PUBLIC AI Index: MDE 19/017/2004
06 October 2004

Further Information on UA 266/04 (MDE 19/015/2004, 17 September 2004)
Incommunicado detention/health concern

LIBYA: Fathi al-Jahmi (m), aged 63
Fawzia 'Abdullah Gogha (f), his wife

Released: Muhammad Fathi al-Jahmi (m), their son, aged 27
Muhammad Fathi al-Jahmi, the son of former prisoner of conscience Fathi al-Jahmi, was released on 23 September having been detained on 26 March. His mother, Fawzia 'Abdullah Gogha and father Fathi al-Jahmi who were held with him are reportedly still in detention.

Amnesty International has received information that Fathi al-Jahmi’s health continues to be poor and that he has not received adequate medical treatment. He, his wife and his eldest son were reportedly taken from their home in Tripoli by the authorities on 26 March. They were detained shortly after Fathi al-Jahmi gave several media interviews, including to the US-based Arabic channel al-Hurrah and to the Dubai-based Arabic channel al-’Arabiya, in which he called for reform within Libya. After the interviews, basic services to his house, such as his telephone connection, were reportedly suspended.

Though their family have reportedly received no confirmation of the exact whereabouts of Fathi al-Jahmi, or Fawzia 'Abdullah Gogha, Amnesty International has received information confirming that Fathi al-Jahmi is being held by the Libyan authorities. However, it appears that he has still not been charged with a recognizable criminal offence.

RECOMMENDED ACTION: Please send a final round of appeals to arrive as quickly as possible, in Arabic, English or your own language:

• expressing concern for the health of former prisoner of conscience Fathi al-Jahmi and calling for him to have full access to medical treatment;
  
• urging the authorities to publicly declare the exact whereabouts of Fathi al-Jahmi and his wife Fawzia 'Abdullah Gogha;
  
• asking that they be immediately released unless charged with a recognizable criminal offence;
  
• calling on the authorities to repeal all laws, including Law 71 of 1972 and relevant articles of the Penal Code, which criminalize activities which merely amount to the peaceful exercise of the rights to freedom of expression and association;
  
• asking the authorities to make sure that the draft Penal Code, currently under review, is amended to ensure that the provisions relating to the rights to freedom of expression and association conform with Libya’s obligations under the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR).