PRESS RELEASE

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE - October 8, 1999

Canadian members of AI call for international participation in protest against continued detention of Cosette Ibrahim and 149 other Khiam detainees

Montreal, Canada – Members of Amnesty International Canadian Section (French-speaking branch) (AICS-F) are calling on the international community to join them in their protest against the continued detention of Cosette Ibrahim and some 149 other prisoners in the Khiam Detention Centre in Israeli-occupied South Lebanon. This protest will be held on Thursday, October 28 at noon near the Israeli Consulate General in downtown Montreal. It follows protests already held in Beirut, Lebanon, and Tel Aviv, Israel, as well as protest actions by international journalists’ rights organisations like Reporters sans frontières and the American Committee to Protect Journalists.

Other AI groups in Quebec will converge on Montreal to take part in this demonstration. AI groups in the UK and in New York City have confirmed already that they will also join in this protest.  Says AICS-F group 30 group convenor Raynald Adams, “ordinary people in Beirut and Tel Aviv have taken to the streets once before to tell the Israeli government that they want Cosette Ibrahim and the other Khiam detainees free, and we hope they will do it again on October 28.”

Cosette Ibrahim was “adopted” by AICS-F group 30 and a second AI group in Morocco. She is a 25-year old journalism graduate of the Lebanese University in Beirut who was arrested early in September while visiting her parents during a sweep by the South Lebanese Army (SLA) in the village of Rmeish, located near the Israeli border in South Lebanon. Arrested with her were her brother-in-law Butros bu Taleb and another man, Samir Khiami. Unofficial reports say the three were arrested for refusing to co-operate with the SLA. Others say that Cosette was arrested for writing newspaper articles critical of the Israeli occupation of South Lebanon. Israeli military officials quoted in the Israeli media  stated that she had admitted to collaborating with Hizbullah.

None of the roughly 150 Khiam detainees has been charged or tried.  Most are believed to be held for refusing to co-operate with the SLA.

In a recent affidavit filed with the Israeli Supreme Court, the country’s military authorities admitted that they train Khiam’s interrogators and provide financial support to the SLA.

Amnesty demands that Cosette Ibrahim and the other Khiam detainees be charged with a recognisable offence and given a trial meeting international standards of fairness. If they are held hostage as bargaining chips to be exchanged for the bodies of missing Israeli soldiers of for information about missing MIAs, Amnesty demands that they be released immediately and unconditionally. In addition, AI is concerned that some Khiam detainees may be taken to Israel for a trial in the event of an Israeli withdrawal from South Lebanon, which would constitute another violation of their rights under the Geneva Conventions.

-  30 –
Information:  Raynald Adams
Telephone:  +1 (514) 634-4716
E-mail:  radams@cam.org