COMMISSARIAT AUX DROITS DE L'HOMME

Palals des Nations

CH 1211 Geneva 10

REFEPJiNCB0' /80/218 (2)

7 January 2002

Dear Mr .Davis,

I would like to refer to the thirty-second session of the Working droup on Arbitrary

Detention, in which the Working Group adopted several Opinions on cases of detention

submitted to it. The Working Group decided, inter alia to transmit its Opinions, after having

transmitted them to the governments concerned, to the sources of information which had

submitted the cases for the Group. in accordance with teh Working Group's decisiopn i am sending you, attached herewith, the Opinion No 31/2001 on the case of Mr Jaweed Al-Ghussein submitted by you. This Opnion will also be reproduced in teh Working Group report to the fifty-ninth session of the Commission on Human Rights.

yours sincerly

Miguel de la Lama

Secretary. Working Group on Arbitary Detention.

Attached: Opinion No. 31/2001 (Palestinian National Authority)

Mr .Edward J. Davis

Davis R Wright Tremaine LLP

1740 Broadway

NewYork, NY 10019-4315

United States of America

(Fax No. 1.212) 489.83.40

In accordance with the Working Group's decision I am sending you. attached herewith, the

Opinion No. 31/2001 on the case of Mr .Jaweed AI-Ohussein submitted by you. This Opinion

will also be reproduced in the Working Group's report to the fifty-nine session of the

Comntission on Human Rights.

Yours sincerly

OPNION No.31 /12001 (Palcstinian National Authority)

Communication addressed to the Palestinian National Authority on 28 August 2001

Concerning: Jaweed Al-Ghussein

The Palestinian National Authority has not signed nor ratified the International Covenant on Civil and Poltical Rights:

I. The Working Group on Arbitrary Detention was established by resolution

1991/42 of the Commission on Human Rights. The mandate of the Commission on Human Rights

was clarified and extended by resolution 1997/50, and reconfirmed by resolution

2000/36. Acting in accordance with its methods of work, the Working Group

forwarded to the Palestinian National Authority the above-mentioned communication

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2. The Working Group conveys its appreciation to the Palestinian National

Authority for having forwarded the requested information in good time.

3. The Working Group regards deprivation of liberty as arbitary; in the following

cases:

(i) when it manifestly cannot be justified on any legal basis ( such as continued detention after the sentence has been served or despite an applicable amensty (category1 ):

(ii) When the deprivation of liberty is the resusult of a judgement or sentence

for the exercise of the righ~ and freedoms proclaiimod in artioles 7, 131 14.

18. 19.20 and 21 of the Univcrsal Declaration ofHUInan Rights and also,

in respect of States parties. in articles 12.18,19.21,22125.26 and 27 of

the Intenlational Covenant on Civil and Politioal ,Rights (categoty n);

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(iii)

standards rclating to a fair trial set forth in the ';JnivorSal DCQlaration of

Human Rights and in the xelcvant international insttuments accepted by

the States conoemed is of such gravity as to coD;fer on the deprivation of

liberty. of whatever kind, an a.rbitre.ryC haracter (~ategory nI).

4. In .the light of the allegations made, the Wotking Oroup w~lcomes the coopemtion

of the Palestinian National Authority. :nte Working Group transmitted the

repl)' of the Palestinian National Authority to the 8ource. The latter :ttas provided the

Working OtOup with its cormncnts: The Working Group believc.s thAt it Is in a

position to render an opinion on the fncts and circumstano~s of "the caso, in the

context of the al1cgations made and the response of the Pale~tinlan National

Authority .

s. According to thc informs.tion submitted to the Group, Mr. Jaw~ A1.Qhussein,

citizen of the Hashetnite Kingdom of Jordan and a resident in tiic United Arab

Emirates sinoe 1966, with a.lordanian Passport, was aITe&ted on 20 ~pri1200l at the

Inter-COntinental Hotel of Al KhaUdya, Abu Dhabi, by polioe offic~ of the United

Amb Emirates in plain-clothes. No arrest warrant or othcr decisibn by a public

authority was shown .at the moment of his s.rrest. Police offioers refused to answer

his repeated requests for an explanation for his arrest. .

6. Mr. A1-Ghu6scin is the ownet of the Cordoba Development CoIpoiationt an engineering

and construction company founded in 1950 that is headquartered in Abu Dhabi. In 1984 he

was elected as 8. member of the Exegutive Committee of the Palestinian Liberation

Otganization (PLO) and 8.5 the Chainnan offue Palestinian National Fund. In 1990t he

publicly condemned the Iraq's inv8.sion of Kuwait. In 1996t he resigjled from his posts as

CChoaminmnitatene .o f the Palestinian National Fund and as a member of the pL.o's Executive

7. According to the source, individuals associated with thc PLO raiseb allegations regarding a

business transaction executed while Mr. Al-Ghussein had been the Chainnsn of the

Palestinian National Fund. They brought a civil suit against him seekfng recompense for

monies allegedly lost in the transaction. A judgment was initially rcnaered in favor of the

plaintiffs, but the Supreme Court of the United Arab Emirates revers~d it.

.8. Mr. Al-Ghussein was taken to the Police Station in Abu Dhabi where he w~ held for two

days. On 22 Apri12001, Mr. AI-Qhussein was put into a oar where was Mt. Tariq AI-Ghoul,

an officer of the CID, Mukhabanl.t, the intelligence servioe of the Unfted Arab Emirates. He

was taken to a private airport and flown in a private aircraft to the Atab Republic of Egypt.

In the aircraft it was present Mr. Saaed A11am, known as Abu Saud, a. chief security officer of

the Palestinian Authority .From Bgypt. Mr .AI-Ghussein was driven ~ Qaza by

representatives of the Palestinian Authority and has been detained In Gaza ever since.

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9. According to the souroct Mr. Al-Ohussein was first brought to the presidential offices of

the Palestinian National Authority. Ho has since been held in isolation in various apartments

under the control of the Palestinian Authority , but not in offioial plac~s of detention.

Relatives and attorneys who have sought pemtission to visit him havt been ignored or turned

away. Neither the United Arab Emirates nor the Palestinian Authori~ have provided

justification for his arrest and detention. No legal procedures have b~ followed. He has

been held for more than four months without being charged. No lega1 process has been

available to him or his family to obtain any judicial review ofhls ane'st and detention.

10. Mr. A1-Ghussein is an insulin-dependent diabetic and has a heart 'condition that cau6CS

him to iUffer from palpitations. These health problems require hiin to have medic8.tions and

regular medical oarc. He was hospitalized twice in the five month6 pi£or to his arrest ms

family has not received a substantive response from any official of thb Palestinian Authority,

the United Arab Emirates or the Arab Republic of Egypt. The Palcstittian General Delegation

to the United Kingdom, which the family also contacted, confirmed that Mr. Al..QhU$sein

was arrested in the United Arab Emirates and assorted tlu1t ho was extradited to Palestine but

did not offer any explanation for his arrest or detention. The United /ltJ:ab Emirates' Embassy

in the United Kingdom refused to provide his family with any info[m8.tion. No infonnation

have been obtained from the Oovcmmcnt of the Arab Republic ofE~t.

11. In its reply tho Palestinie.n National Authority explained that Mr AI-Ghussein is a

Palcstlnian national holding a Palestinian passport. Witho11t contesting the

allegations of the source oonceming the arrest and detention of Mr. A1-Ghuasein

before he was brought to Gaza, at a date whioh was not spectfied either by the

sou1'0e or the Palestinian National Authority, it did not deny that ~e has been held in

detention for a considerably long time. A000rding to the irifonnaticn by the

Palestinian National Authorlty "Mr AI-Ohussein was released ort 13 October 2001

and is living with his fe.n111, ya waiting the amicabto settlement of the issue between

him and the Palestinian National Authority, conceming the payment of a debt he has

to pay to the Palestinian National Authority." Moreover, the Palestinian National

Authorlty did not challengc the allegations of the source that N1r AI-Ghussein is

being detained without any criminal charge against him. ;

12. In its comments on the Patestinian National Authority's 'reply, the source

specifies that Mr. AI-Ghussein is still deprived ofhis liberty in-e~tive that the fact

that tho premises where he is being held are not prisons in d1e litetal meaning of the

tenn. Because he suffers from cancer and needs medical ca.re he has been drivcn to

Cairo and apparcntly to a hospital on Palestine territory to see dpctors, but he has

always been escorted by security personnel and has never been allowed to leave the

place of detention where he is being held, which is permanently guarded by agents

of the Palestinian National Authority.

...~: .., ..

13. On the basis of the coinciding infotn1ation provided by the 6ource and the

Palestinian No.tional Authority alike, the Working Group concl\1de5 that Mr Al.

Ghussein is deprived of his liberty sololy because of a debt ho allo$edly owes to that

Authority and is not intended to be released till he pays back this d4bt.

On the basis of the foregoing. the Working Oroup renders the following opinion:

14. The deprivation of liberty of Mr. Jaweed AI-Ghussein is atbittary. being in

contravention of Article 9 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and falls

within category I of the categories applioable to the consideration of cases submitted

to the Working Group.

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IS. Consequent upon the opinion rendeted. the Working GrOup requests the

Palestjnian National Authority to tako the necessary steps to rem:edy the situation

and to bring it into confontlity with the standards and prlnciple~ set forth in the

Universal Declaration of Human Rights.

Adopted on 4 Dete1t1ber 2001

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