The Campaign to Free Ahmad Sa'adat

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Message Dear President Barack Obama and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, I am writing to address the ongoing violation of the human rights of Palestinian political prisoners held in Israeli jails, including arbitrary administrative detention, torture and abuse, and, in particular, the use of isolation and solitary confinement against Palestinian prisoners. As Israel is the leading recipient of U.S. foreign aid, and receives unqualified political, military and diplomatic support, it is urgent that the U.S. administration take action to address the ongoing violation of Palestinian human rights. Palestinian political leaders, most notably Ahmad Sa'adat, have been subjected to isolation in retaliation for their leadership in the prisoners' movement; Sa'adat has been held in isolation for nearly one and one-half years, and repeatedly deprived of reading material, exercise, and family visits. Ahmad Sa'adat was kidnapped from a Palestinian Authority prison in which he was held under U.S. guard from 2002-2006, and subject to an Israeli military court without any characteristics of a fair or legitimate trial. The United States was aware of the Israeli military's plan to attack the Jericho prison on March 14, 2006, approved of it, and refused to take any action to stop it, despite the fact that U.S guards were responsible for the safety of the prisoners held there. The case of Ahmad Sa'adat is one in which the U.S. is directly - and not merely indirectly - culpable in Israeli violations of Palestinian rights and the U.S. must take action to end his abuse and isolation in prison. The United States government must use its considerable diplomatic and economic influence to end the isolation of Ahmad Sa'adat, and secure his release along with that of his fellow approximately 7,000 political prisoners, and to ensure that in the future, Israel complies with its commitments under US law and international legal norms to respect human rights and international law. Furthermore, the United States should end all of its military, economic and political aid to Israel, as it is a repeated human rights violator and has shown itself to be unwilling to abide by international law or United Nations resolutions. Thousands of Palestinian hostages, children, women and men, languish in Israeli jails, prisoners of freedom and subject to torture, abuse, and human rights violations. The voices of the world's conscience demand their immediate release, and the U.S. government has the responsibility to join those voices.