Lawyer of the late Arafat Jaradat: He suffered from anxiety and fear, complained of being mistreated
In a memorandum delivered to the Ministry of Detainees and Ex-Detainees Affairs, Arafat Jaradat’s attorney, Kmeil Sabbagh, describes the last court hearing of the late detainee Arafat and his health and psychological conditions. Below is a translation of the memorandum:
• Date of court hearing: 21/2/2013
• Happenings of the hearing: Police asked to extend Arafat Jaradat's detention for 15 days and the judge extended his detention for 12 days for interrogation.
• Date of the upcoming court hearing: 4/3/2013 in Al Jalameh.
Note: The detainee works in a gas station and he was detained on suspicion of throwing stones and fire bombs at Israeli targets as well activity against the security of the area. The detainee told me that he admitted to throwing stones once in 2012 and once before in 2006 and that he denies all other reported suspicions. When I asked him if anyone was injured from his stone-throwing, he said he does not know but he thinks that no one was hit.
The prisoner entered the court room and sat on a wooden chair, in front of the judge, I sat next to him, his back was bent, he looked tired and scared; I asked if he was ok, he said that he’s suffering from sharp pain in the back and other parts of his body as he was interrogated for several hours.
Afterwards, I questioned the police investigator; I summed up what I wanted to say and directly asked him about Arafat’s health conditions and that he was suffering from back pain since he was arrested and interrogated for several hours, which caused his back pain and other aches and that his detention conditions are not appropriate.
The judge said that the health conditions of the prisoner have been addressed in a secret report that was presented to him by the police.
While the judge was writing the court’s decision, I turned to Arafat and tried to clarify the judge’s decision. When he realized that the judge will extend hisdetention, signs of fear started to appear on his face; he asked if he willstay in the cell in the upcoming days, I answered that this was a possibility or that he could be transferred to another place, but that in any case he will continue to be interrogated and that I could not do anything, that where hecould stay during the interrogation process was beyond my control.
From the last conversation I had with Arafat Jaradat, it was clear to me that his psychological condition wasn’t stable and that he was suffering from high levels of anxiety and fear. Therefore, I asked the judge to add additional statements to the court session about Arafat's psychological condition and after I was allowed by the military judge I said:
“The defense attorney asks the court’s permission to submit a claim about the 'suspect's' psychological conditions during his stay in solitary confinement and impresses the defense's fear of psychological injury. The attorney asksthat this issue be addressed and that the detainee be given the needed care."
The judge then announced his decision:
“The court asks the prison’s doctor to check on the detainee's health, physical and psychological conditions and provide appropriate instructions to interrogation authorities as well as provide proper treatment.”
Court’s decision was to remand the detainee for additional 12 days, on Thursday 21/2/2013, at 10:00 am, as documented in the hearing report.
According to the lawyer, the police interrogator confirmed that there were no additional allegations or suspicions besides those listed above.