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Letter of Appeal from the AAAS Committee on Scientific Freedom and Responsibility

11 February 1999

Mr. Binyamin Netanyahu
Prime Minister
Office of the Prime Minister
3 Kaplan Street
Jerusalem, 91919
ISRAEL

Fax: 011 972 2 566 4838

Dear Mr. Prime Minister:

The American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) is the largest organization of natural and social scientists in the United States, and the world's largest federation of scientific organizations, with 143,000 individual members and 275 affiliated groups. Our AAAS Committee on Scientific Freedom and Responsibility was formed in 1976 to protect the human rights of scientists and to deal with issues relating to scientific freedom worldwide.

On behalf of the Committee, we are writing to express our deep concern about the interrogation by the General Security Services (GSS) of Jihad Shehadeh, a thirty-two-year-old Palestinian physics teacher previously held under administrative detention for his alleged ties to Hamas. The Committee is concerned about a military court's authorization of a fifteen-day interrogation period that began on 7 February 1999 and his previous administrative detention since August 1997. We are disturbed by reports alleging that he may have been subjected to torture during his detention, including having his legs and arms tied to a chair for long periods of time
(shabeh) and sleep deprivation.

It is our understanding that Mr. Shehadeh was picked up by Israeli occupation authorities on 15 August 1997. He has reportedly stated that when he was arrested he was asked to become an informant for the Shin Bet and that when he refused he was detained. We have received reports indicating that Mr. Shehadeh's six-month administrative detention, reportedly for his alleged links to Hamas, was extended three times. Upon the expiration of his latest detention order, he was reportedly rearrested and is currently undergoing interrogation by the GSS. We are also concerned by reports that the information used to justify Mr. Shehadeh's detention has not been presented to him or his legal counsel.

We have been informed that Mr. Shehadeh was arrested in 1992 and interrogated by the GSS for fifty days for his ties to Hamas. He reportedly served a three-year sentence and has denied any renewed ties to the organization.

We would like to point out that if true, the treatment of Jihad Shehadeh constitutes torture according to international juridical norms. Such treatment and his continued detention without trial constitute serious violations of international human rights treaties to which Israel is a State Party, including the Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment and the United Nations Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, both of which were ratified by Israel on 3 October 1991.

We respectfully request that you use your good offices to investigate the treatment of Jihad Shehadeh, and should your investigations reveal that he was illtreated, that you see to it that the illtreatment cease and that those responsible be brought to justice. We urge your government release Mr. Shehadeh immediately and unconditionally if he is not promptly charged and given a fair trial according to international standards.

Sincerely,



Irving Lerch, Chair
AAAS Committee on Scientific Freedom and Responsibility

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