National Campaign Launched Calling for the Release of Hashem Mufleh
16 November 1998
National Campaign Launched Calling for the Release of Hashem Mufleh
NATIONAL CAMPAIGN LAUNCHED CALLING FOR THE RELEASE OF HASHEM MUFLEH, AMERICAN CITIZEN ARRESTED AND TORTURED BY ISRAEL
Hashem Mufleh, an 18-year-old American born in Albuquerque, New Mexico was arrested at Ben Gurion Airport on August 18 as he and his mother were leaving Ramallah to return to the United States where he planned to attend the University of New Mexico.
He was interrogated severely with the use of both psychological and physical torture – hooded, deprived of sleep, tied in a contorted position for hours – and when he refused to sign a confession (produced only in Hebrew which he does not know) he was told that his mother and sister would be raped and he would be sodomized. He was not allowed a visit by the American Consul or the attorney obtained by his family until the ten-day-period of torture and interrogation ended.
Monday, November 9 at 9:30 a.m. at the National Press Club a group of organizations listed at the end of this release will kick off a national campaign to secure the release of Hashem Mufleh and bring attention to the practices Israeli security authorities routinely use which violate international law.
According to a Department of State Report on Human Rights Practices in 1997 common methods of interrogation used by Israeli authorities include:
- hooding
- forced standing or squatting for long periods of time
- prolonged exposure to extreme temperatures
- tying or chaining the detainee in contorted and painful conditions
- blows and beatings with fists, sticks and other instruments
- confinement in small and often filthy spaces
- sleep and food deprivation
- threats against the detainee’s life and family
- “shaking” which in at least one case resulted in death
The US Consular Information Sheet currently in use regarding travel to Israel states:
- US citizens arrested in the West Bank by Israeli authorities for criminal offenses may be prevented from communicating with lawyers, family members or consular officers. The US Consulate General is often not notified of the arrest or notified in a timely manner.
- US citizens arrested or detained in Israel and the West Bank on suspicion of security offenses often are not permitted to communicate with consular officials, lawyers or family members in a timely manner during the interrogation of their case.
- They may be detained for up to six months at a time without charges.
There are currently four other American citizens held under similar circumstances in Israeli prisons inside the Tel Aviv Embassy Consular District and additional Americans in the Jerusalem Consular district.
The case of Hashem Mufleh is the second case involving the arrest and mistreatment of US citizens from Albuquerque, New Mexico. Hazem “Mike” Mansour, a former deputy sheriff and successful jeweler from Albuquerque was arrested in the spring of 1984 while visiting his ailing mother in the West Bank village of Deir Dibwan. Shortly before his intended departure he was arrested by plain clothes Israeli police, interrogated and tortured for 22 days. He was released after suffering a heart attack in prison. Mr. Mansour currently lives in Phoenix, Arizona.
ORGANIZATIONS COLLABORATING ON HASHEM MUFLEH CAMPAIGN
- Arab American Institute
- American Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee
- American Muslim Council
- Council on American-Islamic Relations
- Council for the National Interest
- Fellowship of Reconciliation
- Lawyers Committee for Human Rights
- Middle East Committee of Westmoreland Congregational United Church of Christ
- National Association of Arab Americans (NAAA)
- Non-Violence International
- Partners for Peace
- Resource Center for Non Violence (Santa Cruz, California)
- Search for Justice and Equality in Palestine/Israel
- Torture Abolition and Survivors Support Committee
(Sponsored by 29 organizations)
- University of Michigan ADC chapter
- Women Strike for Peace
- World Organization Against Torture USA
- Washington Area Women in Black
