ISR 002 / 0510 / OBS 058 Arbitrary detention / Harassment /
Obstacles to freedom of movement IsraelMay 10, 2010

The Observatory for the Protection of Human Rights
Defenders, a joint programme of the World Organisation Against Torture (OMCT)
and the International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH), requests your urgent
intervention in the following situation in Israel. Description of the situation
The Observatory has been informed by reliable sources, including Al Haq and
Defence for Children International – Palestine section (DCI), about the arrest
and the travel restrictions imposed on Mr. Ameer Makhoul, General Director of
Ittijah – the Union of Arab Community-Based Associations, and the Chairman of
the Popular Committee for the Defence of Political Freedoms in the framework of
the High Follow-up Committee for the Arab Citizens of Israel. In this position,
he is engaged primarily in monitoring and denouncing the restrictions on the
political freedoms of the Arab citizens of Israel. According to the information
received, on May 6, 2010 at 3:10 am, Mr. Ameer Makhoul was arrested when
Israeli Security Agency (ISA) agents accompanied by Israeli police officers
raided his family home in Haifa, northern Israel. The security forces conducted
an extensive search of the home and confiscated Mr. Makhoul’s family items such
as documents, mobile phones, laptops and desktop computers, a camera and a tape
recorder. At one point during the search, one officer restrained Mr. Makhoul’s
wife, twisting her arm and pushing her when she attempted to leave the home’s
living room. According to the same information, the security forces refused to
identify themselves[1] and showed Mr. Makhoul’s wife a warrant authorising her
husband’s arrest only after she repeatedly insisted. The order was signed on
April 23, 2010 and cited unsubstantiated “security” reasons as the
grounds for Mr. Makhoul’s arrest. Approximately 40 minutes after their arrival,
the group of the security forces left with Mr. Makhoul. At that very moment, the
Israeli authorities raided the office of Ittijah and confiscated documents and
the hard drives from all of the organisation’s computers. On May 6 at around
8:00 am, Mr. Makhoul’s wife received a phone call from someone identifying
himself as a representative from the “international terrorism” section of Petah
Tikva Interrogation Centre and informed her that Mr. Makhoul was being detained
there for interrogation and that she could contact a lawyer to follow up on his
case. At around 11 am, a judge sitting at the Petah Tikva Interrogation
Centre[2] extended Mr. Makhoul’s detention for six days – i.e. until May 12 –
and banned him from meeting with his attorney until at least May 8. On May 7, 2010, the Petah Tikva Court denied
an appeal challenging the order banning Mr. Makhoul from meeting with his
attorneys and the ban was renewed for two days prior to its expiration on May 9
at midnight. It is now set to expire at midnight on May 11.

The next hearing in Mr. Makhoul’s case, to determine whether
his detention will again be extended, is scheduled to be heard in the First
Instance Court of Petah Tikva on May 12, 2010.

At the time of issuing this appeal, Mr. Makhoul reportedly
remained in detention at Petah Tikva Interrogation Centre.

Mr. Ameer Makhoul’s arrest comes shortly after Israeli
Interior Minister, Mr. Eli Yishai, signed an administrative order prohibiting
Mr. Makhoul from exiting the country for a two-month period[3]. The travel ban
against Mr. Makhoul is scheduled to expire on June 21, 2010. However, as reportedly
such bans are frequently renewed on or just before the end of the ban period.

Although Mr. Makhoul has the right to appeal his detention
and the administrative order prohibiting him from exiting the country before
the Israeli High Court, neither him nor his attorney have been permitted to see
the evidence against him and have had no means of effectively challenging the
order. Mr. Makhoul’s arrest warrant and the travel ban order imposed on him are
based on emergency regulations and “secret” information that is never
disclosed to the defence. The Observatory also learnt with concern that the
Israeli Government prohibited the Israeli press from reporting Mr. Makhoul’s
arrest or any of the related circumstances or procedures, until the “gag order”
was lifted on May 9 following appeals filed by Adalah and others against the
court-ordered ban on May 7. Mr. Ameer Makhoul has been subjected to ongoing
measures of harassment and intimidation in relation to his human rights
activities, particularly during and after the Israeli ground, air and naval
offensive in the Gaza Strip, which took place from December 27, 2008 until
January 18, 2009[4]. On January 8, 2009, ten days after Mr. Makhoul gave a
speech in Haifa protesting the then-ongoing attack on Gaza, two ISA officers
forcibly escorted him from Ittijah’s headquarters to a police station where he
was interviewed for three hours. During this interrogation, Mr. Makhoul was
told that he would be imprisoned if “he continued his political work”. The
Observatory expresses its deepest concern about the above-mentioned acts
against Mr. Ameer Makhoul, which seem to merely aim at sanctioning his human
rights activities, and calls upon the Israeli authorities to release him
immediately and unconditionally. The Observatory recalls that Mr. Makhoul’s
case is only one amidst an escalated campaign of arbitrary restrictions placed
by Israeli authorities against Palestinian human rights defenders. These
restrictions include arbitrary arrests, raids, deportations, travel bans, visa
denials and media attacks against human rights organisations.

The Observatory further urges embassies of EU Member States
in Israel and in the Occupied Palestinian Territory to follow Mr. Ameer
Makhoul’s case and to attend all the hearings on his case in accordance with
the EU Guidelines on Human Rights Defenders, as well as to urge the Israeli
authorities to comply with the relevant international norms and standards,
including the UN Declaration on Human Rights Defenders, in order to create an
environment where human rights defenders can operate freely.

Actions requested: Please write to the authorities in Israel
urging them to: i. Guarantee in all circumstances the
physical and psychological integrity of Mr. Ameer Makhoul and of all human rights
defenders in Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territory;

 ii. Release Mr.
Ameer Makhoul immediately and unconditionally since his arrest is arbitrary as
it seems to only aim at sanctioning his human rights activities;

iii. Put an end to
any kind of harassment – including at the administrative level – against Mr.
Ameer Makhoul as well as against all human rights defenders in Israel and the
OPT and ensure in all circumstances that they are able to carry out their work
without unjustified hindrances;

iv. Comply with
the provisions of the UN Declaration on Human Rights Defenders, adopted by the
General Assembly on December 9, 1998, in particular Article 1, which states
that “everyone has the right, individually and in association with others, to
promote and to strive for the protection and realization of human rights and
fundamental freedoms at the national and international levels”, and Article
12(2), which provides that “the State shall take all necessary measures to
ensure the protection by the competent authorities of everyone, individually or
in association with others, against any violence, threats, retaliation, de
facto or de jure adverse discrimination, pressure or any other arbitrary action
as a consequence of his or her legitimate exercise of the rights referred to in
the […] Declaration”; v. More generally, ensure in all
circumstances the respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms throughout
the country and the OPT in accordance with international human rights instruments
ratified by Israel, including the International Covenant on Civil and Political
Rights and the UN Convention Against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or
Degrading Treatment or Punishment.

Addresses: Mr.
Benjamin Netanyahu, Prime Minister, Office of the Prime Minister, 3 Kaplan
Street, PO Box 187, Kiryat Ben-Gurion, Jerusalem 91919, Israel. Fax: + 972 2
651 2631 / 02-670-5475, E-mail: rohm@pmo.gov.il, pm_eng@pmo.gov.il Mr. Eli
Yisha, Minister of the Interior, 2 Kaplan St., Qiryat Ben-Gurion, P.O. Box
6158, 91061 Jerusalem, Israel. Tel: +972 (0)2 670 1411Mr. Yehuda Weinstein,
Attorney General, 29 Salah A-Din St., Jerusalem, 91010, Israel. Tel. +972 (0)2
646 6521/2, Fax: +972 (0)2 6467001Mr. Ehud Barak, Deputy Prime Minister and
Minister of Defence, Ministry of Defence, 37 Kaplan Street, Hakirya, Tel Aviv
61909, Israel. Fax: +972 3 691 6940, Email: minister@mod.gov.il Mr. Avigdor
Lieberman, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs, Ministry of
Foreign Affairs, 9 Yitzhak Rabin Boulevard, Kiryat Ben-Gurion, Jerusalem 91035,
Israel. Fax: +972 2 628 7757 / +972 2 628 8618 / + 972-2-5303367. Email:
sar@mfa.gov.il Mr. Yaakov Ne’eman, Minister of Justice, Ministry of Justice, 29
Salah al-Din Street, Jerusalem 91010, Israel. Fax: + 972 2 628 7757 / + 972 2
628 8618 / + 972 2 530 3367. Email: sar@justice.gov.il /
tifereth@justice.gov.il Ambassador Aharon Leshno-Yaar, Permanent Mission of
Israel to the United Nations in Geneva, Avenue de la Paix 1-3, CH-1202, Geneva,
Switzerland, E-mail: mission-israel@geneva.mfa.gov.il, Fax: +41 22 716 05 55
Embassy of Israel in Brussels, 40 avenue de l’Observatoire, 1180 Uccle,
Belgium, Fax: + 32 2 373 56 17, Email: brussels@israel.org Please also write to
the diplomatic mission or embassy of Israel in your respective country as well
as to the EU diplomatic missions or embassies in Israel. ***Geneva-Paris, May 10, 2010 Kindly inform
us of any action undertaken quoting the code of this appeal in your reply. The
Observatory, a FIDH and OMCT venture, is dedicated to the protection of Human
Rights Defenders and aims to offer them concrete support in their time of need.
The Observatory was the winner of the 1998 Human Rights Prize of the French
Republic. To contact the Observatory, call the emergency line:E-mail: Appeals@fidh-omct.orgTel
and fax OMCT: + 41 (0) 22 809 49 39 / + 41 22 809 49 29Tel and fax FIDH: + 33
(0) 1 43 55 25 18 / +33 1 43 55 18 80