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FACTS OF THE CASE:

Mr. Imad Faisal Sabi, a Palestinian economist held in administrative detention since 12 December 1995, was released from prison on 26 August 1997. Mr. Sabi was the Executive Director of Programs at the Bisan Research Center in Ramallah, a Palestinian non-governmental organization that works on community and social development issues. Although no formal charges were brought against Mr. Sabi, he was detained for twenty months. Israeli officials accused Mr. Sabi of involvement in the activities of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) and regarded him as a security threat.

The expression of Mr. Sabi's opinion that "the Oslo Accords and subsequent agreements are not a basis for a just settlement" may have been the real reason for his detention. Mr. Sabi was initially held under a six- month detention order, which was extended for four months upon its expiration. In October 1996 and April 1997, his detention order was again renewed; it was due to expire on 8 October 1997.

Israeli officials released Mr. Sabi to allow him to pursue his studies at the Institute of Social Studies in the Netherlands, to which he had received a fellowship prior to his detention.

(Source of information on this case includes the Israeli Information Center for Human Rights in the Occupied Territories (B'TSELEM))

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