AYED MOHAMMED SALEM DUDEEN

Date of birth: 20 September 1967
Place of residence: Dura village, south of Hebron.
Occupation: Nurse and ambulance officer. Ayed has been the deputy director of the Hebron Palestinian Red Crescent Society’s ambulance and emergency services since 1989.
Marital status: Married and father of six
Place of detention: Ketziot Prison
Postal address: Ketziot Prison, P.O. Box 13, Postal Code: 84102, Israel
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ARREST AND DETENTION

Ayed Dudeen was arrested at approximately 2 a.m. on 9 August 2011 from his home in Dura village, south of Hebron, when as many as 50 soldiers arrived and surrounded his house. When they entered the house they confiscated computers and phones and, using knives, tore up the furniture before arresting Ayed. His arrest came two months to the day since his release from over three and a half years in administrative detention. During that time, the Military Area Commander had warned Ayed that although he was soon to be released, he would not stay out of prison for more than two months and that his family would not be able to live with him for long. On the night of his arrest on 9 August, the same Military Commander was present at the house and aggressively reminded Ayed that his threat was now being fulfilled. Ayed’s family were not informed at the time of where he was being taken nor of the reasons for his arrest. He was interrogated for two weeks at Ashkelon prison, during which time he was not asked anything about his time outside prison but instead about what political action he was planning to take in relation to the Palestinian Authority’s upcoming bid at the United Nations for state recognition. The Israeli Security Agency (ISA) suggested he take a lie detector test, which Ayed agreed to. However following a consultation with a medical expert the ISA claimed he was not in sufficient health to take the test.

Ayed was given an administrative detention order by the Israeli Security Agency (ISA) which was confirmed at Ofer Military Court on 25 August. As with all other administrative detainees, Ayed’s detention was based on secret information collected by the Israeli Security Agency, available to the military judge reviewing his detention orders but not to Ayed or his lawyer. Ayed’s administrative detention order was renewed on 7 February and again on 9 August, for a period of 6 months.

PREVIOUS ADMINISTRATIVE DETENTION ORDERS

Ayed Dudeen is one of the longest serving administrative detainees, having spent over three and a half years in detention without charge or trial from 19 October 2007 until 9 June 2011.

Over the course of his previous detention, Ayed’s administrative detention orders were renewed a total of 30 times, meaning that his detention was extended every two months on average until his release on 9 June. He was never made aware of the allegations against him, and thus had no means to defend himself over this period. This violates international human rights law, which permits some limited use of administrative detention in emergency situations, but requires that the authorities follow basic rules for detention, including a fair hearing at which the detainee can challenge the reasons for his or her detention.

Despite the lack of publicly available evidence concerning both his current and previous administrative detention orders, the review hearings during Ayed’s previous detention, however, revealed further information about his case.

At Ayed’s last review hearings, the military prosecution alleged that Ayed is an active member and leader of Hamas and remained an active security threat even in prison. Ayed, however, insisted that his activities in prison were limited to acting as an intermediary between the prisoners and the prison’s administration in order to address some of the prisoners’ concerns regarding their detention conditions. When Ayed’s current administrative detention order was confirmed in court on 25 August, it emerged that the order was related to new evidence concerning his alleged activities with Hamas – again in relation to his time before his release as well as afterwards. However no further information has been revealed, once again making it impossible for Ayed to defend himself.

On more than one occasion during his previous detention, the military prosecution offered to release Ayed under the condition that he be deported to Gaza, despite the fact that he has absolutely no link to the Strip and that his entire family lives in Hebron. This further demonstrates that his release does not pose an imminent threat to Israel, an essential requirement under international humanitarian law for the permissible use of administrative detention. Ayed consistently rejected these offers and remained persistent in his demands to be released and reunited with his family in Hebron, a wish that was finally fulfilled on 9 June 2011 but brutally cut short two months later.

PREVIOUS ARRESTS

Ayed was first arrested on 19 December 1992, along with his three brothers, and held in Hebron prison, at the time still under the control of the IOF. During his detention, Ayed was deprived of sleep on a regular basis and often forced to sit in the interrogation room with his hands tied behind his back for several hours at a time. After three months of continual interrogation, Ayed was told that he would be released, but mere moments after his release, he was assaulted by two IOF soldiers at the prison gates, shackled and re-arrested. He was eventually released on 21 March 1993 after enduring additional interrogation.

Six days after his release from detention, on 27 March 1993, Ayed’s home was again raided by IOF soldiers. He was badly beaten and transferred to a detention center, where he was interrogated for 75 days and subjected to torture and cruel and degrading treatment. Eventually, Ayed was charged with forming a military cell and sentenced to a year in prison. He was released on 5 May 1994.

Ayed was again arrested on 19 July 1998 and interrogated at the Al Moskobiyeh interrogation centre for 138 days on charges of harboring a fugitive; charges that he persistently denied. Ayed was nonetheless sentenced to 8 years in prison on the basis of testimonies obtained from other detainees. After an appeal, however, Ayed’s sentence was reduced to 7 years. Throughout his incarceration, Ayed was held in several prisons, including Ashkelon Prison, where his brother was also being held. Despite this, the brothers were denied permission to share a cell.

Six months after his release on 2 February 2005, Ayed was arrested once more, spending 22 months in administrative detention without charge or trial before being released on 19 July 2007. Despite spending almost two years away from his family, Ayed was unable to spend much of his new-found freedom with them; exactly 3 months after his release, he was rearrested on 19 October 2007 and once again placed in administrative detention. He remained in prison for a little under three years and eight months, making him the longest held administrative detainee at the time of his imprisonment.

AYED’S FAMILY

Ayed’s detention did not shield his family from further pressures and harassment by the Israeli military. On the contrary, their home continued to be raided on a regular basis and family members interrogated. On 5 January 2010, for example, the IOF broke into the family home at 12.30 a.m., ransacked it and confiscated Ayed’s laptop, which has yet to be returned. On 22 December 2010, Ayed’s oldest son Hamza was also summoned for interrogation. The intelligence officer conducting the interrogation pressured Hamza to confess that his father’s activities are threat to the family and told him that he is under surveillance and that the IOF knows everything about his studies, social life and movements. During the interrogation Hamza was also threatened with arrest, and repeatedly told that if he was hiding any information about his father, he would also end up in jail. On the night of Ayed’s arrest on 9 August, the house was once again ransacked and various items confiscated including computers and mobile phones.

Ayed’s repeated detention has significantly complicated his relationship with his children, who have only lived with him for a few months at a time. One of his sons, Izzedin, was only 50 days old when his father was first arrested and 8 years old when he first met his father as a free man, and consistently refused to visit his father in prison. Ayed’s previous detention also took a toll on the children’s education as visits took place during school days and the children reported being so exhausted from the visits – which require a long journey to the prison but can last no longer than 45 minutes - that they often had to skip school the next day.

The main burden of Ayed’s repeated detentions, however, lie with his wife, Amal, who was a first-year university student when her husband was arrested for the first time. Soon thereafter, she was forced to discontinue her studies as a result of her husband’s repeated arrests and the demands of raising their children. Nevertheless, Amal held on to her dream of completing her education. With her husband’s encouragement, she returned to school in 2002 and completed her bachelor’s degree in English literature from Al-Quds University, all the while single-handedly raising their six children. Amal currently works as a school teacher in her hometown of Dura near Hebron.

Ayed’s mother died on 27 December 2010, months after being diagnosed with an aggressive malignant tumor. Despite medical documentation showing the severity of her condition, Ayed was repeatedly denied permission to visit his mother. After her death, he was also denied permission to attend her funeral.

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Ayed is the first case in Addameer’s new Prisoners at Risk campaign, launched on 17 April 2011, Palestinian Prisoners’ Day. The campaign will raise awareness of specific cases of Palestinian political prisoners whose detention presents serious dangers. For more information about this campaign, please visit the campaign webpage and Facebook

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Administrative detention is a procedure that allows the Israeli military to hold detainees indefinitely on secret evidence without charging them or allowing them to stand trial. In the occupied Palestinian West Bank, the Israeli army is authorized to issue administrative detention orders against Palestinian civilians on the basis of Military Order 1651. This order empowers military commanders to detain an individual for up to six month renewable periods if they have “reasonable grounds to presume that the security of the area or public security require the detention.” On or just before the expiry date, the detention order is frequently renewed. This process can be continued indefinitely.

For more information on administrative detention, read Addameer’s report on administrative detention:

Administrative Detention in the Occupied Palestinian Territory: A Legal Analysis Report, July 2010

Administrative Detention in the Occupied Palestinian Territory: Betweel Law and Practice, December 2010

AYED MOHAMMED SALEM DUDEEN

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