The *FREE ARAB VOICE*

Amman, Jordan
December 7, 2000

Help Release Prisoners of Conscience in Jordan

Since the beginning of the second Intifada in Palestine, the genuine
Arabian people of Jordan have stood with their Palestinian brothers.
Jordanians went out in several demonstrations and marches demanding that
the regime take the minimum measure of expelling the Zionist Ambassador,
ending the presence of the Zionist Embassy in Jordan altogether,
annulling the Wadi Arabah Treaty, and supporting the Intifada by all
means necessary.

Before this raging popular wave, the regime and its oppressive
tools undertook the task of standing between the Jordanian popular
will and its realization on the ground.  The regime brandished the
nominal measure of not sending a new Jordanian Ambassador to Tel Aviv
after the assignment of his predecessor expired while oppressing the
demonstrations with brute force.  Subsequently, the government announced
that all demonstrations and marches shall be suspended, in direct
violation of article 15 of the Jordanian Constitution and the human
rights covenants to which the Jordanian government is signatory.
Moreover, security organs of different stripes proceeded to arrest
and persecute Jordanian citizens and activists deemed involved in
the demonstrations UNTIL THIS VERY MOMENT.

Extreme violence was also used in the dispersal of demonstrations
as happened in front of Jordan University October 4th, in al Rabiyeh
(near the Zionist Embassy) on the Fridays of October 6th and 13th,
during the Right of Return march on October 24th, and in the refugee
camp of al Baqaa where security forces used live bullets resulting in
the death of one person and the injury of others. Demonstrators were
typically drowned in tear gas of poisonous varieties, then overwhelmed
with armored vehicles and anti-riot troops instructed to strike down
demonstrators with clubs or physical force, including women and
children. Many were arrested, mistreated, threatened, kicked, beaten,
and then released.
(See the main page of http://www.fav.net for more on this).

However, not all of those arrested were released. Dozens were kept in
custody for weeks after which they were submitted to the Court of State
Security under the charges of instigating riots, violating the law
forbidding citizens from taking the King’s name in vain (punishable from
six months to three years in jail plus fines), and destruction of
property.  These were meant to serve as examples for potential
demonstrators.  In the meantime, arrests, interrogations, and
persecution of activists and citizens thought to be involved in
the October demonstrations continued.

On the fourteenth of November, the Prisoners Committee, a sub-committee
of the grass-roots Popular Committees for the Support of the Aqsa
Intifada and the Protection of Jordan, called for a sit in before the
Prime Minister’s office on the Fourth Circle in Amman to demand the
release of those arrested in the demonstrations and an immediate
cessation of arrests and the persecution of activists and citizens.  The
sit in was banned by force.  People were prevented from arriving to the
Fourth Circle.  Cars and buses were turned away.  The few dozen who
succeeded in making it anyway were disbanded and arrested.  Among those
taken away were Dr. Riyad Nawayseh, a physician and former member of
parliament, Khaled Ramadan, an engineer, Mouwaffaq Mahadeen, a writer
and columnist, Saad Abadi, an engineer, Dr. Ibrahim Alloush, a
university professor, Dr. Hisham Bustani, a dental surgeon, Shadi
Mdanaat, an engineer, Muhammad Abu Rahmeh, a journalist, Jihad Abu
Falah, a journalist, and Khaled Odwan, an engineer.

There were a few ladies taken as well: Kinda Hattar, a student activist,
Dr. Aida Dabbas, an activist and a business owner, and Abeer Dabbas, an
activist.

At different intervals and after experiencing varying degrees of
distress, each of the above will later released unscathed, but not for
long.

Please note as well for later reference that the Prisoners Committee,
which called for the sit in before the Prime Minister’s Office, has only
a handful of members, including Dr. Hisham Bustani, Dr. Ibrahim Alloush,
Engineer Khaled Odwan, and couple of other members whom I will not name
for reasons that will become obvious shortly.  The president of the
Prisoners Committee is Attorney Zayed Radaydeh, who represented
seventeen of the defendants arrested in the demonstrations and who later
announced his public resignation from that post in protest for flagrant
irregularities and outside interferences in the judicial process as the
people he represented were submitted to State Security Court.

Now for some of the members of the Prisoners Committee:

1) Dr. Hisham Bustani was sitting in a restaurant with three friends on
the eve of November 29th in Abdoun, Amman.  They were all arrested by
plainclothesmen affiliated with General Intelligence Service, otherwise
known as the Mukhabarat.  They were interrogated, threatened, jailed in
solitary cells, and then released after a few days.

2) Engineer Khaled Odwan received an official call from members of the
Mukhabarat on the eve of December 3rd.  He was instructed to go the
following morning for a chit-chat in the central headquarters of General
Intelligence.  HE WENT IN THERE ON THE MORNING OF DECEMBER 4TH AND STILL
HASN’T COME OUT. IT IS URGENT THAT YOU DO ALL YOU CAN TO SECURE HIS
RELEASE.  PLEASE EMAIL AND/OR SEND MESSAGES TO ALL THE HUMAN RIGHTS
ORGANIZATIONS THAT YOU KNOW.  His wife said that soldiers came into
their house on the morning of December 5th, searched the place and went
away with many books and papers.  Complaints have already been filed
with the Arab Organization for Human Rights, and everyone that could be
reached in Jordan.  It is crucial, however, to take this outside Jordan
to bring some international pressure into the equation.  Please get
involved.  Today, December 7th, a friend of Khaled Odwan was arrested as
well.  His identity is not known yet.

3) Dr. Ibrahim Alloush was called in for questioning on the eve of
Wednesday, December 6th.  The interrogation lasted a few hours after
which he was released late into the night.  He was told that they have
his phone number and will call again ‘if they need anything’ as they
probably would.  The interrogation was conducted by two officers who
took turns.  A slice of the interrogation went like this:

Interrogator:  Dr. Alloush, when Preventive Security arrested you on
November 14th, how many demonstrations and marches did they tell there
were in Jordan in support of the Intifada?

Ibrahim: They said there were 315 demonstrations in support of the
Intifada.

Interrogator: Out of those 315 demonstrations and marches, how many did
they tell you included rioting?

Ibrahim:  They said there were eight that included rioting.

Interrogator:  Well, out of those eight that included rioting, you were
in seven.  The one you did not make, you could not make because we
blocked the gateway to Al Baqaa Camp.

Ibrahim: So?!  I am totally opposed to the presence of the Zionist
Embassy in Jordan, and will not shy away from participating in
demonstrations for that purpose.  I walk in the open.

Interrogator: The point is that what’s common between these seven
demonstrations that included rioting is your presence.  This is
definitive evidence that you are responsible for that rioting.

Ibrahim: You call that evidence? This is highly circumstancial.
It will not hold. Plus, sir, with all respect due, it seems that
the decision-makers understanding of security is rather limited.
They seem to think that a demonstrator throwing a stone is the
prime security threat to the country. But I tell you that the real
security threat is allowing Zionists into Jordan and protecting them,
against the will of the Jordanian people. That is the threat and the
source of the instability. In that sense, I am more concerned for the
security of Jordan than you are.

Interrogator: This evidence will definitely hold in any court of law
where you are certain to be indicted and convicted. I assure you.

Ibrahim:  Send me to court then.

Interrogator: I would, except, I don’t want to turn you into some sort
of hero…

Another slice of the interrogation went like this:

Interrogator: Who are your friends? The people you walk around with?

Ibrahim: Look, ask me anything you want about me, and I’ll be happy to
answer you, but don’t expect any names from me.

Interrogator:  You have something to hide then, a definite sign of
guilt.

Ibrahim: I am too old for this.  Don’t expect names I said.

Interrogator:  Okay, what are the names of some of your colleagues at
the department in the university?

Ibrahim: I can’t remember.

Interrogator: What is the name of the President of the University?

Ibrahim: I don’t know.

Interrogator: What is the phone number of the university, so I may call
and ask for the President’s name?

Ibrahim: I really forgot.

Interrogator: I would like to remind you that we continue to use
beatings in interrogations sometimes even after lifting martial law.
Even fathers beat their sons sometimes when they don’t know their own
good.  So that won’t necessarily mean we don’t like you.  Now, what are
the names of the people who established the Popular Committees (to
Support Al Aqsa Intifada and Protect Jordan)?

Ibrahim: Those names are public. They were published in the dailypapers.
It’s like when you hold my Identity Card in your hand then ask
what my name is.

Interrogator: I know, but I want to hear them from you.

Ibrahim: Well, sorry, you won’t hear them from me.

Interrogator: Why not?  We’re not the enemy. We’re looking out
for the interest of the people and for their security, for your
interest and security.

Ibrahim: Because you treat those whose names are mentioned innocuously
in this complex as if they were criminals.  You take them from their
houses, families, and places of work at will then keep them in here for
as long as you like without regard for the interruption to their lives
and the peace of mind of their families and friends.

Interrogator2: Well, it seems we have a long night ahead of us, plus,
you’re a welcome guest here.  After all, this is your aunt’s house (beit
Khaltak).  [They both giggle to the joke in reference to the double
meaning, since many Arabs call jailhouses ‘Your Aunt’s House’].

Later on:

Ibrahim: Well, there’s one name I would like to ask about, if I may.

Interrogator: Go ahead.

Ibrahim: The name is Khaled Odwan.  You took him on the morning of
December 4th.  He came in here after you called him in for questioning
and still didn’t come back.  He is a good man, an engineer and a family
man.  I would appreciate it if you told me what he did wrong and why you
are keeping him in here so I may put his family’s mind at ease.

Interrogator [scribbles a note then says]: Khaled Odwan?  We have him in
here?  I know nothing about it.  But I’ll be sure to check on it and let
you know when we call you again [smiles].

Dear Friends,

Please do what you can to secure the release of Khaled Odwan, and to
protest the wave of persecution against Jordanian citizens and activists
thought to be involved in demonstrations in support of the Intifada.
People are getting arrested or called in for questioning daily.  The
ones we don’t know about are many more than the ones we do know about.

Thank you,
Ibrahim Alloush