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Mr.
Al-Ghussein is a 75-year-old
businessman who graduated from the
American University in Cairo and
built up a construction and
engineering concern based with his
family in Abu Dhabi since 1966. He
is a well-known Palestinian
recognized in the region for his
advocacy of promoting peace and
understanding through dialogue and
was the co-founder of the Next
Century Foundation a British NGO
created specifically for promoting
interaction between adversaries. His
record for philanthropy is well
documented having personally
undertaken both the medical and
educational costs of many
Palestinian refugees as well as
ensuring they had employment.
With the co-operation of the Abu
Dhabi authorities he was abducted by
the Palestinian Authority and held
hostage for 16 months in Gaza by the
PA. The United Nations Working Group
on Arbitrary Detention has
investigated the detention of Mr.
Al-Ghussein and ruled that the
Palestinian Authority is violating
Article 9 of the Universal
Declaration of Human Rights in a way
that “manifestly cannot be justified
on any legal basis.” In August 16
2002 after international pressure Mr
Al-Ghussein was released and flown
to the United Kingdom where he
continues to reside with his family.
Although Abu Dhabi authorities have
assured Mr Al-Ghussein repeatedly of
their intention to resolve the
family’s outstanding business
affairs and rectify the wrongdoing
including the substantial damages
done to the business which has been
shut down after forty years of
operating successfully in the area.
Six years later there has been no
meaningful dialogue or solution to
the family’s predicament.
Outstanding payment to the family’s
business from the Government
amounting to over 40 million dirhams
has not been paid.
The Palestinian Authority
accusation.
To help the Palestinian cause at a
crucial time in 1984 he agreed to
serve as an independent as Chairman
of the Palestinian National Fund
after he had been unanimously
elected by the Palestinian National
Council and became a member of the
Executive Committee of the
Palestinian Liberation Organization.
During this period he reformed the
PNF introducing a board of
well-known trustees to ensure that
monies were distributed correctly
and the accounts were audited and
ratified by the PNC yearly. Prior to
his appointment Mr. Al-Ghussein was
one of the leading Palestinian
benefactors contributing to the
education and health care of
Palestinians in need. Financially
independent of Arafat and the PLO,
Mr Al-Ghussein repeatedly clashed
with Arafat expressing his views
publicly in favor of accountability
and transparency particularly with
donor funds from the West and Arab
states.
After the Iraq’s invasion and
occupation of Kuwait in august 1990,
Mr. Al-Ghussein was the only member
of the PLO’S executive committee to
publicly denounce the aggression and
this led a showdown with Arafat who
was in total support of Saddams
Hussein. This was exacerbated when
Mr. Al Ghussein discovered that
Arafat had received personally US
Dollars 150 million from Saddams for
his support. In 1996 Mr. Al-Ghussein
felt he could no longer continue in
his position while Arafat was
resisting implementation. Of the
Rule of Law and financial
transparency. Mr Al Ghussein was the
first Palestinian in public office
to highlight the endemic corruption
that was prevalent with Arafat and
his ruling Fateh party.
In 1998 the Authority trumped up
charges accusing Mr. Al-Ghussein of
borrowing money in 1991 from the
Palestinian National Fund and never
repaying it. This was clearly absurd
as no funds could be withdrawn
without Arafat’s signature. This
became subject to a protracted civil
legal action in the Abu- Dhabi
courts. The lower courts initially
went in favour of the PA. Although
many irregularities were evident
during the process as all that was
being discussed was points of law
and the substance of the case was
never addressed. During this period
the PA mounted a media smear
campaign against Mr Al- Ghussein,
which had not bearing on the case
and defamed him. This continued in
the UAE press despite Sheik Abdullah
Bin Zayed Minister of Information,
who overseas all UAE publications,
being made aware of the facts. After
complaints by the family of the
court procedure to HH Sheik Sultan
Bin Zayed then Deputy Prime Minister
the case went to the Supreme Courts
on appeal and the judgements of the
lower courts were overturned, as
they had no legal merit.
Subsequently two of the judges
involved with the initial legal
decision were dismissed and deported
for accepting bribes.
The first abduction from Abu
Dhabi
Even after the Supreme Court
Judgment in his favour Abu Dhabi
authorities conspired with PA
operatives to kidnap Mr Al Ghussein
and deny him any due process. In the
early morning of the 20th of April
2001 while attending a wedding
reception at the Intercontinental
hotel in Abu Dhabi, Mr Al-Ghussein
was approached by some plain-clothes
officers who asked that he accompany
them in a white Bentley to police
head quarters. They would not give
any reason nor would they allow Mr
Al-Ghussein to contact his family or
lawyer. Mr Al-Ghussein was detained
for the next three days without
access initially to his regular
medication including insulin for
diabetes. Subsequently the family
learned that these events were as a
result of a request from Abu Mazen,
the current PA President, to Sheik
Seif Bin Zayed the Abu Dhabi Under
Secretary of Interior and that HH
Sheik Hamdan Bin Zayed Foreign
Secretary of Abu Dhabi had
authorised the illegal deportation
in contravention of both local and
international laws.
On the 22nd of April uniformed
officers asked him to accompany them
to intelligence headquarters.
However, they took him to Abu Dhabi
Bateen airport, used for private and
royal flights, where he remained in
the car surrounded by bodyguards
until Arafat’s private plane landed
with a number of Force 17 guards
including Saeed Allam (Abu Saud,)
Chief of Security who now resides in
Dubai. This despite the fact that Mr
Al Ghussein was a Jordanian citizen
resident in Abu Dhabi. He was taken
out of the country without his
passport. This is in contravention
to all local and international law.
Mr Al-Ghussein repeatedly requested
an explanation for his arrest. At no
time was an explanation provided. Mr
Al-Ghussein was flown to Arish a
town on the borders of Egypt and
Palestine and then driven across the
border to Arafat’s Presidential
office where he was subsequently
removed to a squalid apartment under
24 hour armed guards and was
incommunicado for five months. He
was denied access to legal and human
rights representation, contact with
his family and friends, exercise,
fresh air and his regular
medication. This caused a
significant mental and physical toll
on an already fragile 72-year-old
man.
The UN Petition and the second
abduction.
The family who were also under great
strain not knowing either the
whereabouts or the well being of Mr
Al Ghussein despite assurances from
the UAE that they had received
guarantees from the PA that Mr Al
Ghussein would be treated as a
minister and would be returned
safely back to abu dhabi within
three days. The family submitted a
petition to the UN Working Group on
Arbitrary Detention as by that time
the family had determined that Mr Al
Ghussein was in Gaza and it seemed
pointless to pursue Abu Dhabi
through the UN Working Group on
Missing Persons. The UN Working
Group on Arbitrary Detention
investigated the roles of both Abu
Dhabi and the PA. Abu Dhabi admitted
that it had wrongfully detained and
deported Mr Al Ghussein, which
technically made him a disappeared
person. The UN determined that Mr
Al-Ghussein was wrongfully
incarcerated and asked PA to remedy
the situation immediately.. They
placed Mr Al-Ghussein in category
1.The Palestinian Authority’s own
Minister of Justice has protested
publicly that Mr. Al-Ghussein is
being detained completely outside
the Authority’s legal system.
Amnesty International, the Egyptian
Organization for Human Rights and
the Arab Human Rights Organization
have also called on the Authority to
free him. Other prominent
Palestinians, including Dr. Sari
Nusseibeh, Haider Abdel Shafi and
Attorney General Zouhair Sorani,
also protested.
In its Determination the UN Working
Group showed that Abu Dhabi and the
PA failed to follow any due process
of law. Frustrated with the legal
process, the Authority resorted to
gangster tactics, kidnapping Mr. Al-Ghussein
and deceiving or corrupting
officials in Abu Dhabi to do so. The
Palestinian Minister of Justice
publicly declared that Mr. Al
Ghussein was illegally detained. The
PA in trying to avoid the UN
determination released Mr Al-Ghussein
on the 25th of November to Cairo
with armed guards claiming to the UN
that a determination was unnecessary
as Mr Al Ghussein was no longer in
captivity. At the time Mr Al
Ghussein was extremely frail, due to
undiagnosed carcinoid tumours. In
Cairo he was under the supervision
of Dr Fathi Arafat at the Red
Crescent hospital. On learning of
the UN determination the PA with the
assistance of Egyptian National
Security abducted Mr AL-Ghussein for
the second time from his hospital
bed in Cairo while he was undergoing
treatment. This in spite of
assurances from Egypt that Mr Al
Ghussein was entitled to remain as a
visitor and would be afforded all
his rights and security that
visitors to the country would
normally have. The UN broke with
their traditional protocol and
publicly published their findings.
Mr AL-Ghussein remained under armed
guards in Gaza, the International
Red Cross were denied access to him
even though his health was
deteriorating. Mounting Palestinian
and International pressure led by
Cannon Andrew White, the Archbishop
of Canterbury’s special envoy to the
Middle East ensured his release in
August 2002.
The real story behind the abduction
of Jaweed Al-Ghussein)
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