Samer al-Barq is entering his fourth year in administrative detention, without charge or trial, said the Palestinian Prisoners Study Centre.
Al-Barq was transferred from Jordanian captivity to occupation forces at the Karama crossing on July 11, 2010, and immediately placed under administrative detention without charge, said Amina Tawil of the Centre. She said that he engaged in several hunger strikes demanding his release, for 30 days, 125 days, and 43 days. He was repeatedly promised that a deal would be arranged in which he would be deported to Egypt from which he would return to Pakistan, the country of his wife’s citizenship, but these promises were never fulfilled.
He suffered severe medical consequences of his hunger strike, dropping in weight from 93 to 72 kilograms, suffering kidney disease, high blood pressure and low blood sugar. His administrative detention was renewed again in late June for another six months.
Samer al-Barq’s story in many ways captures the transnational security alliances of the US and its allies. He was arrested in Pakistan and held for three months in a secret US detention facility in 2003, from which he was transferred to Jordan. He was held by Jordanian intelligence for four years and then released in January 28. He worked at a medical laboratory, and his wife travelled from Pakistan to join him. He was then re-arrested by Jordanian secret services and transferred to the Israelis. At no point has he been charged with or tried for any crime. During his imprisonment without charge or trial he has been interrogated by the US Federal Bureau of Investigation, among others.
