Group on Arbitrary Detention
OHCHR-UNOG, 1211
Geneva 10
Switzerland
Re: The Arbitrary Arrest and Detention of Jaweed Al-Ghussein
by the United Arab Emirates and the Palestinian Authority
and Request for Urgent Action on Humanitarian Grounds
Dear Working Group Members:
This is a request for urgent action on humanitarian grounds. Mr. Jaweed Al-Ghussein ( Mr. Al-Ghussein) is seventy-one years old and suffers from diabetes and a serious heart condition. He was hospitalized twice recently for cardiac and diabetes-related problems.
Shortly thereafter, he was arbitrarily arrested and detained in the United Arab Emirates and spirited secretly to Gaza, where he is being by the Palestinian Authority without any charges. If Mr. Al-Ghussein remains in captivity, he faces serious danger to his health and, very possibly, his life.
Mr. Al-Ghussein was arrested in the middle of the night in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, on April 20, 2001. Plain-clothes police officers came into a hotel where Mr. Al-Ghussein had attended a wedding and took him against his will to the Capital Police Station in Abu Dhabi, without any warrant or other legal authority and without any explanation. He was detained for two days in the police station, while his family frantically sought an explanation for his arrest. No explanation was provided, and Mr. Al-Ghussein was secretly removed from the United Arab Emirates, where he has lived for more than thirty years, and taken to Gaza (via the Arab Republic of Egypt) in the custody of security officials of the Palestinian Authority. He has now been held in captivity in Gaza for more than three months.
Mr. Al-Ghussein has not been charged with any offense. In response to repeated pleas from by Mr. Al-Ghussein's family, neither the Palestinian Authority nor the United Arab Emirates has provided any explanation or cited any legal authority for his arrest and continuing detention. Their continued silence has compounded the familys anguish.
The actions of the Palestinian Authority and the United Arab Emirates are inconsistent with fundamental principles of international law embodied in Article 9 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, which outlaws arbitrary arrest and detention, and Article 9 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, which specifies minimum procedural protections for individuals who are arrested or detained. Mr. Al-Ghussein has been arrested and detained without regard to any procedures established by law, without any charges against him, and without access to any court that could order his release.
Mr. Al-Ghusseins daughter, Mrs. Mona Bauwens, has asked us to submit this application for the Working Groups intercession on behalf of the family, despite warnings that any complaints to an international organization will worsen the situation. The family cannot wait any longer to seek help. Enclosed please find a completed copy of the Working Groups Model Questionnaire providing the details of Mr. Al-Ghusseins arrest, abduction and detention.
Also enclosed please find copies of correspondence reflecting some of the efforts made by Mr. Al-Ghusseins family to obtain an explanation for his arrest and detention, and copies of newspaper articles regarding his abduction. As you will see, Mr. Al-Ghussein is a former member of the Executive Committee of the Palestinian Liberation Organization ( PLO) and former Chairman of the Palestinian National Fund. He fell afoul of PLO leader Yasser Arafat by publicly opposing Iraqs invasion of Kuwait and leaving the PLO leadership, and he was later sued in the United Arab Emirates by individuals associated with the PLO.
The conduct of both the Palestinian Authority and the United Arab Emirates in this matter warrants urgent investigation. No legal process has been afforded at any stage of the continuing ordeal. The urgency of the circumstances is magnified by Mr. Al-Ghussein's advanced age, his diabetes and his heart condition. For these reasons, we urge the Working Group to make an urgent appeal to these governments to bring about Mr. Al-Ghusseins immediate release.
Very truly yours,
Edward J. Davis
