Medical Treatment Conditional upon Collaboration

Physicians for Human Rights-Israel
01 May 2005

Medical Treatment Conditional upon Collaboration

Muhammad Radad, 38 year old cardiac patient and father of five, discovered that the road to medical care passes by the Israeli GSS. Physicians for Human Rights-Israel, aided by MK Dr. Ahmad Tibi, managed to abolish the conditions of the GSS and Radad was able to receive medical treatment in Jordan. However, the Israeli Security Forces have yet to respond in regards to the policy of conditioning health with collaboration.

Muhammad Radad, resident of Tul Karem district, is a cardiac patient. He was directed to Jordan in January 2005 for treatment and an operation. He was surprised to discover that he was not allowed to leave via Allenby bridge which connects the West Bank to Jordan. He was told that he must contact the GSS (Shin Bet) officer at the DCO in his district- Radad did so that very day. The officer told him that the security forces were willing to grant him all the medical treatment he needs in Israel, in addition to a “special package” which includes, amongst other benefits, an Israeli ID card. The condition was that he collaborate with the GSS and turn in his two “wanted” brothers. Muhammad refused the offer.

The officer responded by saying that Radad would never receive the medical treatment he needs.

On 17 January 2005 Physicians for Human Rights-Israel contacted the JAG and requested that the condition be abolished. Simultaneously, PHR-Israel contacted MK Dr. Ahmad Tibi, who wrote a letter on the issue to Prime Minister Ariel Sharon.

Between 25-27 January, Physicians for Human Rights-Israel was unable to contact Muhammad at all. Only on the 29th did the organization’s representatives discover that he and his family were held in their house in Sida by the Israeli security forces, and were unable to make contact with the outside world. This was done in order to pressure Muhammad into handing over his two brothers.

Muhammad related to a PHR-Israel representative that on the morning of 26 January, the second day of the detention, he was taken on foot by the army to a hilly area near the village, where, according to the army, one of his brothers was hiding. A few meters from an abandoned well the soldiers stopped and threw smoke and gas grenades into it. Muhammad, in spite of his refusal to comply based on his medical condition, was forced to go into the well to search for his brother. Muhammad was returned home after his brother was not found.

The army left the home on the 27th but then returned the next day with one of the brothers who had been captured, while Muhammad and his mother were home. The commander of the force, together with an interrogator from the GSS who had pressured Muhammad, then began to apply mental pressure and stress, and threatened the family so that the captured brother would hand over the one who had not yet been caught. Unsuccessful, the soldiers left the house and even removed the curfew that had been in place in the village during this period.

Physicians for Human Rights-Israel and MK Tibi then sent a letter to Minister of Defense Shaul Mofaz demanding that the security forces end harassment of Muhammad Radad and his family and to finally allow him to leave to Jordan for treatment. Six days later the Minister allowed for Radad’s departure to Jordan.

Currently, Muhammad has returned from a successful heart operation in Jordan. However, no answer has yet been received by the security forces regarding their tactics and their making medical treatment conditional upon collaboration.

For more information:

Ibrahim Habib, Intervention Coordinator, Occupied Territories Project, +972-54-7577696

Shabtai Gold, Public Outreach, +972-54-4860630

Website (English and Hebrew): " target="_blank"> http://www.phr.org.il/>

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