Wie geen macht heeft, heeft ook geen recht

[Bart Meerdink]

REPLY TO: D66 at nic.surfnet.nl

Een klein inkijkje in wat zich in 'groot'-Israel afspeelt.

Burgerrechten worden naar believen opzij geschoven. Logisch gezien
zouden degenen die (mede-)verantwoordelijk zijn zware gevangenisstraffen
moeten krijgen voor ontvoering en marteling. Maar ook de wet wordt naar
believen slechts toegepast waar het uitkomt. Gewetenloos, moreel defect.

(Vergelijk ook http://www.guardian.co.uk/usa/story/0,,1791991,00.html
   UK 'aided CIA' with torture flights en
  http://www.cnn.com/2006/US/06/06/nazi.crimes/index.html
   CIA papers: U.S. failed to pursue Nazi)

http://observer.guardian.co.uk/world/story/0,,1789872,00.html
	
Israeli secret agent threatened to kill me, says Briton

Conal Urquhart in Tel Aviv
Sunday June 4, 2006
The Observer

A British charity worker has revealed how he was threatened with death
by the Israeli secret service while he was detained for three weeks
without charge.

Ayaz Ali returned from Israel to Britain last week after a military
judge ruled he had done nothing wrong. On his release, the Israeli
government issued a statement accusing Ali, 35, of assisting Hamas and
implied that he was a neo-Nazi and a supporter of al-Qaeda.

Ali, an accountant, arrived in Israel last December to direct aid
efforts by Islamic Relief in Gaza and the West Bank. The
Birmingham-based charity, which works with Britain's Department for
International Development, provides fortified milk for children, imports
artificial limbs and runs education centres.

A Department for International Development spokesman said it had no
reason to believe there was any truth in the allegations against Ali or
Islamic Relief.

Ali, speaking from his home in Birmingham, said he had no problems until
9 May when he was stopped by police as he drove from Gaza towards
Jerusalem and told he was being detained in connection with terrorism.
He was taken to a prison in Ashkelon where he was blindfolded,
handcuffed, shackled and put in a cell measuring 6ft by 8ft.

Every day he was taken to an interrogation room to be questioned for up
to 14 hours under bright lights by agents of Israel's internal security
agency, Shin Bet, while handcuffed and shackled to a chair. When his
interrogators deemed he was being co-operative, his handcuffs were
removed; they were replaced when they believed he was not helpful.

'They were brilliant at playing mind games. They said they knew
everything about me and they had been watching me for five months. They
knew my wife was expecting a baby, and told me I would never see my
baby. I just tried to be completely honest,' Ali said.

The interrogations were led by an aggressive man who was assisted by
others who played a sympathetic role. 'He told me that if he thought I
was an imminent threat or knew about an imminent threat, he was prepared
to kill me. I was in fear for my life,' he said.

The main interrogator would scream at him within inches of his face,
saying that at best he faced a long time in jail. Then the man would
storm out, to be replaced by a more sympathetic colleague. 'I felt
completely helpless, degraded and full of despair. They knew what they
were doing and I would have kissed their feet if they asked me,' he said.

Shin Bet confiscated Ali's laptop computer and mobile phone which
provided most of the material for the interrogation. Several times it
descended into farce as Ali was asked to explain mundane things the
investigators had found. 'They went through my phone's address book and
found "Derek the builder". I told them Derek was a handyman in
Birmingham who did work for me, but they didn't seem to understand the
concept,' he said.

After five days Ali was visited by a British embassy official. 'The
first question he asked me was, "Have they tortured you?" I told him
they hadn't physically harmed me. When it seemed the embassy was paying
attention they went slightly easier on me.'

After the first week the interrogations became less intense as Shin Bet
ran out of questions. 'They asked me about Palestinians I knew in
Britain, about other charities in Gaza and all the people I knew,' he
said. In his final week of captivity he was transferred to a police
station where he was questioned again, but 'in a friendly way', before
his release.

Bradford-born Ali said it was unlikely he would return to Israel, and
Islamic Relief was considering what action to take against the Israeli
government for his false imprisonment.

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