ACTION ALERT
For Immediate Release
March 17, 2007
Freedom For Hussam Khader! Freedom For All Palestinian Prisoners!
"All that I stand for stems from my faith in the right of my people to be
free" (Hussam Khader)
Al-Awda, The Palestine Right to Return Coalition demands that pressure is
brought to bear on the Zionist authorities to release Hussam Khader, former
Palestinian Legislative Council member, founder of the Committee to Defend
Refugee Rights and senior Fateh leader.
Hussam, who was the first of many Palestinian activists deported to Lebanon
for being leaders of the 1987-91 Intifada, was kidnapped from his home in
Balata Camp on March 17, 2003. Following a lengthy trial of 2½ years, he was
sentenced to 7 years in jail. According to members of the delegation of the
Geneva-based Inter-Parliamentary Union present at the hearings, Hussam's
hearings failed to meet international standards of fair trial.
Throughout his trial, Khader maintained that the case against him was an
attempt to silence him because of his staunch adherence to the Right of
Return for Palestinian refugees. He also accused members of the Palestinian
National Authority of aiding his arrest in the hope of silencing his
unrelenting criticism of PA corruption and lack of transparency.
Hussam Khader is one of approximately 11,000 Palestinians currently
imprisoned by Israel. Violation of international human rights laws and being
subjected to
torture are not only evident in Khader's case, but are common practices
against all
Palestinian prisoners.
Additional information on Hussam's case are found at http://www.hussamkhader.org/internal/committee/default.htm
Al-Awda calls on its members, supporters and all people of conscience to:
1. Send a card or letter of support to Hussam Khader in prison
Hussam Mahmoud Abdel Rahman Khader,
Beer Sheeva Prison,
Eshel Section No. 4,
Area No. 84100, TH 59
Israel
2. Demand that Hussam Khader and all the 11,000 Palestinian prisoners in
Israeli jails, including the 40 elected parliamentarians, are accorded their
rights as enshrined in international human rights law and conventions to
which Israel is a signatory.
Write to:
Louise Arbour
U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights
Commission/Sub-commission Team
Treaties and Commissions Branch
Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights
UNOG-OHCHR
211 Geneva 10, Switzerland
Tel.: +41 22 917 9000
Fax: +41 22 917 9022
1503@ohchr.org
For urgent matters related to human rights violations
tb-petitions@ohchr.org
Mr. Jose' Manuel Barroso
President, European Commission
1049 Brussels
Belgium
sg-web-president@ec.europa.eu
Tel.: +32.2.298.81.55
Afif Safyeh
PLO Mission
320 18th Street, suite # 200,
Northwest, Washington, DC, 20036
Telephone: (202) 974 6360
Fax: (202) 974 6278
plomission1@aol.com
Mahmoud Abbas
President, Palestinian Authority
Office of the President
The Beach Forum
Gaza City
Tel: ++972 2 2824834
Fax: ++972 2 2823487
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Al-Awda, The Palestine Right to Return
Coalition
PO Box 131352
Carlsbad, CA 92013, USA
Tel: 760-685-3243
Fax: 360-933-3568
E-mail: info@al-awda.org
WWW: http://al-awda.org
Al-Awda, The Palestine Right to Return
Coalition (PRRC) is the largest network of grassroots activists
and students dedicated to Palestinian human rights. We are
a not for profit tax-exempt educational and charitable 501(c)(3)
organization as defined by the Internal Revenue Service
(IRS) of the United States of America. Under IRS guidelines,
your donations to PRRC
are tax-deductible. |
