The Israeli Occupation Forces detain The Coordinator of the Legal Aid Unit of Al-Mezan Center for Human Rights.
Al Mezan Center for human rights would like to demand the immediate release of the human rights lawyer Mr Adnan al-Hajjar.
Mr Adnan al-Hajjar was arrested by the Israeli Occupation Forces today, 23 April 2001, as he was coming back to the Gaza Strip from Egypt and traveling through Rafah Crossing.
Mr Adnan al-Hajjar is a human rights lawyer who works for Al Mezan Center for Human Rights in Jabalia Refugee Camp situated in the Gaza Strip.
He was part of a party that left the Gaza Strip on the 5th April to attend a training course on Legislative Formulation organized by the Arab Research and Training Center (ARTC) in Cairo as part of a program organized by (ARD) Strengthening the Capacity of the Palestinian Legislative Council.
He was not the only attendant to the course from the Occupied Palestinian Territories.
There were four Palestinians from the Legislative Unit in the Palestinian Legislative Council.
Three from the Chamber on Legislation and the Formulation of Laws and two from non-governmental human rights organizations, one from ad-Damir and the other, Mr.
Adnan al-Hajjar, from Al Mezan Center for Human Rights.
The courses lasted from the 7th April to 22nd April.
Two buses with roughly 120 passenger arrived at the Egyptian side of Rafah Crossing at 11.
30 a.
m.
At 12.
30 a.
m.
they arrived at the Israeli side of the border at 2 p.
m.
they had all left the border except Mr.
Adnan al-Hajjar.
  Mr Adnan al-Hajjar has no previous record of ever having been arrested for involvement in any kind of political or criminal activity.
His arrest is completely illegal and a serious violation of the Palestinian human rights.
It is a particularly condemnable and dangerous violation because the Israeli authorities are preventing the work of a human rights activist.
This constitutes a threat to the capacity to monitor the human rights violations perpetrated in the Gaza Strip and thus making the Palestinian civilians more vulnerable to attacks.
We are afraid that his arrest was motivated by the fact that he is a human rights lawyer and profoundly concerned that he will be subjected to torture since this is a widespread practice in Israeli prisons.
Mr Adnan al-Hajjar was in charge of the Legal Aid Unit at Al Mezan Center for Human Rights and was himself responsible for dealing with cases of Palestinians being illegally arrested by the Israeli authorities and in precisely the same circumstances in which he now finds himself in.
Please write to: Prime Minister Ariel Sharon
Office of the Prime Minister
3 Kaplan Street, PO Box 187
Kiryat Ben Gurion
Jerusalem 91919
Telegrams: Prime Minister, Jerusalem
Fax: +972 2 651 2631
Salutation: Dear Prime Minister Defense Minister Binyamin Ben-Eliezer
Ministry of Defense
Kaplan Street
Hakirya
Tel Aviv 67659
Fax: +972 3 691 6940 and 972-3-697-6990
Salutation: Dear Minister
e-mail: sar@mod.
gov.
il Lieutenant-General Shaul Mofaz
Chief of General Staff
C/o Ministry of Defense
7 ‘A’ Street
Hakirya
Tel Aviv
Fax: +972 3 691 6940