US Citizen Tortured for 40 Days in Israel
06 July 2000
US Citizen Tortured for 40 Days in Israel
ANWAR MOHAMED, US CITIZEN, ARRESTED AND TORTURED IN ISRAEL FOR 40 DAYS AND THEN RELEASED WITHOUT CHARGE
Anwar Mohamed, second-generation American citizen who was arrested on October 28 at the border crossing between the West Bank and Jordan, was released without any charge and told, “You are free to go.” During the forty days he was jailed, he was subjected to interrogation and torture including the following:
1. hooded with a urine-soaked bag
2. tied and chained in a contorted, painful position
3. subjected to sleep deprivation
4. subjected to food deprivation
5. confined in a small filthy concrete cell about 6 feet by 6 feet by 4 feet for 19 days
6. subjected to beating and kicking
7. subjected to extreme cold
The United States Consulate General was not informed of his detention in a timely manner by the Israeli government and his family couldn’t find him until a non-governmental organization learned of his detention. The US Consul visited him five days after his arrest and said there was nothing he could do even though he reported to the Department of State that Anwar had been severely beaten and the effects of the torture were visible.
All of these forms of torture are reported in the Human rights Report of the Department of State. (The report for 1998 mentions the name of Hashem Mufleh, who was subjected to the same pattern of abuse. He was sentenced by a military court judge to three years with no witnesses or evidence, but based on a confession presented in Hebrew after being tortured. What the Department of State report fails to note is that Hashem Mufleh is an American citizen and the grandson of an American citizen.)
The American Consulate General refused to give Anwar Mohamed any assistance and told him that there was nothing they could do. Anwar replied, “Then you can come and collect my body.”
Anwar Mohamed is in Washington DC until noon on Wednesday, March 10 and is available to be interviewed.
