Ramallah, 21 June 2011 – Addameer is concerned about the prolonged detention and interrogation of Nael and Saed Al Tokhi, who were arrested in the early hours of 19 and 26 May respectively and have since had no access to a lawyer.
Nael, 31, and Saed, 29, are brothers who live in apartments in the same building located in Misharayet in Ramallah. They are both married and each has one child. The two brothers were at home with their families when a large number of military vehicles arrived at the building and Israeli soldiers alighted from the vehicles and ordered them to stay inside their apartments. Both brothers were then arrested without any explanation given. Nael was taken to Moskobiyeh (Russian Compound) and Saed was taken to Ashkelon for interrogation. Today Nael was also moved to Moskobiyeh. Neither of them have had any access to the outside world, other than being brought before a Military Judge. However this too was a closed court session without any lawyer present.
Since their arrest, Israeli forces have returned to the building where the two brothers live. On 14 June at 1.30am soldiers arrived there with dogs and first woke up the father of Nael and Saed, Ahmad Ibrahim Tokhi, 62 years old, who lives in the adjacent building. They then ordered Nael and Saed’s families into his house, and took from Ahmad the key to the brothers’ store used for construction materials, located on the ground floor of the building they live in. The soldiers proceeded to search the store and destroy some of its contents, whilst also tampering with the surveillance camera for the store so their actions could not be recorded. They then searched 4 apartments in the building – those of Nael and Saed, and 2 others that are still under construction. Using special machinery they destroyed the front doors of Nael and Saed’s apartments in order to get inside. Photographs obtained by Addameer show that both apartments were ransacked during the search.
These actions, along with the prolonged interrogation without access to a lawyer, suggest a calculated effort by the Israeli authorities to put intense pressure on Nael and Saed to force them to confess to whatever crime they are suspected of. Without access to anyone other than their interrogators, there is also the real risk that they are being subjected to different forms of ill treatment.
Addameer is concerned over the treatment of Nael and Saed and demands that they be afforded basic standards of treatment relative to detainees and either be released or given access to legal counsel. We will continue to monitor their situation closely.