The Governing Council of the Inter-Parliamentary Union,

Referring to the case of Mr. Ahmad Sa’adat, elected in January 2006 to the Palestinian Legislative Council, and to the resolution it adopted at its 194th session (March 2014),

Referring also to the study produced by the Israeli non-governmental organization Yesh Din (Volunteers for Human Rights) on the implementation of due process rights in Israeli military courts in the West Bank, entitled Backyard Proceedings, which reveals the absence of due process rights in those courts, and to the study published in September 2006 by B’Tselem (the Israeli Information Center for Human Rights in the Occupied Territories), entitled Barred from Contact: Violation of the Right to Visit Palestinians Held in Israeli Prisons,

Recalling the following on file regarding Mr. Sa’adat’s situation:

• On 14 March 2006, Mr. Sa’adat, whom the Israeli authorities had accused of involvement in the October 2001 murder of Mr. R. Zeevi, the Israeli Minister of Tourism, was abducted by the Israeli Defence Forces from Jericho Jail and transferred to Hadarim Prison in Israel, together with four other prisoners suspected of involvement in the murder; the Israeli authorities concluded one month later that Mr. Sa’adat had not been involved in the killing but charged the other four suspects; 19 other charges were subsequently brought against Mr. Sa’adat, all arising from his leadership of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP), which Israel considers a terrorist organization, and none of which allege direct involvement in crimes of violence; on 25 December 2008, Mr. Sa’adat was sentenced to 30 years in prison;

• Mr. Sa’adat suffers from cervical neck pain, high blood pressure and asthma, and has reportedly not been examined by a doctor and is not receiving the medical treatment he needs; when he was first detained, the Israeli authorities refused to let his wife visit him; for the first seven months, Mr. Sa’adat received no family visits; his children, who have Palestinian identity cards, were not allowed to visit their father, for reasons unknown; in March and June 2009, Mr. Sa’adat was placed in solitary confinement, prompting him to go on a nine-day hunger strike in June 2009;

• On 21 October 2010, Mr. Sa’adat’s isolation order, due to expire on 21 April 2011, was confirmed a fourth time for a further six months; it was apparently again extended in October 2011, bringing Mr. Sa’adat’s time in isolation to three years; his isolation ended in May 2012, as part of the agreement ending the April-May 2012 hunger strike by some 2,000 Palestinian detainees in Israel; one of the complainants affirmed in September 2012 that, while Mr. Sa’adat’s wife and oldest son had been able to visit him, his other three children continued to be denied permits;

• According to his letter of 6 January 2013, the Diplomatic Advisor to the Knesset stated that: “Mr. Sa’adat was detained in Hadarim Prison. He was held in a regular cell with other inmates, without any separation or isolation. Mr. Sa’adat is entitled to and, in fact, receives regular visits from his family, the last of which was on 4 December 2012”,

Considering that, in the face of escalating violence in the region, the United Nations Human Rights Council convened a special session on 23 July 2014 and adopted a resolution on the question of “Ensuring respect for international law in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem”, in which it expressed “deep concern at the condition of Palestinian prisoners and detainees in Israeli jails and detention centres, in particular following the arrest by Israel of more than 1,000 Palestinians since 13 June 2014, and calls upon Israel, the occupying Power, to immediately release all Palestinian prisoners whose detention is not in accordance with international law, including all children and all members of the Palestinian Legislative Council”,

1. Deeply deplores that eight years after his arrest Mr. Sa’adat remains in detention as a result of a politically motivated trial; reaffirms in this regard its long-standing position that Mr. Sa’adat’s abduction and transfer to Israel were related not to the original murder charge but rather to his political activities as PFLP General Secretary;

2. Calls on the Israeli authorities to release him without delay and to provide, until that occurs, new official information on his current conditions of detention, in particular his family visiting rights, along with information on the extent to which he has access to medical care; remains concerned in this regard about the reported prison conditions in which Palestinian prisoners are held in Israel;

3. Urges the authorities to accede to its own long-standing request, for as long as Mr. Sa’adat remains imprisoned, to be granted permission to visit him; sincerely hopes that the authorities will respond favourably and facilitate such a visit;

4. Requests the Secretary General to convey this decision to the relevant authorities, the complainant and any third party likely to be in a position to supply relevant information;

5. Requests the Committee to continue examining this case and to report back to it in due course.

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