LAW goes to High Court to appeal court decision
preventing visits to Tarek Awad
2 May 2001
At the Israeli High Court today LAW Societyís lawyer
Labib Habib appealed a court decision to prevent visits to Palestinian
detainee Tarek Awad. 26-year-old Awad, from Ithna, Hebron, was arrested
by Israeli forces on 26 April 2001 and taken for interrogation at
Asqalan prison. When lawyer Labib Habib requested a visit to his client,
he found that a court decision preventing Awad from receiving visits
had been taken on 30 April 2001 during a discussion on whether to
extend his detention in custody. By way of explanation a police representative
told Habib that Awad was not allowed to receive visits from the moment
of his arrest, although the official decision was only taken when
the lawyer requested to see him. Habib emphasised in his appeal that
to take a decision to prevent visits to a detainee during a court
session about extending his detention period is illegal. LAWís lawyer
also demanded better conditions in custody for Awad, since detention
conditions at Asqalan are very bad, especially in the interrogation
section, where minimal detention standards are not taken into consideration
and detainees are held for long periods of solitary confinement in
a cell with very cold air being blown inside around the clock. The
cell also contains a red light which is never turned off, causing
headaches and eye strain.