Mr. Jaweed Al-Ghussein and Yasser Arafat
ABDUCTED TWICE......
THE FIRST ABDUCTION FROM ABU DHABI APRIL 2001 WITH THE CO-OPERATION OF MEMBERS OF THE RULING FAMILY OF AL-NAHYAN
THE SECOND ABDUCTION FROM THE RED CROSS HOSPITAL IN CAIRO IN 2002 BY THE PALESTINIAN AUTHORITY AND EGYPTIAN SECURITY FORCES WHILE UNDERGOING CHEMOTHERAPY
CONTINUED THREATS BY THE PALESTINIAN AUTHORITY 2009
ABU DHABI SHEIKS CONTINUE TO WITHHOLD OUR RIGHTS 2009
THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN THE AL-NAHYAN FAMILY AND LEADING MEMBERS OF THE PA
COMING SOON. ADDITIONAL INFORMATION . THIS SITE IS STILL UNDER CONSTRUCTION.
Mr. Jaweed Al-Ghussein with HH Sheik Zayed, the late ruler of Abu Dhabi
June 2002
As the world watches the Palestinian Authority to see whether it can act as a legitimate, responsible government, honoring the rule of law and the separation of powers that its basic law purports to guarantee, the Authority has done nothing to rectify one of its longest-running abuses of human rights the kidnapping of a seriously ill Palestinian peace supporter who has differed publicly with the Authoritys leadership and been held for more than a year in unlawful detention beyond the reach of the judicial system. Jaweed Al-Ghussein was abducted from Abu Dhabi by the Palestinian Authority in April 2001 and has been held without any charges since then, despite appeals from the Authoritys own highest legal authorities and from international and human rights organizations.
Mr. Al-Ghussein is a 71-year-old businessman who graduated from the American University in Cairo and built up a construction and engineering concern based in Abu Dhabi. To help the Palestinian cause at a crucial time, he agreed to serve as Chairman of the Palestinian National Fund and as a member of the Executive Committee of the Palestinian Liberation Organization, but he quit the PLO in 1996 after a series of differences with Yasser Arafat developed, starting with Arafats support of Saddam Hussein in the Gulf War. Last spring, he was kidnapped from Abu Dhabi -- in absurd style, in a white Bentley and Arafats private plane -- and taken to Gaza, where he has been kept incommunicado in presidential guest quarters or held under armed guard in private quarters or the hospital.
Mr. Jaweed Al-Ghussein and Mr. Hazzem Nussibeh, former Jordian Ambassador to the United Nations.
The United Nations Working Group on Arbitrary Detention has investigated the detention of Mr. Al-Ghussein and ruled that the Palestinian Authority is violating Article 9 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights in a way that manifestly cannot be justified on any legal basis. The Palestinian Authoritys own Minister of Justice has protested publicly that Mr. Al-Ghussein is being detained completely outside the Authoritys legal system. Amnesty International, the Egyptian Organization for Human Rights and the Arab Human Rights Organization have also called on the Authority to free him. Other prominent Palestinians, including Dr. Sari Nusseibeh and Attorney General Zouhair Sourani, have also protested, but those closest to Yasser Arafat have apparently set themselves against Mr. Al-Ghussein's freedom.
The detention of Mr Al-Ghussein, unfortunately, fits a pattern of suppression of protest and dissent that threatens to undermine the Palestinian Authority's claim to ne a legitimate government for the Palestinian people. Amnesty International believes Mr Al-Ghussein is being held for poltical reasons. He publicly criticized Yasser Arafat for supporting Saddam Hussein in the Gulf War. He called for increased accountabilty and transparency in the PLO . He alwyas favoured education over violence to advance the Palestinian cause ( he personally financed the education of many Palestinian students at the American University in Cairo). He left the Executive Committee of the PLO without Yasser Arafat's permission and, despite the ups and downs of the formal peace process, he continued to work for Arab-Israeli peace, especially throught the Next Century Foundation, which he co-founded in the early 1980s.
The Palestinian Authority has claimed that its reasons for holding Mr. Al-Ghussein are financial. Perhaps to deflect attention from its finances, which are still notoriously murky, the Authority accused Mr. Al-Ghussein of borrowing money from the Palestinian National Fund in 1991 and never repaying it. Leaving aside the question of whether international kidnapping is an appropriate step to take to get a loan repaid, the same charge was rejected by the Supreme Court of the United Arab Emirates when the Palestinian Authority sued Mr. Al-Ghussein in Abu Dhabi. Frustrated with the legal process, the Authority resorted to gangster tactics, kidnapping Mr. Al-Ghussein and deceiving or corrupting officials in Abu Dhabi to do so. Even though it has now held Mr. Al-Ghussein for more than a year, the Authority has not pursued a claim in court and, in fact, will not allow him access to the courts. The Palestinian Minister of Justice publicly declared that Mr. Al‑Ghussein is innocent, and the allegation that he owes the Authority money is plainly a pretext.
The abduction has given Mr. Al-Ghussein and his family a frightening glimpse of lawlessness and crime at the heart of the Palestinian Authority. They have been warned that the United Nations investigation caused outrage, and that those close to Yasser Arafat want to punish Mr. Al-Ghussein for getting any international organizations involved. The family has been told that Mr.Al‑Ghussein will not be freed unless they pay what amounts to ransom and agree not to sue the Palestinian Authority if he is released. The Authority even threatened to withhold his insulin medication if the family does not keep quiet.
That threat, unfortunately, amounts to a threat of death. The United Nations Special Rapporteur on Torture has intervened in the case because Mr. Al-Ghussein is dangerously ill and the Authority is denying him adequate care by keeping him captive in Gaza. He has a heart condition in addition to diabetes and, during his detention, has developed debilitating symptoms. The medical tests available in Gaza indicate cancer of the liver. The advanced facilities needed to diagnose and treat the condition are not available in Gaza, yet the Authority refuses to let him leave for the medical intervention that could save his life. At the end of November, the Authority made a pretense of concern, for the benefit of the UN, by taking him to the Palestine Hospital in Cairo, which does not have the necessary equipment either. Even there, the Authority kept him under guard and confiscated the passport that was used to gain entry into Egypt for him. (The Egyptian border guards were informed that the Palestinian guards would be escorting an ailing VIP, and the Authority apparently lied to the Egyptian government about what it was doing when he was taken in and out of Egypt.) After the United Nations decision declaring his detention illegal was shared privately with the Authority -- but before it was made public -- the Authority took him back to Gaza by force, locking his wife and daughter in a hospital room and beating his daughter when she tried to intervene. Mr. Al-Ghussein is still in Gaza now.
The Palestinian Authoritys abuse of Mr. Al-Ghussein raises grave concerns about its legitimacy and respect for the rule of law. It also reveals the Authoritys willingness to deceive Arab governments that support it most notably, Egypt and the United Arab Emirates, which were told, variously, that the Palestinian Authority had a judgment against Mr. Al-Ghussein for money he allegedly owed and that he wanted to return to Gaza voluntarily (neither of which is true) in order to justify removing him by force from those jurisdictions. Its dishonesty and manipulations also undermine the claim that the Authority can be a trustworthy partner for peace.
Mr. Al-Ghusseins personal tragedy reflects deeper ongoing tragedies for the Palestinian people. If a prominent Palestinian like Mr. Al-Ghussein can be abused this way, in defiance of Palestinian law and international law, and if the Authority persists in the face of international condemnation, and lies to governments that support it, what can the suffering Palestinian people expect from the Authority, and how can the international community trust its leaders? The nations that support the Authority should be urged to confront its leaders and insist that they account for persisting in their lawlessness and refusing to release Mr. Al-Ghussein despite condemnation from every quarter.
Stay tuned for the UN report coming soon