The Governing Council of the Inter-Parliamentary Union,

Referring to the case of the above-mentioned parliamentarians, all of whom were elected to the Palestinian Legislative Council in January 2006, as outlined in the report of the Committee on the Human Rights of Parliamentarians (CL/183/12(b)-R.1), and to the resolution adopted at its 182nd session (April 2008),

Referring also to the study of the Israeli non-governmental organization Yesh Din (Volunteers for Human Rights) on the implementation of due process rights in Israeli military courts in the West Bank, entitled “Backyard Proceedings”, which reveals the absence of due process rights in those courts, as well as to the study of B'tselem - the Israeli Information Center for Human Rights in the Occupied Territories - entitled “Barred from Contact” on violations of the right to visit Palestinians held in Israeli prisons, published in September 2006,

Taking account of the letter from the Permanent Representative of Israel to the United Nations Office and other International Organizations in Geneva, dated 8 October, as well as to the information provided by sources on 17 September and 8 October 2008,

Recalling the following information on file:

• the parliamentarians concerned, elected on the Change and Reform list in the January 2006 elections to the Palestinian Legislative Council, were arrested on or after 29 June 2006 in the occupied West Bank; on 25 September 2006, a military appeal court in the West Bank overturned an order for their release on bail issued on 12 September 2006 by the Ofer military tribunal, and they have since been held in several prisons inside Israel; they have been charged with membership of, leadership in and action on behalf of a terrorist organization, namely Hamas; the parliamentarians concerned argue that the Change and Reform list differed significantly from Hamas and that their participation in the Palestinian elections was not an offence even under Israeli law at the time;

• on 30 June 2006, the Israeli Interior Minister revoked the East Jerusalem residence permits of Mr. Muhammad Abu-Teir, Mr. Ahmad Attoun and Mr. Muhammad Totah and Mr. Khaled Abu Arafeh, who is also Palestinian Minister of Jerusalem Affairs, on account of “breach of trust” or owing to membership in a foreign parliament; they lodged an appeal against that decision in the Israeli Supreme Court;

• the arrests and withdrawal of residence permits came in the context of Israeli military operations in the Gaza Strip to obtain the release of Gilad Shalit, an Israeli soldier kidnapped on 25 June 2006 in a cross-border attack on Israeli military installations that the Israeli Government blames on Hamas and the Palestinian Authority;

• Mr. Abderrahman Zaidan, who had been released, was rearrested approximately one month after he had testified to the Committee at the session it held during the 116th IPU Assembly (Nusa Dua, Bali, May 2007),

Considering that on 17 September 2008 the Supreme Court, ruling on the petition of Mr. Muhammad Abu-Teir, Mr. Ahmad Attoun, Mr. Muhammad Totah and Mr. Khaled Abu Arafeh against the revocation of their East Jerusalem permanent residency status, decided to give them the opportunity to submit applications to the Israeli Minister of the Interior to reinstate their residency status and that doing so would not be considered to be a retraction of their principal arguments, and asked the two parties to inform it of developments that occurred in the case within 60 days, after which it would decide how to proceed with the case,

Recalling that, at the meeting that the IPU President and the Secretary General had with the Israeli Minister for Foreign Affairs during their visit to Israel in early February 2008, she stated that there was no reason why information on the judicial proceedings in this and other cases of Palestinian Legislative Council members should not be provided and undertook to ensure that such information was provided; considering  in this respect that, in his letter of 8 October, the Permanent Representative stated that “Palestinian parliamentarians detained in Israel for their connection to terrorist activities continue to enjoy rights stipulated under Israeli law with due respect paid to humanitarian concerns” and noted that “this is in stark contrast to the depraved conditions of detention that the Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit endures under the Palestinian authorities. He continues to be denied even the most basic humanitarian assurances, including visits by the ICRC”,

Bearing in mind the prisoner exchange between Israel and the Lebanese group Hezbollah which took place on 16 July 2008, a move which the United Nations Secretary-General welcomed, expressing the hope that it might soon be followed by action for the release of Corporal Gilad Shalit and of Palestinian prisoners,

1. Thanks the Permanent Representative of Israel for his letter of 8 October 2008; nevertheless regrets that it provides information neither on the conditions of detention and state of health of the parliamentarians concerned nor on the proceedings under way against them; regrets in particular the absence of any information on the situation of Mr. Abderrahamn Zaidan, who was rearrested shortly after testifying to the Committee on the Human Rights of Parliamentarians;

2. Reaffirms its conviction that the arrest and detention of the members of parliament concerned is quite unrelated to any criminal activity on their part and is linked to their election on the Change and Reform list in a free and fair election whose outcome, however, the Israeli authorities did not welcome, and that their arrest and detention and prosecution therefore constitute a violation of their right to freedom; consequently calls on the authorities to release them forthwith;

3. Reiterates its wish to receive official information on the conditions of detention of the parliamentarians concerned, and the proceedings brought against them and, in particular, on the reasons for the rearrest of Mr. Zaidan;

4. Would appreciate receiving a copy of the judgment handed down by an appeal court on Mr. Wael Mohamed Abdel Ruman;

5. Earnestly hopes, in the light of the Supreme Court decision, that Mr. Muhammad Abu-Teir, Mr. Ahmad Attoun, Mr. Muhammad Totah and Mr. Khaled Abu Arafeh will recover their East Jerusalem residency permits as soon as possible;

6. Requests the Committee to continue examining this case and report to it at its next session, to be held on the occasion of the 120th Assembly of the IPU (April 2009).

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