CASE No - Inter-Parliamentary Union

CL/183/SR.1
ANNEX XXVI
CASE No. PAL/05 - AHMAD SA'ADAT - PALESTINE / ISRAEL
Resolution adopted unanimously by the IPU Governing Council at its 183 rd session
(Geneva, 15 October 2008)
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, as outlined in the report of the Committee on the Human Rights of Parliamentarians
(CL/183/12(b)-R.1), and to the resolution adopted at its 182 nd session (April 2008),
Referring also to the study of 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”,
Taking account of the letter from the Permanent Representative of Israel to the United
Nations Office and other International Organizations in Geneva, dated 8 October 2008, as well as of
information provided the same day by one of the sources,
Recalling that 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 an Israeli jail; that in late April 2006, in the
absence of sufficient evidence, the Israeli authorities dropped the charge of involvement in Mr. Zeevi’s
murder and subsequently brought 19 other charges against Mr. Sa'adat, all of which arise from his
leadership of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) and none of which allege direct
involvement in crimes of violence, although seven (dating from 1998 or earlier) allege preparatory or
secondary involvement in such acts, and that Mr. Sa'adat has refused to accept the court's jurisdiction
since the start of his trial,
Noting that a hearing in Mr. Sa’adat’s case was scheduled for 28 July 2008, at which the
court intended to ascertain whether Mr. Sa’adat was prepared to present his defence regarding the
prosecution evidence, and that the judge prolonged his imprisonment without adducing any grounds,
Recalling that, at the meeting the IPU President and the Secretary General had with the Israeli
Minister for Foreign Affairs during their visit to Israel in early February 2008, she stated that there was no
reason why information on the judicial proceedings in this and other cases of Palestinian Legislative Council
members should not be provided and undertook to ensure that such information was provided; noting,
however, that no such information has been provided,
Noting in this respect that, in his letter of 8 October, the Permanent Representative of Israel
stated that the “Palestinian parliamentarians detained in Israel for their connection to terrorist activities
continue to enjoy rights stipulated under Israeli law with due respect paid to humanitarian concerns” and
noted that “this is in stark contrast to the depraved conditions of detention that the Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit
endures under the Palestinian authorities. He continues to be denied even the most basic humanitarian
assurances, including visits by the ICRC”,
Bearing in mind also the prisoner exchange between Israel and the Lebanese group
Hezbollah, which took place on 16 July 2008, a move which the United Nations Secretary-General
welcomed, expressing the hope that it might soon be followed by action for the release of Corporal
Gilad Shalit and of Palestinian prisoners,