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Jordanian Prisoner in Israel, Samer Barq, on Hunger Strike, Two Years After Jordanian Intelligence Handed him Over to Israelis

AOHR holds Jordan responsible for the prisoner Barq's life

[ 07/09/2012 - 10:26 AM ]

LONDON, (PIC)--

The Arab Organization for Human Rights (AOHR) in Britain said that the Jordanian intelligence handed the prisoner Samer Barq over to the Israeli authorities more than two years ago.

AOHR said, in its statement on Thursday, the Jordanian prisoner Samer Barq, who has been on hunger strike for more than 100 days now, was arrested in Pakistan by the American forces in 2002 where he spent one year in American prisons. He was then handed over to the Jordanian authorities in 2003 where he was subjected to severe torture for five years for alleged terrorism charges.

The statement added that he was released and began practicing his normal life where he began working in a medical laboratory, however in 2010 and suddenly the Jordanian intelligence arrested him without charge, and during his time in Jordanian prisons no one could see or visit him.

On 11 July 2010 Samer was brought by Jordanian intelligence to Allenby Bridge, the border crossing between Jordan and the occupied Palestinian territory, where he was handed over to Israeli Occupation Forces (IOF). Samer was then taken to Ofer Prison, near Ramallah, where an Israeli military court issued him with an administrative detention order. As a result, Samer has been without trial or charge based on “secret evidence”.

Since Samer’s arrest on 11 July 2010, he has received 7 administrative detention orders. The continued use of administrative detention against Samer forced him to launch a hunger strike two years after his arrest. Barq has been on hunger strike for the past 108 days, causing him serious health deterioration.

The organization confirmed that the Jordanian government had handed one of its citizens over to the occupation authorities in total violation of the Jordanian constitution, which prohibits handing over Jordanian citizens. Handing Barq to Israeli occupation is also considered a serious breach of the international agreements that criminalize surrendering people to countries that practice torture systematically.

AOHR held the Israeli and Jordanian governments fully responsible for the life of the captive Samer Barq, calling on the Jordanian government to reconsider its serious mistake through demanding Barq's release.

The organization also sent urgent letters to the European Commissioner for External Relations and to officials in the Arab Republic of Egypt "to contact both the Jordanian and Israeli governments to save the hunger striker Samer Barq's life."