Bajes Nakhleh - English

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“Administrative detention can be harder than a life sentence. I gave birth to 5 children and never had my husband near. My children celebrated 17 birthdays without their father.”

- Wife of Detainee Bajes Nakleh

Name: Bajes Khalil Mustafa Nakhleh

Residence: Jalazon Refugee Camp (Originally from Beit Nabala near the Lid in the 1948 Territories)

Date of Birth: 15 March 1963

Date of arrest: 15 January 2013

Marital status: Married with 5 children

Place of detention: Ofer Prison

Legal status: Administrative Detention (6 month order)

Number of arrests: 13 arrests including 11 administrative detentions

Number of years spent in prison: 17 years

Arrest

On 15 January 2013, a large division of Israeli Occupying Forces (IOF) and Israeli intelligence officers raided Sheikh Bajes’ home in Jalazon Refugee Camp just outside of Ramallah at 2:00 am. The family awoke to the sound of explosions as the IOF broke the gate to the home. The soldiers immediately swarmed the home, ransacking the house and destroying the furniture. The family was held in a separate room for approximately half an hour while Bajes was interrogated. During the interrogation, one of the IOF officers called for Bajes’ children to come and introduce themselves. After approximately an hour, the IOF arrested Bajes on a 6-month administrative detention order.

During the raid, the family computer and Bajes’ cell phone were also confiscated. According to Bajes’ wife, this is the seventh family computer confiscated by IOF.

Bajes was arrested during an arrest campaign launched by IOF against leaders and other individuals affiliated with Hamas. Bajes was placed in administrative detention a mere 4 months after being released from a previous bout in detention.

Previous arrests

Bajes married his wife in 1988. Although he has been married for 25 years, he has only spent a total of 7 years with his family due to his imprisonment. Bajes has spent over 17 years in Israeli prisons. He has been detained 13 times and was held in administrative detention on eleven out of those thirteen occasions. Bajes was also deported and exiled to Marj Zhour in Southern Lebanon from 1993-1995.

Bajes was first detained in 1989, when he was held on a secret file and charged with general affiliation with Hamas.

Bajes’ penultimate detention was his most difficult one. He spent four years in detention, of which two were in solitary confinement. He was only transferred out of isolation after joining a mass hunger strike that demanded the end of Israel’s practice of solitary confinement on 17 April 2012. Bajes was one of the 19 detainees placed in solitary confinement who were taken out of isolation after a deal was made between Palestinian detainees and prisoners on hunger strike and the Israel Prison Service (IPS) on 14 May 2012. Bajes, who was in solitary confinement in Asqalan Prison on that date, was subsequently transferred to Ofer Prison, where he was held until his release on 13 September 2012.

Bajes was denied family visits throughout his time in solitary confinement. His family was only able to contact him twice via letters that were sent through the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC). Because his family was denied visitation, Bajes was only able to receive clothing once during his detention by way of the family of another prisoner.

Four months after Bajes’ release on 13 September 2012, he was arrested again and placed in administrative detention based on the Occupation’s claim that ‘secret information’ exists showing that he represents some kind of security threat.

Legal status

Bajes was issued a six-month administrative detention order on 17 January 2013. He is scheduled to be released on 15 July 2013. The military prosecution is accusing Bajes of being affiliated with Hamas after his release in September 2012, including participating in a Hamas anniversary event on 14 December 2012.

Thus far, the prosecution and military court has not provided any evidence regarding Bajes’ alleged participation in these activities. Bajes’ legal representation has asked if these accusations are based on Bajes’ participation in reconciliation efforts between Hamas and Fatah. He has yet to receive a response to this question.

The military prosecution did not clarify the nature of Bajes’ participation in the Hamas anniversary event, nor did they clarify whether or not they have evidence substantiating this claim, or why, if evidence does exist, Bajes was placed in administrative detention as opposed to being formally charged. The prosecution has also yet to clarify why everyone who allegedly participated in the anniversary event was not arrested on the same day.

The military judge in this case, Rafael Yamini, has refused to disclose any of the information in the secret file and will not provide any kind of answer to the questions brought by the defense.

Family

Bajes’ family consists of his wife, Om Fares, and 5 children. Om Fares has been given a permanent ‘security ban’ and therefore has not been allowed to visit Bajes since the outbreak of the Second Intifada in 2000. Om Fares has not even been allowed the “security ban permit,” which is issued to the families of prisoners every six months. Om Fares gave birth to her children without her husband being present.

Not only have IOF arrested Bajes, they have also arrested his eldest son (25 years old), who served a 4 year sentence, and his other son Ma’rouf (22 years old), who was arrested when he was still a child and given a 3 year sentence. Both sons were held with Bajes for two years in prison (2009-2010), before Bajes was placed in solitary confinement. When the sons were released in August 2011, they were not allowed to say goodbye to their father, who was being held in isolation in Nafha Prison at the time.

Bajes’ children Eman (21 years old), Saja (17 years old), and Mohammad (12 years old) have all requested permits to visit their father, but have yet to receive a response.

ACT NOW!

Here is how you can help Bajes Nakhleh.

• Send Bajes letters of support to his postal address in prison:

Megiddo Prison, P.O. Box 2424, via Israel

• Write to the Israeli government, military and legal authorities and demand that Bajes be released immediately.

• Write to your own elected representative urging them to pressure Israel to release Bajes Nakhleh.
• For more information about administrative detention and Addameer’s Campaign to Stop Administrative Detention please visit our website: www.addameer.org