[Amman, Jordan - April 2, 2001} About five days before the convening of the Arab Summit in Amman, dozens of masked security men armed to the teeth, along with officers of the Intelligence service (mukhabarat), stormed the house of Siajj Said Daraghmeh near Jabri on the Gardens Street in Amman.

Siajj Daraghmeh was whisked away by the gunmen under the cover of the night and he has not been heard from ever since.

After the now familiar nightly raid, several of Siajj's friends were summoned by the Mukhabarat for extensive interrogations; some more than once.

Siajj Daraghmeh is a senior majoring in Law at Amman University, a private college. He was born in 1977. Last year, Siajj was elected president of the student body, otherwise known as the Student Union. His term expired a few weeks ago. His crime was trying to exercise a constitutional right. He was kidnapped for trying to organize a student protest during the Arab Summit in Amman, according to fellow students, to call on Arab leaders to support the Intifada and lift the siege on Iraq.

And the Palestinian POLICE "State":

[April 4, 2001 - From Palestinian Human Rights Organization LAW]

On 24 March 2001, the Palestinian Military Intelligence arrested lawyer Nasir Al Rifa'ee at a court in the West Bank town of Ramallah. Al Rafa'ee, from the village of Anata near Jerusalem, was then taken to the Ramallah Military Intelligence headquarters for interrogation, where he remains. Since his arrest, he has been held incommunicado, with no access to legal counsel or his family.

LAW's lawyers have attempted to visit Nasir Al Rafa'ee on three consecutive days (31st March to 2nd April 2001) but were denied access to the detainee each time.

On 1 April 2001, LAW filed a complaint with Colonel Musa Arafat, the head of the Military Intelligence, arguing that Al Rafa'ee's arrest and detention were illegal and in contravention of international human rights standards. A similar complaint was submitted to Col. Ismail Jabir, the head of Palestinian National Security, which is supposed to have oversight of all Palestinian security services. To date LAW has received no reply from either body.

The law applicable in the West Bank does not authorise the Military Intelligence to arrest civilians who are not members of the security services. The arrest of Nasir Al Rafa'ee is therefore illegal.

Regarding incommunicado detention, Principle 7 of the UN Basic Principles on the Role of Lawyers provides that "all persons arrested or detained, with or without criminal charge, shall have prompt access to a lawyer, and in any case not later than forty-eight hours from the time of arrest or detention."

LAW demands the immediate release of attorney Nasir Al Rafee. While he remains in detention, LAW seeks assurances that Al Rafee is treated humanely and given access to legal counsel and his family, as well as to adequate medical treatment. Nasir Al Rafee suffers from a stomach ulcer and spinal problems...

And the Israeli Police State:

[Press Release - Wednesday, April 4, 2001}: The re-built home of the Shawamreh family in Anata was demolished for the third time this morning by bulldozers of Israel's Civil Administration in the Occupied Territories. Although two Israeli peace activists, Jeff Halper of the Committee Against Home Demolitions and Rabbi Arik Ascherman of Rabbis for Human Rights, parked their car in the path of destruction and sat down in front of the bulldozers, the army removed them forcibly, moved the car, and then plowed through the home, garden, and water tanks, plowing up the foundations as well, to ensure that the home could not be rebuilt yet again. Rabbi Asherman was arrested.

This demolition was the fourth of the morning in the town of Anata - three Bedouin houses were bulldozed into rubble prior to the Shawamreh home - and the driver reported they were on their way to demolish two more homes in the town of Issawiye. Both Palestinian towns are in close proximity to Jerusalem. The stepping up of demolitions by the Civil Administration - 11 homes were destroyed in the past 2 days - suggests the determination of the authorities to assert absolute control over life in the territories through intimidation of the Palestinian residents, in addition to escalating the warfare.

The Shawamreh home had become the 'poster child' of the movement to end demolitions, due to speaking tours in North America by Halper with Salim Shawamreh, the owner, in which they advocated an end to the violence and a peaceful resolution of the conflict. Extensive circulation of the story "Lena Doesn't Live Here Anymore", about the teenage daughter who witnessed her home being destroyed had also publicized the severity of the issue.

The Shawamreh home has been repeatedly destroyed by the army and rebuilt by a coalition of Israeli, Palestinian, and international peace activists. The first demolition, witnessed by activists, took place in July 1998. Within two months the home was rebuilt, but the authorities demolished it the day after the construction was complete, in August 1998. It took time for the family to find the strength to rebuild their home yet again and risk another demolition, but finally they agreed and, at the second rebuilding, completed in July 1999, the house was dedicated "House of Peace" in Arabic, Hebrew, and English.

After the demolition today, nothing was left of the "House of Peace" sign that had been hanging on the front door.

Mid-East Realities

www.middleeast.org

Source: http://www.middleeast.org/articles/2001/4/133.htm